Okay. Quick Quiz. How many of the following things have happened to you?
- someone read your diary, and then used it against you
- you were sexually harassed at work by your boss
- someone tried to help you with your make-up, but made you look more like a clown
- you've supported your friend's really crappy band/musical act
- someone sexts you a picture of their penis, and then tells you that the pic wasn't meant for you
- you lose the kids you are babysitting, but the parent says "It's okay. It happens to all of us."
- a guy goes down on you, but when you offer sex and tell him it's your first time, he climbs off of you and states that "he doesn't do virgins"
- you throw a drink in your BFF's face because your sad boyfriend reads her diary onstage
I've already ditched Veep on the same network because, however much I enjoy male parliamentarians making fools of themselves on British film/tv, something about a show that humiliates a female politician in a country where half of its population is NOT adequately represented is too damn much for me to swallow. Hey, this is the same country where that dim-wit Palin was a candidate for Vice President not that long ago. In fact, Veep's existence right now says to me, "Hey voters. Don't vote for a woman in this upcoming/any election, because this is the kind of politician you're going to get." Oh, here come the myriad of comments about how I'm such a humorless feminist. Yeah, you know what, you're right. I don't find politics in the U.S. very funny right now. Politics feels pretty life or death to me, and a hell of a lot of other women too.
So, is Girls on the chopping block yet? Well, not just yet, but it's getting there. I'm delighted when the show deals with issues like sexual harassment in the workplace, even in a semi-humorous fashion. While it's unfortunate that Hannah, once again, will not be gainfully employed, because it's pretty certain that she's not staying with "touchy Rich," the responses that her co-workers have to the situation is what makes the episode both thoughtful and troubling. And the eyebrows that they give her! Yikes. My cousins did something similar to me with blue eyeshadow when we were all visiting our grandmother as kids, but they were younger and not trying to "help" (they painted my entire face blue--not cool). I'm on the fence whether Hannah's co-workers are over-the-top caricatured or not. We probably will never see them again.
The scene where Jessa babysits, and loses, the kids at the park was pretty complex. All the other nannies don't imagine her as a sitter, but she informs them that she's "just like the rest of you." Right. Fast forward, and once she realizes how woefully underpaid they are (and overpaid she is for the same job), she decides that they should all form a union, demand pay raises, and she'll demand a pay cut. The black woman in the group then asks her where her kids are. Whoops! And she eventually finds the kids for Jessa, who impotently twirls her long blonde hair while calling their names. Yes, the nannies that surround Jessa's impassioned and clueless call-to-arms are another Benetton-like grouping (a black woman, a Latina lady, an Asian grandma, and gay guy, oh my)! At least the scene makes clear how privileged Jessa is, how class impacts the lives of working women, and how crappy she is at her job.
I liked that this scene follows Jessa petulantly whining that the one weird thing about having a job is that "You have to be there, every day, even on days when you don't feel like it." OMG, what a ridiculous and horrible thing to say! So Girls is purposefully making one of its main characters seem pathetic and stupid, right? Well, that's the problem with Girls. Dunham makes all four of the leads look like idiots, week after week. As I just mentioned, that attitude made me jettison Veep after episode 2. Still, the fact that Girls is written and directed by a woman means that, for me, there's just more at stake.
And this week, Girls really served up a wham-bam in order to annihilate the good feelings that came from the last episode, where, even though Marnie and Hannah are surrounded by annoying, dick-ish guys, they still have each other (and dancing). This week, Charlie's friend, Ray, reads Hannah's diary (see above), setting the stage for Charlie to read about Hannah's feelings regarding Marnie's feelings for her "suffocating" boyfriend, Charlie. Convoluted, I know. See, that's the funny thing about diaries. They are private. And about people's feelings. AND not meant to be read by someone else. EVER. I have had my private journal surreptitiously read by three people, and every time that happened, everything exploded.
Hannah's diary is read on two separate occasions: Once, with Ray and Charlie as they snoop around Marnie and Hannah's apartment (first violation), and then, onstage, in front of a small group of onlookers listening to Charlie and Ray's lame band (violation #2). Instead of getting mad at Charlie for such a horrible violation of Hannah's trust, Marnie throws a drink in Hannah's face when Charlie and Ray perform and read passages from the text. So much for that bonding moment between Hannah and Marnie last episode. Now Marnie's rendered unlikeable. Heavy sigh. Girls is starting to feel too much like heavy lifting, and my back hurts (curmudgeonly fist-shake). Patience is wearing thin.
I like what Abra Deering Norton has to say about the show:
"Why — oh why — can't there be one character in the show who gives a rat's ass about her career? Is career a dirty word to these Girls? Is trying uncool? How about just a passion about anything? Like, even, a hobby? Is learning freaking Windows and Word macros that difficult?"
She's given Girls the heave-ho. I'm about to do the same. One more week.
