Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
In the latest episode of "Girls," Hannah (Lena Dunham) gets two pieces of seriously bad news. The less bad of the two is that her ex-boyfriend of two years from college is actually gay--and, as he tells her at the bar, would fantasize about men when they were together.
The second more serious bit of bad tidings is that Hannah has a sexually transmitted disease: HPV. The reason that Hannah is at the bar with her ex in the first place is because she is trying to figure out who gave her the STD.
Elijah, her ex, is not the source. That leaves Adam, the hipster creep Hannah's been sleeping with. Adam, who plays with her belly fat and fantasizes in bed that she's an eleven-year-old girl, had told Hannah earlier in the episode that he didn't give her the STD because he's been tested for it.
Turns out that Adam is a liar. Men can't get tested for HPV. And now Hannah is left to deal with the consequences of their condomless hook ups.
As the episode is coming to a close, a seriously demoralized Hannah sits in bed with her laptop open. What does she do? She pulls up her Twitter account:
She types: “You lose some, you lose some.” Self-pity. But she doesn’t hit send. She starts over, this time more explicitly: ”My life has been a lie, my ex-boyfriend dates a guy.” Again, she deletes; starts over. Finally, she taps out what amounts to a code: “All adventurous women do.”
"All adventurous women do." As Emily Nussbaum points out over at the New Yorker's culture blog, "No stranger who reads those words will know quite what they mean. They’re a credo, a pose—it’s a phrase she heard from a friend, who was repeating what another friend said, giving her a sophisticated attitude with which to face HPV."
Exactly. Hannah, who is feeling depressed, covers up her true emotions with the appearance of strength. Via Twitter, she glibly comforts herself by acting like HPV is a rite of passage for young "adventurous" women. But it's all pretense. We know it and she knows it.
Moments later, Hannah's roommate and best friend Marnie comes home. The two of them chat, catch up on their days, and then start dancing their worries away to Robyn's "Dancing On My Own," a song that, like Hannah's tweet, is defined by the sentiment of acting strong when you're really feeling vulnerable and alone.
That's how the show ends. It's a great sequence, capturing how emotionally dishonest we can be with ourselves and with the world when we're staring down a conflict.
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Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
I keep hearing bad things about this show but that sounds like some good writing (and great song choice, too).
Apr '11
Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
The part from Emily Nussbaum's quote where she speaks of a " sophisticated attitude" seems to me more revealing then the description of the show segment. Isn't the desire for a "sophisticated attitude" versus the more quiet and unseen desire for good overall personal character development the more noble endeavor then the "sophisticated attitude".
Not knowing the show and not wanting to judge it to harshly wouldn't a better segment be her realization that her "adventurousness" has had disastrous consequences and shining a light on that instead of the :
"emotional dishonesty" which, as far as your description reveals, no moral judgement is passed or is forthcoming.
Dec '11
Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
At one point, I was fairly sexually adventurous. Then I got "The call." The call to go see the doctor because a one night fling a month or 2 prior now had a good ol case of genital herpes. Beautiful.
Fun fact about herpes: You can't test for it because nearly everybody has the antibody.
So it isnt just the ladies that come up against the "Oh crap what am I doing with/to myself" connundrum. I find that this experience is being taken to part and parcel of the modern female experience specifically. maybe its just the shows concept I dont know.
Edited on May 1, 2012 at 5:42pmRe: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
A similar emotional dishonesty is captured in the last episode of Mad Men.
Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) gets a call from her boyfriend Abe who asks her to meet him for dinner at 7pm on a weeknight, despite knowing she works late. Reading the urgency in his voice, Peggy assumes that Abe must want to end the relationship, and confides her fears in the office secretary Joan Harris. Joan assures Peggy that men never take the time to end things, and that Peggy should expect a proposal. A giddy Peggy leaves work early to shop for a new dress and to get her hair styled. But when she shows up to meet Abe for dinner, Abe doesn't propose marriage, but rather moving in together.
Peggy's face drops for a moment, and her disappointment is evident; she was obviously hoping for a proposal. Nevertheless, she agrees to move in with Abe, and outwardly pretends to be thrilled with the decision for the rest of the show, even while her inward shame is obvious.
Sep '10
Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
Chlamydia, Herpes, Human Papilloma Virus. The sexual revolution: good times, good times.
May '10
Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
A network's logo should reflect its marketing and programming strategy:
Aug '10
Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
Episode One is available for free, legally, at this link on YouTube.
I could not get through the whole episode. I simply didn't find it very funny, and I found every character to be very unpleasant.
Of course, like a David Cronenberg or Stanley Kubrick movie (two directors I really dig), you're supposed to find the characters to be very unpleasant. It's kinda the point.
Oct '11
Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
Finally caught the first episode of Girls. Very well written/acted/directed. Unfortunately I found none of the characters particularly likable or sympathetic beyond the basic pity that is felt for those wasting their lives in shallow, narcissistic, self-delusion. I guess it's a comedy but it comes off more a generational cry for help.But it's definitely interesting in a cultural car crash kind of way.
Edited on May 1, 2012 at 6:42pmAug '10
Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
Here's the thing though, it's a tv series, not a movie. The characters are going to develop over a longer period of time. The whole point is that they are young, inexperienced, broke, and living semi-independently in one of the busiest and most cosmopolitan cities in the world.
Like I wrote earlier, I couldn't get through the first episode because I simply didn't enjoy it. However, at the same time, I can see what Lena Dunham might be trying to do with the show, so I really cannot judge it too harshly.
It is possible to dislike a piece while also admitting that it has value. (Example: I never liked Michael Jackson's music, but I have to admit that he was a talented musician. I simply didn't like it.)
Aug '10
Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
I watched the first episode as well, and had a visceral dislike for every person in it. It made me wonder if the writers actually thought they were sympathetic characters, and that it was just one big culture clash. Or perhaps they're starting out unlikeable and the show will actually become more about how they have to grow up and become responsible, reasonable people and it will become a cautionary tale.
But frankly, given Hollywood's track record with such material, I can't give them the benefit of the doubt and keep watching. The people on the show are just too obnoxious, and too similar to some of the people I've had to deal with in my own life. I'd rather have needles stuck in my eyes than spend any more time with them.
Aug '10
Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
<devil's advocate mode = on>
It's not like unlikable characters cannot be compelling. After all, Seinfeld was built around the idea of a show about self-serious, unlikable, New Yorkers with "diverse" levels of employment and varying degrees of self-awareness.
<devil's advocate mode = off>
I think Girls is for people who didn't think Seinfeld was funny.
Oct '10
Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
did not know until today that pretty allison williams is NBC brian william's daughter.
Sep '11
Re: Appearance Versus Reality on HBO's "Girls"
I'm enjoying Girls a lot - it's very thought provoking. I dread where it's going but I'm going along for the ride.