Monday, April 16, 2012

"frank" and yet not really

Girls is a  new show that  is either
a) What it's really like being a young woman starting out on life these days.
OR
b) Yet another navel-gazing show wherein the elite mistake their own narrow world view for "realism".
The right answer? To be honest, I couldn't be bothered to watch myself but here's a hint from a write up at Slate:
Girls is getting a lot of attention for being so frank about sex; it’s also frank about money. The pilot is mostly about how Hannah, the Dunham character, can no longer afford to live in New York; her year-long internship has not turned into a paying job and her parents don’t want to support her anymore.
And the writer goes on to say,
This is typical of the show’s realism, which is key to its quality.
For all I know this may be a very realistic portrayal of young girls who try to make it in New York City just as a show about female jockeys might be realistic. But most women aren't jockeys and most women don't live in New York City. And working at an internship  is she? The cultural references here are incredibly narrow.


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