CHECKING IN ON HBO'S GIRLS

Thoughts on Girls after its first season (contains spoilers).
By Shoshana Greenberg (bookwriter-lyricist)

Two months ago, I wrote about the new HBO show Girls, a contemporary chronicle of four early-20-somethings in Brooklyn. I had initially been intrigued by the show and dismayed by the backlash surrounding it, even though it brought to the surface television critiques that had been festering for years. At that point, we were all only responding to the pilot episode, but now there is an entire 10-episode first season to critique. Creator Lena Dunham has stated that the diversity issue will be addressed in season two, but if you don't watch Girls because you still think of it as that Sex and the City knock-off about four trust-fund idiots (portrayed by the children of famous people) traipsing around Brooklyn, I hope you'll give the show more of a chance.

Lena Dunham as Hannah in the Girls season finale (HBO)

Not that the characters aren't idiots sometimes, which is one of the many reasons I love Girls. They can go too far, such as when Hannah (Dunham) confronted her boss about his sexual harrassment by offering to have sex with him, but in general I enjoy seeing people make mistakes because it reassures me that I'm not the only one. I don't relate directly to any of these characters, but they seem like people I might know, which in a way feels comforting. I like that each character has a different relationship to her sexuality that actually reflects ways in which women I know relate to theirs. Ultimately, the show is beautifully shot, bittersweet, funny, and fun to discuss.

Shoshanna's character (played by Zosia Mamet) and storyline were the most underdeveloped, which is disappointing because it is rare to see on television a female character past her teenage years who has not had sex. Aside from her shameful admittance to everyone that she was a virigin, Shoshanna had only one opportunity to deal with this aspect of herself--when an old camp acquaintance wouldn't have sex with her when she admitted it to him. Now that she has gotten over this hurdle, quickly and without much perspective, with Ray from Charlie's band, the opportunity to really delve into the experience of being a virgin in one's 20s is gone.

The show seems to be more about Hannah than about the four girls as a unit, however, and while Marnie (Allison Williams) and Jessa (Jemima Kirke) had interesting characters and storylines this season, they were always in support of Hannah and her story.

The finale, which aired last Sunday, June 17, was not my favorite episode of the season--Jessa's surprise wedding felt a bit contrived and Shoshanna's sex scene did not receive the proper weight--but it ended beautifully, with Hannah waking up on an empty F train at Coney Island, her purse gone. After a strange night filled with an unexpected wedding and a break-up with her boyfriend, she calmly stumbles into the harsh daylight to the beach and sits in the sand eating the only thing she has left, a piece of wedding cake. After all she's lost, she seems ready, in that moment, for a new beginning.

As much as I enjoyed this season, I'm eagerly awaiting that new beginning in season two.

 

SHOSHANA GREENBERG writes musicals, plays, and prose.  http://about.me/shoshanagreenberg
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Comments

[David Davila]

I LOVE THIS SHOW. It is trying SOOOO hard to not be Sex In The City.... but it pretty much is... it's like Sex In The City meets Seinfeld... like Kramer and Samantha got together and had weird Brooklyn babies... this show is absolutely wonderful in it's portrayal of city life AND the quarter-life-crisis... my biggest complaint is the title... GIRLS does not describe what the show is at all... and seems to be a turn-off to many of my friends (including me at first.) Oh well, I am now obsessed. The diversity issue was an issue with me until I watched the show, and didn't care... but it could take some advice from HOW TO MAKE IT AMERICA... that was a pretty accurate portrayal of NYC dwellers.