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Old 01-28-2013, 09:58 PM   #1
MikeWaters
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Default "Girls" on HBO

I watched the first season of Girls last year. Have watched the first 3 episodes of the second season, which is ongoing on HBO.

If you haven't seen the show, it's about 20-somethings in New York City. That are caught up in their shallow narcissistic lives. It's supposed to be a grittier kind of "Sex in the City" more rooted in "realism."

The main character is Lena Dunham, who also produces, writes and directs. The character is interesting in that she is ugly, fat, and has a horrid personality. And she takes her clothes off quite often. Showing a body that could kindly be called "average", but more aptly described as cringe-inducing (I'm pretty sure Archaea would throw up). This is not a character that you really root for. But at the same time, she's not a character that I find myself rooting against. It's like watching a new species of ape on a National Geographic documentary. We're curious.

Hanna (aka Lena) has a boyfriend named Adam. I actually think he's the most interesting character on the show. He's tall, thickly built, unkempt, weird, crude, rude. In short, he's original compared to most characters you see on TV. I've told my wife that in some ways he reminds me of me. I think there is a slight physical resemblance. As well as some similarities in personality. My wife calls the resemblance "disturbing." This character has received some plaudits. But they are not universal. Slate commentator says:

Quote:
Lowder: Yes. David Plotz called Adam the most compelling character on television last year, and I can’t believe such a smart person could feel that way. Perhaps Adam just inhabits an aesthetic zone too far outside my very gay universe (out “where the magic happens”), and his dopey, Cro-Magnon, nearly pre-verbal masculinity is simply illegible to me. Even so, I’m not sure he’s of a piece with the rest of Girls—everyone else is confused and messy, sure, but they are at least striving for plausible goals and living some believable version of a young New York City life. Adam is a caricature lacking coherent motivation or interiority, and his bestial groans and grimaces are boring. Maybe that bumbling quality is funny to some, but it’s telling that this episode had so much levity without him. And anyway, Hannah is already disagreeable enough. Can one show really sustain two moderately hateful people at the same time?


Girls is full of characters who are so far beyond my realms of existence, that I actually read the above with some degree of shock. The ONLY character that resembles anything in my life is Adam, who has some resemblance to me. Some of his cruelty, his lack of social graces. I have no idea what a "believable version of a young New York City life" is. I am guessing that my current life is very far from it. Moreover, I am guessing that the average NYC gay life is pretty far removed from my own as well. If Adam were to be removed from the show, I might lose all interest.

Dunham spends half of Season 2 Episode 3 in a mesh shirt that shows her breasts. It is quite beyond non-sexual. Like I said, it becomes National Geographic. You almost expect her to whip out an African baby and start nursing, just for the shock value. One of her favorite tropes is to place the female characters in degrading sexual situations. This episode has an egregious one.

Does this show have redeeming artistic value? I'm on the fence here. There is a certain talent in the writing, but we will have to wait and see if she has more tricks up her sleeve than the ones she has already shown. Can she make the characters grow and change in interesting ways? Can she provoke beyond simply trying to shock?

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Old 02-01-2013, 12:31 AM   #2
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobile...b_2593756.html

Kareem's take.
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Old 10-03-2013, 10:51 AM   #3
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Love it
I started watching it a few days ago and I'm already all caught up!
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Old 03-13-2014, 09:14 PM   #4
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Someone tells me that Adam Driver has been cast to the villain in the new Star Wars film.

I know he has been cast, I just don't personally know what kind of role.

He's done a good job in Girls, but I'm wondering what kind of range he has. Because if he plays anything like he does on Girls it is not going to work at all.

Girls is getting worse. I question why I even bother.
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