Could HBO’s hit show Girls be the voice of our generation? Should this be an objective review in which I do not gush? Probably… but there is something special about this raw, compelling, hysterical, Emmy Winning show. I dare you to watch one episode and not fall in love with the show’s writer, director and lead actress, Lena Dunham (Hannah), whose fresh face and powerful writing may just be the voice of our generation.
Most of the show takes place in a typical, cramped New York City apartment. It captures the lives of four young women who are navigating their way through love, friendships and figuring out what they want their lives to look like. In an interview with Lena Dunham, she claims that Girls is her retort to Sex and the City.
Dunham explains that some shows portray women who act the way women wish they did. On the other end of the spectrum are shows that show unrealistic behavior for women. Dunham claims that one of her goals with Girls is to show us how girls actually behave. What a fresh and unique idea.
I love Sex and the City, but the four characters are women who already have most of their lives figured out. The title, Girls is telling. None of the four girls have their shit together and it is so much fun to watch and relate to their struggles.
I will start with Marnie: the most gorgeous and obnoxious character on the show. She is, by Vogue’s standards, perfect. She is stunning, thin, confident and seems to know where she is going in life. Key word here being seems. In spite of all that, as Lena Dunham put it in an interview, she is an asshole.
Marnie and Hannah are often filmed standing next to each other on the show. Dunham commented that she found the contrast between the girls humorous, because of their height and appearance. Girls seems to ask us: “Do you want her life or Hannah’s?” Obviously Hannah’s. Even with her awkward rompers.
When everything in Marnie’s life crashes down, we can’t help but feel like she had it coming, based on the way she treated her boyfriend and friends. Marnie is consumed by one thing: herself. For the first two seasons, she doesn’t realize she acts like a bad person or does not care. It is not always clear.
She surprises us during season 3 by asking Ray (a friend) to tell her what’s “wrong” with her. Ray mentions the fact that she cheated on her boyfriend, is self-absorbed, uses people and is “unbearably uptight,” although I think that part may be out of her control. Ray concludes his rant by calling Marnie a “super fat, fucking phony” which is pretty funny.
Marnie gets defensive, of course, and Ray admits that he still likes her, in spite of all that. He tells her that he can tell her behavior stems from insecurity that is a result of her absent father. Ray tells her he can tell she is a good person who means well. Her final response is “thank you” which is a good sign.
Then they hook up and he tells her to keep it on the downlow. She gets pissy and judgmental and says “like I would advertise this” which makes us doubt if she will really consider anything he said, but hey, there is a chance.
Jessa. She looks and acts like a gorgeous hippie, floating from place to place and idea to idea. Working isn’t her thing. She prefers adventures and men. She does whatever she wants, whenever she wants. She prides herself on her carefree spirit so much that when we find out Hannah has HPV, Jessa tells us that “all adventurous girls do.”
At one point, she admits: “I’m sick.” Beneath her confidence lies vulnerability and sadness that she hides at all costs. Her spontaneity catches up with her when a fun and exciting marriage turns into a nightmare before it even begins. She falls into depression and becomes cynical.
Jessa has daddy issues, which seems to be the cause of her lack of motivation and self-respect. She drags Hannah along with her to go see her dad after her divorce, and the situation, which initially looks bright, results in heartbreak. At the end of her visit (throughout which her father decides to spend time with his girlfriend instead of her,) the two of them sit side by side on swings, representative of the childhood she never had.
Jessa asks her father why he can’t stay in one place for more than two seconds. She asks him how he can leave a child and a mother behind and never look back. She tells him he’s never been there for her. He fires back by asking Jessa why he can’t rely on her. She acutely answers: “You shouldn’t HAVE to. I’M the child.” It is the most vulnerable we’ve seen Jessa yet. Then, she leaves the situation, Hannah and New York City. Hannah gets stranded in upstate New York with no way home but that’s not Jessa’s problem.
Jessa checks into rehab but spends her time lashing out at everyone in the group, which gets her kicked out. Despite what happened the last time Jessa and Hannah saw each other, Hannah makes a road trip to pick Jessa up and makes her promise to stop leaving.
Shoshanna is the youngest girl in the group and possibly has the most high pitched, delightful voice I have ever heard. “OK so this show is, like totally amazing” is something she would say in normal conversation. It is only mildly annoying. Soshanna is ditzy as hell but also charming and refreshingly honest. She gets far too little of the spotlight. As a young, optimistic woman in college with the whole world in front of her, she has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Shoshanna achieves her goal of losing her virginity while simultaneously gaining an interesting, older boyfriend who is in a band. She ends up realizing that he has no real goals and is too cynical for her upbeat personality.
A memorable Shoshanna moment is when she steps out of her naive, dumb, nice role and lets her friends have it. She rightly claims that they don’t actually listen to her and treat her like a “cab driver,” having “entire conversations” about her like she is invisible. Hannah responds by saying “she is not an intellectual” and calling her “unstimulating.” Did I say Marnie was the asshole? They all have their moments.
Shoshanna wonders if her social anxiety is preventing her from meeting better friends. She calls Jessa out for being a recovering drug addict, she calls Hannah out for having OCD and being “mentally ill and miserable” and she calls Marnie out for being “tortured by self-doubt and fear” and “not pleasant to be around.”
We have never seen the four girls be this honest with one another. The episode concludes the following morning with the girls looking hungover and ashamed. Eventually, they start to dance around and we release our breath, knowing they will be fine. It is the real, raw moments like this that separate this show from guilty pleasures like “Gossip Girl.” Let’s face it, life can be dark and “Girls” tackles it head on.
Hannah. Possibly my favorite female character on a TV show ever. She is perfectly imperfect. As Lena Dunham puts it, when faced with the right decision and the wrong decision, Hannah will most likely make the wrong decision. She is self absorbed, like Marnie, and tends to overreact to things. So it is not that I idolize her character, she is just an extremely loveable one.
Anyone can relate to her. Two years after graduating college, she has no job but still wants to follow her dreams of becoming a writer (of essays) in today’s economy. Not only is Hannah funny, she is insightful, without even trying. During season two, she meets a rich, handsome, single stranger. They spend a day in fairytale land until she unloads a little too much information on him and he runs, probably realizing he was just having a mid-life crisis and needs to get back to work.
During this experience, we learn a lot about Hannah. She tells him that she is someone who rolls with the punches and lives life from moment to moment. She tries to take in every possible experience, good or bad, so that she can write about it and let others learn from her experiences.
Spending a day with someone who treats her well makes her realize that maybe she should start living a little bit more for herself. She admits that her lifestyle is exhausting and that, underneath it all, she wants to be happy, just like everyone else.
Hannah spends the majority of this episode (and the show) either fully or partially undressed. Nudity on TV it often arbitrary and excessive. The nudity in “Girls” is always justified. Not that it has to be but it often matches the storyline. Hannah is often naked because she is often vulnerable, emotionally. At the same time, she is often naked because she is comfortable with herself.
“Girls” has a ton of sex and it has been criticized for it. They are much more realistic than a typical sex scene and often funny. As an example, trying to make it work in a bunk bed in a tiny apartment and accidentally hitting your head on the ceiling. Any twenty something has experienced something on “Girls.” Plus, Lena keeps it fair. Guys have to be naked, too.
Is it degrading? Sometimes. Dunham talks about this during an interview and explains that “Girls” is not endorsing the behavior of any of the characters. Dunham’s moral leasons are often covered up with humor, but they are still present. Here is an example. Hannah gets a new job. Her elderly, married boss is extremely inappropriate, sexually. She consults with her co-workers who tell her she will “get used to it.”
This is obviously unacceptable but Hannah does the opposite of what is expected, thanks to advice from the ever wise Jessa, who tells her to have sex with her boss “for the story.” Hannah proposes this to her boss who acts surprised and denies leading her on in any way. She tries to bribe him with a lawsuit, fails and then, finally, quits the job. It is a funny scene but Dunham still makes her point.
Let’s be clear, I love the characters on “Girls” because they are ridiculously entertaining, real characters, not because they are the best people. I think Lena Dunham summed up the show when she said it represents the way girls really act. It is not always pretty, but sometimes it is. It is often funny and offers some valuable life lessons.
Some of my favorites so far:
From Hannah’s parents as they are evaluating what she is going to do with her life: “Well, she knows how to have fun.”
From Ray: “Whatever it is you want to do, you have to do it now. If you wanna sing, then you should sing now.”
From Jessa: Travel. Just make sure you are not running away from yourself in the process.
From Shoshanna: Relish every minute of life.
And from Hannah? Never compromise who you are or what you stand for. Love yourself and love others. Do not be afraid to chase your dreams. No matter what happens, make sure you have a ton of fun in the process.
Originally published 10/30/14
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