wannabetvwriter

I be a good righter.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Girls! Girls! Girls!

So.  I watch "Girls."  Usually a couple of days after it's aired.  It's not my go-to show.  It's pretty much last on the list, actually.  And I'm not sure why I've stuck with it, other than I've been too lazy or too forgetful to take it out of my DVR.

There's also the small hope that a show will turn the corner, and capture some small piece of my heart.  It's been bleak days though.  Which has nothing to do with the show, and everything to do with the fact that the media at large is debating whether or not this show is an illustration of New Feminism.

It.  Is.  Not.

I mean, the show feels like it should be.  Like everyone who watches it should nod their head and be like, "YES! THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE!"

You know what?  It is what it's like.  I've had the long-term boyfriend who was just so fucking nice.  He was the best boyfriend anyone could've asked for.  Caring, attentive, vulnerable...  It was AWFUL.  Like, frillz.

I know.  I'm a dick.  But, you know what?  Most chicks are.  And "Girls" endeavors to show this kind of relationship.  Because it is real.  And, frankly, it's uncomfortable seeing it on screen.

I've also been the girl who's dated the guy who clearly just wanted to have "fun."  Well, clear to everyone else but me.  My friends would try to talk sense into me, and instead of listening to them, I'd cling to some vague sentence he'd said months ago, postcoitally and potentially drunk.   This is real life for a lot of women.  And it's what Hannah's going through on the show.  And it sucks to watch it on screen, because when it's not you?  You just want to punch the person going through it.  Never really remembering that you've been that idiot, too.  Cuz who the fuck wants to remember those moments?

These are not new ideas.  This is not New Feminism.  In fact, the last show to actually affect feminism is a show that most feminists abhor because they refused to see such drivel,  "Sex And The City."  No show prior to this had mainstreamed sex for women.  Had opened the door to the idea that women could actually go out and fuck a guy and not end up the cliched, clingy woman waiting by the phone.  I mean, yeah, they had those moments, too.  But what PERSON doesn't go through that?  Women don't have the market cornered on wanting to be loved.

In fact, I'd love to see a show about men that's like that.  That's not all glossy and Los Angeles, a la "Californication" or "Entourage."  A legitimate look at men and relationships.  "Boys," if you will.  I'd write it if I had any clue how to.  And that's why "Girls" is so successful as a show.  Because it's written by Lena Dunham, about Lena Dunham's experiences.  About her world.  It's got a very personal feel to it that I could never do justice to for a script about four 20-something men dating.   Merry Kwanzaa to whoever steals this idea.

ANYWAY

The reason for this post:  A few episodes had been languishing in DVR hell.  I caught up on them last night.  As there was literally nothing left to watch in my DVR, and Bravo was re-running "Tardy For The Wedding."  And, the strangest thing happened.  I started to care about the characters.  Maybe because Hannah seems to be getting a backbone.  I don't know.  What I do know is that my ambivalent viewership changed last night with a peripheral character uttering one perfect line of dialogue.  I can now, because of this line, consider myself a kind of fan of the show.  That one moment of perfection?

"You ass-fucked my friend's heart."

It's so suited to the character.  It's nonsensical.  But it makes perfect sense.  It illustrates exactly what this dickhead did to this guy's friend and how this guy feels about it.  It's just... perfect.  And, for now, "Girls" is safe in my DVR and may even be watched on Sundays.  I mean, let's not go crazy, not when it airs.  But probz after "Game of Thrones" and "The Killing."

4 Comments:

  • At May 15, 2012 5:45 PM, Blogger Lucky Punk said…

    Hi,
    I just stumbled onto your blog and you sucked me right in.
    I work in TV and I know it's ridiculous, but I don't actually have cable, so I watch what I can online, or wait for the Emmy screeners to come out. But curse them, the Girls screener only had three episodes. I think I liked them a little more than you did, and love Lena Dunham for her ability to step outside of herself, see all the idiotic embarrassing things she does in a way that few of us can while we're actually in that phase of our lives, and then write them into her own character. And her willingness to look totally unattractive, thereby making her more attractive (like when she couldn't get her underwear off while lying on her stomach on the sofa).
    I think you're right on, though, with your final analysis that it makes you feel like it SHOULD be the 'voice of a generation,' but isn't quite.
    But I didn't make it to the episode that hooked you. Maybe I'll buy it on itunes.

     
  • At May 15, 2012 6:04 PM, Blogger BooM said…

    Interesting thoughts, yours. After some thought, I've realized I have no problem making myself look like a jackass. Working my horrific stories of my own stupidity into conversation -- usually on first dates, naturally. I find it helps bag the guys. But also with friends. I like making people laugh, and I really do do a lot of stupid shit.

    So I understand where Dunham has no qualms, or a lot of self-realization, or... whatever it is that she's able to write this very realistic show. The problem is, it's just not as fun to watch to someone who also does stupid shit like this, which is, you know, all of us.

    It's one thing to be the buffoon, it's another to watch the buffoonery. You know?

    Like, I'm not so sure that the old comedy adage applies here: Tragedy is when I fall, comedy is when you do. Here, her falling makes me cringe.

    There's a line in the pilot, I think, "I am the voice of my generation. Or, at least, some generation." I cringed at that, too. Because she's not really. Or, she's the voice of all generations, maybe? As in, all twenty-somethings go through this shit. The only thing that changes is the fashion.

    Yes, you should definitely see ensuing eps. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on them. Also? Totally worth it to hear the line, "You ass-fucked my friend in the heart."

    Sigh.

     
  • At May 16, 2012 9:58 AM, Blogger naomi said…

    The episode I liked the most, for some reason, was Ep. 3. I think possibly because it was the most Hollywood-glossy-romcom-ish? And also the least real.

    Because I usually watch the show going, "You moron! Oh god, I've totally done that. Shit." To, like, every single character.

    I find it really interesting, the things that people seem to like to pick apart to criticize the show-- "Young women don't walk arm-in-arm down the street! How ridiculous!" But it seems like people are complaining about the sort of stylistic details that create the world of the show, and they're doing it much more harshly than they ever did with Sex and the City or even Friends, even though both of those shows were just as heightened in their own ways.

    What seems authentic to me, and why I keep watching it, is just as you said -- she may not be the voice of her generation, but she is kind of the voice of all generations, or all people who pass through that phase of life. I love the way she so honestly lays out those horrible, mortifying situations we've all willingly put ourselves in. Even if they make me really embarrassed for my pathetic 20-year-old self.

     
  • At June 17, 2012 2:57 PM, Blogger Dena Darvish Derakhshan said…

    I'm stealing your idea. You might get an anonymous blank check in the mail.

     

Post a Comment

<< Home