After listening to my housemate repeatedly tell me to get onto this American comedy, Girls for two weeks solid, I finally got around to watching the first episode on Thursday night. I had finished all two seasons by Saturday... And I work a 9-5. The programme captures with humbling honesty all of the nitty gritty details that fill the life of a twenty-something year old girl trying to make it through the limbo that hangs steadfastly between university and youth and life as an adult. Lena Duham, the creator, writer, producer and star of the show portrays with frightening accuracy the lives, trials and tribulations of a group of girls trying to survive in New York, in romance, in friendship and work.
This show is not like other American hits. The cameras that
shoot the programme do not sport (like The
OC and Desperate Housewives) a
permanent orange lens to portray an unnatural glow across each character’s face
and an alarming lack of cellulite around their thighs. The girls are not size
zero, not airbrushed and in no way the completely
unrealistic portrayal of “young women” that we see on Gossip Girl.
Luxe Models
is fully aware of the fact that the world is changing and being size zero is no
longer a necessity to make it in show-biz or modelling. Quite the opposite,
Lena Dunham is a self-deprecating, hilarious embodiment of what it is to be,
well, normal. Except for, perhaps,
her brilliant wit, fabulous writing and success at the age of 25, this girl is
just like you and I. The show is very much autobiographical, and so freakin’
relatable that it hurts (anyone who is also a twenty-something year old girl
living in the city after university must agree). Hannah Horvath, the
protagonist of the show played by Lena Dunham, has been “14 pounds overweight”
her whole life, regularly goes out with a “greasy forehead” and snacks to her
heart’s content. Yes, she is much like a lot of regular twenty-somethings, nay,
most twenty-somethings. She rocks
pretty outfits such as floral playsuits, and never shies away from short-shorts. What’s more, she dates (and has
raucous, adventurous sex with) the hottest
guys throughout each season, the highlight having to be Adam Sackler,
played by upcoming actor, Adam Drive, who is THE most beautiful, broody, moody, arty character to hit
any screen in a long time.
Lena Dunham, during an interview with David Letterman, described
how Howard Stern had said about her: “Good for her. It’s hard for little fat
chicks to get anything going.” She laughed at the comment and said she admired
Stern’s work; she just wasn’t bothered. And why should she be when she looked
gorgeous, dressed in a simple black dress, with bright red lips and a
pixie-crop haircut.
The show is painfully true, hilarious, embarrassing and gorgeous.
We see the kinds of outfits that actually inspire “I might buy that” kind of
thoughts, and not “I’m going to find the nearest cliff and jump off it”. For
the girls, for ALL the girls... you must watch this show.
