It’s not just that the characters in AJLT are unwilling to use their wealth to help others (and we should definitely have seen that coming with Charlotte, who famously refused to loan Carrie money to help with her down payment, at first anyway). It’s also that the show takes every opportunity to present those who do not embody its glossy perfection as objects of ridicule. Toilet humor is a recurring theme, used not as a comedic tool for the protagonists (like when Charlotte gets diarrhea in Mexico in SATC) but as a means to demean those who don’t live similar lives of opulence. Jackie, Carrie’s podcast co-host, joins her for breakfast and has to run off to the toilet, audibly flatulent and holding his stomach, because he “broke [his] no Hollandaise before noon rule.” Gloria Steinem first meets Carrie when walking out of the toilet, where there is a line forming — but not before we hear a prominent flushing sound. The show’s depiction of anyone who isn’t uber-wealthy is laden with disdain, and they are often portrayed as laughable, revolting, and ultimately disposable. It becomes clear that this mockery extends beyond individual characters and is embedded in the show’s core, cementing its complicity in perpetuating social hierarchies and dismissing those who don’t fit its narrow definition of success.