My impression before watching the show “Girls” was that it was going to be refreshing, with marked doses of feminism and body positivity.
Why I thought that, I am unsure; it was the impression I subconsciously assembled based off various scraps of opinions I had heard or heard that others had heard about the show.
I think I even read about it in some scholarly article I was reading while doing research for a paper, and the article spoke in a laudatory way about the show.
The fact that this opinion came from a published scholar somehow gave some weight and extra validation to the opinion—surely, this person, who has authority in this area, knows what they are talking about and thus, their opinion must be right, or more right, anyway.
However, once I started watching the show, I was taken aback. And before I get into what I am going to say, I’d like to point out that I have only finished the first two seasons, so maybe the show will make some grand turn by the end, but at this point, I am scratching my head a bit at how anyone could describe the show as feminist.
Most of the characters are terrible people. They are excessively self-involved and incredibly spoiled and immature, in my personal opinion. Anytime they experience something like adversity they recede into tantrums and wallow in self-pity.
I think Lena Dunham’s character Hannah might be the worst on the show so far. It’s like she complains about how terrible everything is, and it truly appears to be her own fault, both because she got herself into the situations that she is in and also because she doesn’t try to do anything about it except complain and act like an overblown martyr.
The character of Adam is another part of the show that bothers me, especially considering that the label “feminist” has been applied to this show on multiple occasions.
He is sadistic and extremely misogynistic and there are so many uncomfortably humiliating sex scenes that he orchestrates, and sure, Hannah, who is involved with him, acknowledges that he is a terrible person, but then she continues to be involved with him in an apparent total lack of respect for herself.
What’s more is that the show appears to try to get viewers to like or at the least sympathize with Adam — we get the horrible sex scenes for a few episodes, then we get this whole backstory about how Adam is actually this cool funny dude etc. etc., and then we get more horrible sex scenes.
As far as I can tell, none of the females on this show are capable of surviving independently, emotionally, financially, or otherwise. They are all portrayed as self-destructive, insecure train wrecks.
And sure, no one has everything together and going for them, but my main problem with this show is the wallowing, the absence of any attempt to at least TRY to become a better person. It seems to me like the show encourages selfish, unhealthy behavior.
Another huge problem I have is with the claim of Hannah, and ostensibly Dunham, that she is “the voice of her generation.” It’s an extremely egoistic claim to make (in keeping with the attitude of the show, I guess) and I would rather vehemently disagree that she offers any kind of voice for me, who I suppose would count as a part of her generation.
The show and the experiences featured in it feature one kind of experience or perspective, and making a blanket statement like that is, I feel, in direct contrast to any kind of feminist thinking, which if anything is interested in giving voice to those who are traditionally spoken for. In arrogantly claiming to be the voice of her generation, Hannah is speaking for and drowning out tons of other stories.
I suppose there are moments in which the characters are portrayed as not traditionally attractive, i.e., in sweatpants and with greasy hair, and thus realistically, but there are way too many deeply troubling portrayals that make this weak attempt at, oh, I don’t know, acceptance of females as human, moot.
And yet, I still continue to watch the show, so what does that reveal? In talking to a coworker about this show, she described it as a good “hate watch,” which honestly is a great way to describe it. And I guess the show has good music and it’s written well enough, and has its moments of humor. But still, I certainly don’t think it should be called feminist.
