As epsiode 3 came and went, our discussion of GIRLS may have been at its peak. We decided to pay homage to Shoshanna’s earnest assessment of her own “Sex and the City” character match in Episode 1 by playing the same game with GIRLS. (Side note: if this were the Sex and the City game, Carolanne would totes be Carrie with a touch of Miranda, and Matt is def Samantha with a bit of Charlotte’s country club aesthetic). Anyway, this game would prove difficult with GIRLS, mostly because by this point none of the characters were particularly redeemable. They were all still slightly absurd embodiments of some real life (probably atypical) situations and relationships, but as individuals didn’t feel well rounded or grounded in any discernible pasts (which, obviously, as viewers we knew nothing about yet). And to further complicate this vain attempt at locating ourselves in these irritating fictitious beings, the one of us who is not a GIRL was left with an even bleaker set of abysmally portrayed male characters.
CAROLANNE: Well I’m clearly the uptight friend who actually has a job, ALTHOUGH the abortion hipster was wearing my pants in episode 2. You? Is that question even relevant?
MATT: Uh there have only been three men on the show, and I’ve failed to learn two of their names. #1 is a tool who says things that most people only say when putting their foot in their mouth (not me), and #2 is the “vagina” boyfriend who tries to be endearing and his girlfriend hates him for it (going to have to pick him), BECAUSE #3 is the opium carrying friend, and given that I don’t possess opium, nor do I want to, I feel I cannot pick him as my show equivalent. Though after this episode maybe I would like to be Jorma Tacome.
MATT: (equating Carolanne to someone): I think you have the sensibility of Marnie, mixed with a hint of Shoshanna (awful name), with the style of Jessa, and the writing ability but without all the insecurity of our “heroine” Hannah.
CAROLANNE : Haha which one is Shoshanna? I hope I'm not that much like any of them..
I kind of have to agree with your assessment of the men, and for better or worse, I can't picture you as any of the female characters. Clearly opium Ray isn't a good pick, and the dude Hannah is sleeping with is awful, so really that just leaves the boyfriend. I guess you could be the dude who asks to borrow Jessa's cell phone to call his mom and then hooks up with her in the bathroom, but you clearly have your own phone.
MATT: Shoshanna is the ditzy one. She isn't, but in a way, kinda feels like a glue girl for the group. While they’re all being idiots (insecure submissive, whiney/rich/beautiful/lucky, and whorey respectively) she's there living her content/happy blissfully naive world, while still having human emotions and worries, like being perceived as a prude, and feeling awkward.
Another difference besides "clearly you have your own phone" (which is true, I do), is that I would not randomly be told to reach 3rd with a girl in a graffitti covered bathroom and just go along with it. In addition, that looked like a miserable hook up session. AND WHO DOESN’T HAVE A PHONE, and calls simply to say I'll call you later?? And, if i walked into a bar in the middle of the afternoon, and the girl who let me borrow her phone for a pointless phone call was drinking milk I would first ask “why?” and then sit 4 seats away.
With all that being said, I think there is no female or male character who really shares a whole bunch of qualities with me and that clearly i should use that as a pick up line / bragging point in the immediate future. DUH.
MATT: Also I found it a bit amusing, though not strange, that people are mad at the show for not having enough black people. It is slightly presumptuous that all hipster white girls who are 24 and living in brooklyn off their parents must at some point hang out with black people (probably not the case). It is true that at least in the background they should have some, as the city is diverse, but requiring them tokenly as featured characters on a show that HBO airs doesn’t feel quite right in my mind. HBO is known for quality story driven tv shows that are told in the voice of their creator like Curb Your Enthusiam or Deadwood. The heroine Hannah (who is essentially Lena Dunham) is a neurotic individual as it is and thus may even have founded or (more likely) unfounded/irrational fears of other ethnicities (there has been a dearth of anything not white on the show if you think about it). (CAROLANNE note: I actually agree with everyone’s outrage.. The first non-white person with a speaking role on the show was a homeless man who barked at Hannah while she was walking down the street in the Pilot. And adding Donald Glover to season 2 will not bring redemption. Way to go, Lena Dunham...)
Carolanne Fried is a second time writer for the blog and a GIRL. Matt Brickell is a senior writer and still is not a GIRL.
No comments:
Post a Comment