Girls: navigating life, one season at a time

When back in February Lena Dunham, creator, writer and producer of the TV show Girls graced the cover of American Vogue, there were many who had serious doubts about the decision to put her on the cover of probably the world’s most respected and circulated fashion magazine. Lena is not a model type (anyone who watches the show would agree as we had many, many chances to see that Dunham doesn’t see her not perfect body as a reason to hide it on-screen) and she is a creative force behind one of the most unconventional shows on television. Perhaps Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of the publication, was just trying to show that Vogue is all about things that are relevant and define our time. If so, she made a right decision – Lena Dunham and Girls, ironically, will tell you more about the lives of twenty-somethings of the present than Vogue will ever dare.

Girls premiered in 2012, an effort of Lena (her debut was Tiny Furniture, very Girls-esque attempt to analyze struggles of twenty-something named Aura, played by Dunham herself) and producers Judd Apatow and Jennifer Konner. HBO, an American channel known for critically acclaimed production, became the home of the show, giving Girls a wide audience from the beginning, and placing them in media and viewer attention, many of the latter quickly becoming fans. However, despite mainstream attention (and Vogue cover), the show never lost its quirkiness and charm.

And how could it when the show has such characters! Hannah, aspiring writer, played by Dunham, is just one of them. There is Marnie (Allison Williams), beautiful and full of creative ambitions too and in season 3 we finally saw her fulfilling them; sweet and responsible Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet), New York University student; and, of course, her cousin Jessa (Jemima Kirke), a free spirit who moves in with her and gets into trouble during the series quite a few times (rehab was probably the high-, or low-, light). Oh and the boys, from sarcastic Ray (Alex Karpovsky) to sassy, truth speaking gay friend Elijah (Andrew Rannels) everyone who follows the  show has a favourite, but what is admirable about the writers of Girls is that they didn’t turn each character into a rigid stereotype, but rather into a real person, who, despite having a specific character and ways of dealing with issues, can and will act in a completely different way. Or change their mind. Or start doing something they said they never will. Because people do change, make mistakes and (sometimes) learn from them.

Girls shows us that people do change, make mistakes and (sometimes) learn from them.

Keeping such diverse people together is not easy and even though they all are friends, friendships changed during the show. As the series progressed, there were more and more glimpses into what actually drove each character mad about the other. Yes, there was a lot of fighting. But guess what, they still somehow remained friends. One of my absolute favourite moments of the whole 3 seasons was the scene when Hannah was in the bathtub, singing Oasis’ ‘Wonderwall’ and Jessa came in and joined her. After a few moments she started crying and didn’t pretend anymore she was ok – she wasn’t, her (spontaneous) marriage was over. A moving and beautiful moment – until Hannah pointed out that Jessa just put her booger into the bathtub water and both girls started laughing. ‘Wonderwall’ kept playing over the credits and I just realised that this is Friendship from capital F – you can be crying, unreasonable mess with your make up smudged, look and feel worst but there will be someone who won’t care about all that, will still think you’re awesome and will comfort you and give you advice. As important as your girlfriends are, Girls always gave another crucial truth about life – you have to be your own wonderwall. As season 3 ended with Hannah smiling with confirmation letter of being accepted into prestigious grad school in her hands, so should we. Dreams are worth chasing. And you are the one deciding what you want and responsible for getting it.

And getting what you want and dream about is not easy. The charm of the show is how relatable it is to anyone young and still trying to figure it out what will make them happy or struggling to finally be where they want to. Hannah had to take advertising job at GQ magazine just to realize again that compromising is good but not if it stands in a way of you doing what you really want to. From the very beginning Girls was compared to 90s classic Sex and the City. And it is easy to see why – a group of friends in New York, dealing with ups and downs of life, from relationships, jobs to finding a perfect dress. And sure, Sex and the City will remain one of the favorites of many girls, offering a dream of a complicated but oh so nice life in New York, but Girls offers a completely different story. Because I have no doubt not many of us have a problem of trying to figure out how to squeeze another pair of Manolo Blahnik’s shoes into the wardrobe whereas figuring out how to get to the point where you don’t need to ask money from your parents, getting an interview at the place you spent nighst without sleep dreaming about are known to many of us. I’m not trying to say that the sassy New Yorkers of Sex and the City did not have real life problems – they did but those problems were powdered, well dressed and had cocktails at the trendiest places in New York. They were past the point in life where characters of Girls are now and this is what makes the show more relevant to us. Girls gives you life as it is – with all pitfalls, bad hair days, awkward sex, neurotic relatives and complicated, very complicated relationships.

You can like and adore Girls, you can say it is irritating and pretentious, but I don’t think there is any show right now you can relate as much to and have those moments when you go ‘ah I know this so well!’. As season 3 ended, many critics argued that the show tried to conclude every story line and the ending didn’t feel natural. Maybe, however I’m more than happy to see how girls will be doing next year. One thing I know for sure – TV will always give you sweet escapism but if your relationship falls or you’ll be having ‘I am twenty-something” blues, Girls will be there for you. Because we are all trying to figure it out, one mistake at the time.