The Serious Issue That ‘And Just Like That’ Is Playing for Laughs Is Generating Controversy

Charlotte York has long been, to me, the least relatable character in the Sex & the City universe—she’s privileged, has a lighthearted outlook no matter what and seems to manage family, career and her friends with ease. So I’ve never been super into her, until the most recent episode of And Just Like That. In season 3, episode 8, she has an unexpected attack of vertigo, an illness that’s played for laughs but is no joke, evidenced by the polarized comments about it online. As a vertigo alum myself, I’ve done a deep dive into the condition.

Near the top of the episode, Charlotte is at her gallery, assembling a mattress installation clearly inspired by Tracy Emin’s seminal work My Bed, when she bends over and moans softly:

“Kai, may I have your hand? I think my vertigo is back.”

“I didn’t think vertigo is real?” the gallery worker responds. “You know, like Epstein-Barr.”

“Oh, it’s a real thing,” Charlotte nods, woozily. “I had it last year, I had to take to my bed.”

Charlotte’s condition subsides, then recurs during a long set piece at the gallery, in which Charlotte pratfalls while rushing across the room. Again, when Charlotte explains that she fell due to vertigo, another character looks her dismissively and says “Is that even a real thing?” Later that same evening, Charlotte is shown entering her home alone, still bent over from the condition, trying to talk to Lisa on her phone.

Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max

Granted, vertigo isn’t as serious as Charlotte’s husband’s prostate cancer or Miranda’s alcoholism, but online banter calls out the show for its misinformation and insensitivity. In Vulture’s comment section, for example, Mediaqueen1985 says she has vertigo, then criticizes the depiction: “Ugh. More Charlotte as Lucy Ricardo but with vertigo as an excuse. Vertigo usually involves heights, so WTH?” Next, an ear-nose and throat specialist writes “vertigo isn’t a fear of heights, but a room-spinning sensation. Charlotte likely had BPPV, although the depiction was a little…off.” Johnandtara chimes in: “Nurse here—and I have a few friends in menopause experiencing vertigo, so I think they are throwing it into the mix as a women of a certain age thing.” And finally Nnfowlds opines: “They sent Charlotte home on her own in a vertigo state? Goofy and irritating.”

Reality check—according to the Cleveland Clinic, “vertigo causes dizziness and makes you feel like you’re spinning when you’re not. It most commonly occurs when there’s an issue with your inner ear. But you can also develop it if you have a condition affecting your brain, like a tumor or stroke. Treatments vary and can include medication, repositioning maneuvers or surgery.” It may or may not involve heights. There are two main types, peripheral and central; peripheral is the common sort. A decade-long study of nearly 1,000 women showed that one type of peripheral, BBPV (Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo), is increasingly common in perimenopausal women.

Watching the show, I was perplexed by the lack of sympathy given to Charlotte when she’s incapacitated, since I have had stress-induced bouts of the condition. Initially, I woke up with the room spinning so profoundly, alone and frightened, that I speed-dialed a friend to come take me to the emergency room. (My condition was diagnosed and I was given anti-nausea medication.) After subsequent attacks, an ENT taught me the Epley Maneuver, a head movement exercise designed to reposition the ear crystals that cause BBPV. It’s a recurring condition for me, in the manner of commenter Itcouldbeworse: “I had it for months, but only when I got up from bed too quickly (luckily.) The room would spin. Even after it stopped happening, I got up very slowly for a long while, in case it had come back. (The first time it had happened, there was no warning.)”

Here’s the rub: Never once did anyone suggest that I might be fantasizing my illness, or doubting that the condition even exists. Nor would anyone have sent me home, unaccompanied, if I couldn’t walk straight. Charlotte deserves better—the poor woman is just regaining her footing, so to speak. She’s just been through a recent major health scare with her husband, a massive career responsibility and caretaking a heartbroken daughter and teetotaling friend! A little information about her well-being as well as compassion for her is in order.

I’m left with a lingering bad taste about the whole vertigo storyline, maybe best expressed by Hotfoot2020: “Gross how it was played for laughs. I’ve noticed people aren’t very caring on this show when someone’s sick. Things get quippy in no time. UGH. Are there any humans left in the writers’ room or is this all the work of a Temu bot?”

I Have a Major Theory About ‘And Just Like That’ Season 3—and OG ‘Sex and the City’ Fans Are Gonna Love it