Will the new Netflix series Tales of the City capture the zeitgeist?

The newspaper serial Tales of the City captured the zeitgeist of the ’70s. How will the upcoming Netflix adaptation with Ellen Page merge sentimentality with contemporary LGBTQ themes?

Ellen Page is to star in a new Netflix series Tales of the City. The 10-episode series is based on Armistead Maupin’s 1978 novel of the same name. It was adapted as a TV mini-series in 1993 and a sequel in 1998, starring Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis. The new Tales of the City is set in contemporary times, with both Linney and Dukakis returning to their roles.

Mary Ann Singleton (Linney) returns to San Francisco, reuniting with her daughter Shawna, to be played by Ellen Page and Anna Madrigal (Dukakis). Madrigal is the charismatic and ambiguous landlady of 28 Barbary Lane. Characters and readers alike have long inferred that the name “Anna Madrigal” is an anagram of “a man and a girl.”

The novel Tales of the City is an assemblage of weekly newspaper columns that were initially published in the San Francisco Chronicle from 1974 to 1986. Maupin crafted the articles under the fictional persona of Singleton. The epic serial narrative explores the evolving culture and lifestyle of San Francisco through the eyes of a young woman who had recently arrived in town.

Each installment intermingled ongoing characters with diverse people and situations. It was a weekly commentary on class, gender, bias and sexual exploration, written. These stories were published during the 1970’s amid the public awakening of homosexuality. The column and following novels did not shy away from sexual exploration, drug use in hippie and disco culture, and the early days of the AIDS crisis.

Maupin’s serial fiction had an immediacy that readers embraced, just as readers in the 1880’s had embraced Charles Dickens’ periodical storytelling. Both explored social, class and identity struggles of the times, and were published almost as soon as they were written. The pieces were a reflection on society. They also influenced society as they unfolded. Readers extended the narratives in conversations with each other in-between installments.

As a nod to Tales of the City, the TV series Sex and the City featured New York writer Carrie Bradshaw (Jessica Parker) composing a weekly article on the sex and social lives of her and her friends. This satirical drama-comedy both captured and influenced the 2000’s. Tales of the City is in production and set for release in 2019. While the established characters may reflect on the 1970’s, this new series has the opportunity to explore contemporary LGBTQ issues and society.

While there are exceptions, such as the casting of Laverne Cox in Orange is The New Black, it is still the norm for Hollywood to offer key transgender roles to cisgender actors. We’re sure Dukakis will be splendid reprising her iconic role of Madrigal. Nonetheless, society is more vocal in asking for transgender roles to be offered to transgender actors. We hope Tales of the City offers exciting roles to transgender actors due to its new narratives.

Netflix’ Tales of The City will infuse the zeitgeist of the original with a new narrative representative of contemporary mood and culture. It’s tricky to balance nostalgia with forward-thinking. It will be interesting to see how this new series plays out.

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