54 Time June 17, 2019
Mary Ann (Linney) and Anna (Dukakis) tell new TalesTELEVISION
An updated Tales proves
you can go home again
By Louis Peitzman
each episode of Tales of The CiTy closes on a shoT of
the rainbow flag, which almost feels a little on the nose—
until it doesn’t. The Netflix miniseries is a sequel to the
earlier television adaptations of Armistead Maupin’s novels
about the intersecting lives of the largely queer residents
of 28 Barbary Lane. But it’s also an update, and so is the
flag. Instead of the traditional six-color variation, it’s the
newer version unveiled in 2017, incorporating black and
brown to reflect the black and brown members of the queer
community.
This updated flag represents the newer San Francisco this
Tales of the City depicts, one that’s more queer, more inclu-
sive and less white. It’s a dramatically different city than
the one Maupin documented when he began writ-
ing the Tales books in 1974, one that’s been shaped
by the gay-rights movement, the AIDS crisis and the
tech boom—sweeping changes that were depicted in
the nine books, which inspired three TV miniseries
adaptations.
Netflix’s Tales of the City jumps ahead a couple
decades from where the last of those miniseries,
Further Tales of the City, left off, with several
actors reprising their roles. Mary Ann (Laura
Linney) returns to 28 Barbary Lane—the “chosen
family” apartment complex where she once
resided—to celebrate the 90th birthday of wise
landlady Anna Madrigal (Olympia Dukakis). Mary
Ann also needs to reconnect with the people she
▽
Margot (Hong) and
Jake (Garcia) help
update a staple of
the queer canon
for contemporary
viewersleft behind: her best friend Michael
(Murray Bartlett, a recast from the
original), her ex-husband Brian (Paul
Gross), her socialite pal DeDe (Barbara
Garrick) and her estranged daughter
Shawna (Ellen Page). There are new
additions too—Michael’s boyfriend Ben
(Charlie Barnett); Margot (May Hong),
a lesbian artist; and Jake (Garcia),
a trans man discovering his sexual
identity.You’d be forgiven for feeling over-
whelmed: this is a lot of ground to
cover. And while fans of the original
will likely dive into this new series with
warm nostalgia, newcomers may have
a harder time parsing the specifics of
these impressively convoluted back-
stories and relationships.
Yet that may not be so important.
This Tales of the City is more concerned
with the thematic story it’s telling—how
to reconcile the gay-rights movement
and feminism of the ’70s with a more
progressive 2019 understanding
of those ideals. When Ben calls out
Michael’s older, white gay male friends
for their casual use of anti-trans slurs,
one of the men angrily counters that
Ben has no context for the struggles of
his gay elders, particularly the sheer loss
of life they endured at the height of the
AIDS epidemic.
But the series is also eager—like
Anna herself—to right past wrongs.
When the first adaptation was released,
a cis woman was cast in the role of
Anna, a trans woman. Here, we get a
flashback to a younger Anna, played
by trans woman Jen Richards, in an
episode featuring a diverse cast of trans
actors. The show as a whole reflects
a more contemporary understanding
of what inclusion should look like:
actors of color, trans and gender-
nonconforming actors, and actors with
disabilities. Even as shows like HBO’s
Looking and films such as Love, Simon
have marked steps forward when it
comes to queer representation, Tales
of the City remains uniquely
committed to showcasing a
fuller spectrum of the LGBTQ
experience. These stories
of queer lives, told with
frankness and honesty, feel
distinctly of this moment. •TimeOff Reviews