Caution: Characters in HBO’s “Girls” May Be Closer Than They Appear
Caution: Characters in HBO’s “Girls” May Be Closer Than They Appear
Since the highly-anticipated arrival of Girls on HBO last April, the series has attracted an impressive viewership and generated a myriad of accolades. Last summer the show received Emmy nominations in four major categories, including acting, writing, and directing nods for the show’s 26-year old creator, Lena Dunham. And with its second season premiering this Sunday, Girls is clearly hitting its stride.
But will women of color be watching?
Even before its HBO premiere, Girls had garnered a lot of negative attention – including criticism regarding the lack of racial diversity on the show.
While this certainly is not the first popular TV series with no minority actors in a leading role, many felt that in this day and age, a departure from previous norms was a reasonable expectation. Anna Holmes, writing for The New Yorker, noted that “[t]here is a disconnect between the rapidly changing demographics of the country (including the Oval Office) and the stories we see reflected back to us on the small and silver screens.”
Many other writers and critics weighed in on the race issue, including Jenna Wortham, a biracial columnist living in Brooklyn. She posited in her article “Where (My) Girls At?” that “the problem with Girls is that while the show reaches — and succeeds, in many ways — to show female characters that are not caricatures, it feels alienating, a party of four engineered to appeal to a very specific subset of the television viewing audience, when the show has the potential to be so much bigger than that.”
Dunham, for her part, seemed shocked by the racially-charged criticism but recognized its import: “I take that criticism very seriously…this show isn’t supposed to feel exclusionary…[and] for me to ignore that criticism and not to take it in would really go against my beliefs and my education in so many things.” Making good on her word, this week media outlets confirmed that Dunham had cast actor Donald Glover to play her black, Republican boyfriend in the show’s second season.
The verdict is still out on whether Donald Glover’s casting and storyline will feel like a natural addition to the Girls formula, or whether it will stand out as a forced response to mounting criticism. In the show’s first season, stereotypical casting of minority actors was cited as a major reason for discontent. In the pilot, the only black person with a speaking line is a homeless person standing outside of the Warwick Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Such one-dimensional casting choices did not sit well with some of the show’s early viewers.
For those curious enough to continue watching, however, a more complete picture began to form. There is a memorable scene in Episode 4, for example, where Hannah (played by Dunham) decides to break up with her emotionally unavailable, would-be boyfriend: “I just want someone who wants to hang out all the time, and thinks I’m the best person in the world, and wants to have sex with only me,” she tells him. The words are simple enough, but Dunham’s delivery is honest and raw.
Dunham confessed later in an interview that the emotional speech was derived largely from a break-up letter she’d written in real life. It was then that I realized just how personal this project is for Dunham. For her, the line between personal experience and art is incredibly blurred.
Regardless of casting choices, it is this authenticity — often delivered in a humorous and self-deprecating tone — that resonates with viewers, irrespective of their ethnicity (or age, or gender, etc.).
Some have suggested that the paucity of minority characters means that Girls isn’t really for us. I beg to differ. Sex and the City is frequently cited among women of color as being a great show with a relatable quality — despite the fact that all four leads were white women.
Similarly, relatable threads can be found in HBO’s Girls. With candor and wit, the show captures the struggles plaguing many twenty-somethings in their journey to self-discovery: financial instability; the desperation for attention and approval — even from men who really aren’t worth their time or affection; and the search for purpose and a sense of identity.
Wortham, who criticized the show for its lack of diversity, eventually acquiesced to being a fan of the series: “[A]s much as I wanted to dislike the show, I couldn’t help but love it…It gets So. Many. Things. Right. It’s on point again and again, hitting at the high and low notes about being in your twenties, about being on your own and still so far from grown.”
It is a begrudging endorsement from Wortham — which somehow makes it even more powerful. The fact that more minority women – and men – are watching, is a testament to the depth and intelligence of a show that despite its superficial imperfections, possesses greater mass appeal than the all-white ad campaign would suggest.
Karen J. Francis is a culture writer and media attorney living in New York City. She is a passionate WEEN committee member and also serves as the organization’s Entertainment Editor. Follow her on Twitter @karebelle.
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