Sex And The City VS Olivia Pope
Throwing it back to Olivia Pope - she's surely a Gen Z anti hero?
In the void left by Ted Lasso, I started rewatching a show I had binged years ago – Scandal. Do you remember it? Original Shonda territory post-Greys Anatomy, although in South Africa it was called The Fixer. With Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope having a scorching hot romance with the married POTUS, Fitzgerald Grant. Honestly, Olivia and Fitz were The Actual Business. So, I started watching again for lack of a better or cheerier thing to do than engage in violence, back-stabbing, murder and other dirty political deeds of domestic terrorism offset by the bouts of White House love and lust.
And I have to say, I think Olivia ruined it for us. No self-respecting Gen Z would put up with that crap. And I don’t mean Fitz and their on-again-off-again romance. Olivia works every hour that God sends. Every single one. And she isn’t complaining. Hell, no, she scoots out of the presidential love nest because she “has to work”. She skedaddles from crime scenes and death beds and steaming (literally) hot rendezvous because, as she often angrily has to point out: “I have to work”. Dammit, Olivia. How did I not notice this when I watched your show ten years ago?!
She does all this working in excellent clothes and always heels with a good watch and a designer bag. Her hair is immaculate, her make-up understated. She drinks red wine by the gallon-sized glass. Dinner is often popcorn. She bloody ruined me.
I rolled from Sex And The City and their cosmos into having children, into landing my dream job as editor of Grazia, into binge-watching Scandal. I was hopped up on small children and I thought Olivia was the natural segue from Carrie to successful girl bossing. I was permanently in heels, perennially on the hunt for an excellent watch, working, always hustling – haha – and enjoying red wine and, yes, popcorn with my team.
Is it a good sign that I now just think Olivia was absolutely mad? That I would have ditched my cream suits and shacked up with Fitz in Vermont to make jam years ago and that I wouldn’t snap, “I have to work” any time anyone suggested something vaguely resembling fun? I call it balance. Dammit, that used to be hard to find. Instagram will be the first to tell you that it is much easier to find it now!
I wonder whether it’s the punks who would think the idea was crazy – The Eldest lasted 10 minutes of Scandal before she decided Olivia was way too uptight. Is it a good side effect of post-pandemic living that we’ve all taken It down a notch? Is it that I am just older and thus, (fingers crossed) wiser in this regard, if not zero others?! I don’t know. But I like it.
And what of SATC? When I first watched And Just Like That, I thought it was pretttttty unbearable. Pigeon bags and dishwashing gloves and sadness and crossness over death, gender, sexuality, smoking, Peleton, you name it. It all just felt so urggghhh. Like those of us who had grown up in the SATC years, dreaming of Manolos while spending our pay checks on giant corsages, cigarettes and sugary cocktails.
Except if they’ve all grown up - and we’ve all grown up - then does that make me and my friends the newly-minted And Just like That crew? Carrie & Co just seemed SO uncoolly old. Although I don’t know what version I was expecting. They’re also just them. Like we’re all… Just us. So obvs I watched the entire first season from start to finish, swearing that I wouldn’t watch another episode. And now I am genuinely looking forward to the new season release next month. I think they’ve had a chance to settle into their skin, much like so many of us entering the treacherously slippery ground of menopause and middle age and teen parenting. Not trying to be as cool as our younger selves but – fork it – hopefully even cooler. In a whole different way.
I wonder where Olivia Pope is now? I hope she’s in Vermont.
PS In entirely unrelated although related news, many of you know that I grabbed my teen punks and we headed for Spain last year on a girls’ trip. It was both an excuse to spend time with the two of them because high school suddenly seemed so fleeting and also an excuse to introduce them to new places, faces, cultures and the inside of various Zara change rooms. Hanging with teenagers is the most noisy, joyful, humbling thing – those of you who know, know. This week, we head for London. We’re making The Girls’ Vacay a thing. See you on the other side, with loads of intel and creative inspiration for the rest of the year. And let me know what you think of Olivia or the new SATC or anything in between xoxo
What a great read Dan. Although (a lot) older than you, I absolutely loved Sex and the City. Totally agree that this new one was not as enjoyable, but I will definitely watch the next series, seeing that they are almost like family to me, and I need to know what happens in their lives! Strange, but true! The Fixer was also great, and I do also hope she is somewhere in Vermont right now. She deserves a rest! Enjoy London! xxx
Love love love it. Now I need to watch The Fixer again.