Feminist media scholars, and seemingly every other woman who watches television, have been bombarded with discussions and ads regarding Lena Dunham's new HBO show Girls, which premieres Sunday night. I have my concerns regarding how four young straight privileged white women are being heralded as the great WHITE hope of women-created and focused programming. And yet, Dunham has a smart and distinctive voice, and I want her to be successful so that she can open doors for other women. I'm trying to not be cynical and say something like, "Yeah look at all the doors Kathryn Bigelow opened with her Best Director Oscar win." Oh. I just said it.
Also, I was never one of these people enamored by Bridesmaids (2011), another Judd Apatow produced concoction. Don't get me wrong. I loved Freaks and Geeks, and really liked Undeclared, but somewhere along the way, Apatow went terribly wrong with Knocked Up (2007), and since then I look at everything he does with a suspicious cocked eyebrow and squint.
Still, I'm excited about this show, even though I'm swimming in a giant ocean of Hype right now, and I JUST WANT THE DAMN SHOW TO START ALREADY! Jeez.
If you do not know what I'm talking about, and then, one wonders, how in the world you found this blog, you can find out more from these sources, currently unread, but holding their own separate windows on my browser.
Salon.com's coverage: here, here, here, and here .
The New York Times has some coverage: here and here.
Huff post: here.
and Women in Hollywood: here.
These posts are just ones that have popped up in the last week. I have been reading about this show for ages, even before all the hoopla at SXSW where the creators premiered the series, red carpet and all. We'll see how Dunham handles it all. Will she become a hip commercial muse, schilling for every one from Luis Vuitton to Marc Jacobs (hello Sophia Coppola). Or will she make her ubiquitous presence over-known by having her own pop culture column in Entertainment Weekly, and then complain about her over-exposure later (hello Diablo Cody). I'm hoping neither, but synergistic media and the powers of white heterosexual patriarchy create a hungry monster and I'm sure Dunham is so very yummy!!
I'm purposefully NOT reading these articles until after I see this show, and I'll try to weigh in afterward. Here's hoping it's as good as the hype.
