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."