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You probably don’t watch Girls. And if you do, you probably don’t admit it. And if you admit it, you probably claim to hate it, which is fair because you can’t expect every single person to like every single television show out there. But I’m not afraid to admit that Girls is actually a guilty pleasure for me. Yes, a lot of it is unrealistic. And yes, Lena Dunham can be one of the most annoying people on the planet.
I don’t care what you say, though – it’s a well-written and accurate portrayal of what it’s like to be completely lost through the better part of your twenties (and the bottle episode, “One Man’s Trash,” is one of my favorite television episodes ever).
With the final season of Girls debuting this Sunday on HBO, press for the show has been at an all-time high. I mean, Lena Dunham even got hair extensions so you know it’s real. But the best thing to come out of their spike in press? Lena Dunham’s original pitch that she made to HBO. Hate her or love her, you can’t deny it’s accuracy.
Per the original document from Hollywood Reporter:
Sex and the City depicted women who had mastered their careers and were now being driven crazy by the tick of their biological clocks. Gossip Girl is about losing your virginity and gaining popularity, in a world where no one is old enough to vote or has to worry about making a living. But between adolescence and adulthood is an uncomfortable middle-ground, when women are ejected from college and into a world with neither glamour nor structure. The resulting period of flux is heartbreaking and hilarious and way too human. It’s humbling and it’s sexy and it’s ripe for laughs.
Products of the recession, these girls are overeducated and underemployed, sure that they’re too smart for their positions as assistants, nannies, and waitresses but not necessarily motivated enough to prove it (or even do their jobs well enough to advance.) They have that mix of know-it-all entitlement and scathing self-deprecation that is the mark of all great Jewish comedians and many 24 year old women with liberal arts degrees.
They have varying degrees of ambition, but have been raised to achieve. They know they want to be successful long before they know what they want to be successful at.
They’re the last children of baby boomers, and the first generation to have moms who know how to text message [“HAVE U HAD AN HPV VACCINE YET? DO U HAVE HPV? LUV, MOM’] These moms probably enjoyed more swinging sex lives in their twenties than their daughters could ever dream of.
They’ve been on Ritalin since they were twelve and on birth control since they were fifteen (even if they didn’t start having sex until college)
They’re just as likely to sleep with their 40 year old boss as they are to make out like eighth graders with a 20 year old they meet at a loft party.
They’re not looking for romantic partners with money or clout. Just guys who make them feel thin, funny, or superior.
Some of their boyfriends have turned out to be gay. Others have turned out to be Republicans (these girls aren’t necessarily political, but they want to make sure abortions are a possibility. Always. After all, who can remember condoms every time.)
They still text at least one of these said exes when they’re drunk or sad.
They’ve been raised to fuck unapologetically and then apologize for it.
Grad school is their fall-back plan.
They are the Facebook generation, and ironically enough they are isolated by all the connectivity available to them (and prone to Facebook stalking and drunk-IMing and booty calls via twitter and deciphering text messages like they’re ancient hieroglyphs and blogging pictures of all the food they eat).
They are navigating the transition out of college-level codependence on their girlfriends, but will still call to announce that they got their period or saw a man masturbating on the subway or saw a man who looks sort of like a kid they went to camp with (could it be him? And if so, is he on Facebook?).
They’re beautiful and maddening. They’re self-aware and self-obsessed. They’re your girlfriends and daughters and sisters and employees. They’re my friends and I’ve never seen them on TV.
Overblown? Perhaps. But can you point out a friend of yours that fits perfectly into one of the various situations she described? Yep. I’d probably venture to guess you identify with certain excerpts as well, but you’ll probably be too afraid to admit that too. .
[via Hollywood Reporter]
Image via YouTube
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Will
Will (Twitter / Instagram) is the host of The Sunday Scaries Podcast.
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Dislike her.
What a disgusting bag of milk she is.
Would never do an interview with her
No need to. It’s unfortunately on display nearly every episode.
Can you be underemployed with a liberal arts degree?
No.
Has she left the country yet?
TGDAG is still a better story than Girls although I can’t decide who’s worse between Girl and Lena
Lena.
Same boat as you. Hate Dunham, but the show is a guilty pleasure. Personally a fan of the beach house episode.
I don’t hate her by any means, but she’s not opposed to being cringe-worthy which, you know, sucks.
Stop making her a thing. She molested her kid sister and falsely accused a man of rape while in college.
Meh, hate is probably a strong word. I guess I find her to be self-aggrandizing.
I think you guys need to do a web series “Dudes,” and just parody the shit out of this. Obviously Dorn would be the Marnie character since he’s the pretty one.
I can’t deny the accuracy of describing a lot of our generation as self-obsessed. However, I wish it wasn’t true. I wouldn’t mind less narcissism in tv shows.
I got half way through the first season a few years ago and couldn’t stomach it any further. Everyone in the show just bothers me so much and I don’t want to see them all naked 24/7 either.