HBO's Girls

[DACrowe]

Just watched the pilot. I thought it captures the sense of desperation, entitlement and confusion of being in your 20s pretty well, even if half the characters are overly narcissistic. I thought it was pretty enjoyable and showed living in New York in a more realistic way with crossover appeal (as opposed to the single lady fantasy of Sex and the City.). I would compare it more to Freaks and Geeks if we saw them "grown up" ten years later.

Here's the trailer:



It's worth watching and giving a chance, in my opinion.

 

[SpitCurl]

Gave it a shot. All I could think was, "eh, more white people's problems. This s**t is getting old."

Perhaps it'll grow on me. Pilot's aren't always indicative of a show's potential or quality, so we'll see.

 

[Destructus86]

Gave it a shot. All I could think was, "eh, more white people's problems. This s**t is getting old."

Perhaps it'll grow on me. Pilot's aren't always indicative of a show's potential or quality, so we'll see.

I'm white and even I thought that!

 

[amazingfantasy15]

The show is just hipster trash.

 

[DACrowe]

People throw that word around all the time now. The only hipster in it is the blond girl with the fake Brit accent. The main character probably wants to be hipster but she's too mainstream for that.

 

[Shifty]

Meh. I'll see what happens next week. Could have potential now that they've introduced everyone but I have a feeling HBO will cancel this because the target audience will just download it and not pay for it. More interested in Veep that premieres next week.

 

[SuperT]

I was kinda excited for this show because it was by Apatow and I love almost everything by him but what pretentious crap. The last thing we need is another show about rich, white girl problems.

They live in Brooklyn for pete's sake, would it have hurt them to have added a couple women of color to the main cast?!

 

[Shifty]

I was kinda excited for this show because it was by Apatow and I love almost everything by him but what pretentious crap. The last thing we need is another show about rich, white girl problems.

They live in Brooklyn for pete's sake, would it have hurt them to have added a couple women of color to the main cast?!

Their argument is that it is a group of privileged white girls. If they had a token minority they would get called out on that as well. That doesn't bother me as much.

This is a niche show, however the media will hype anything on HBO so it gets more attention in the media. Two Broke Girls is hated by the media but draws 10 million viewers (more than 10x the TV viewers as Girls, sure lots more watched online) but it hasn't received the same amount of backlash because the media basically ignored the show only calling out the racism and sexism but internet commenters don't really care.

 

[Call Me Darkman]

Haven't seen it yet, but it's getting trashed on the Internet.

 

[Octoberist]

What isn't getting trashed on the Internet?

 

[DACrowe]

It's getting trashed on the Internet by a bunch of fanboy message boards. are you really surprised.

I could just as easily point to glowing reviews from Entertainment Weekly, Slate, Rolling Stone, New York Times, etc.

I think it following up Game of Thrones and Eastbound and Down was probably a bad position for it. But I'm in the camp who liked the show. I think it is honestly a more realistic depiction of what people in their 20s are like right now than a lot of shows. Are they narcissistic and spoiled? Sure. That doesn't make it untrue. But I'm pretty sure I'll be in the minority on this site.

BTW, I haven't seen it around here, but the worst complaints are it's either not glamorized enough (like the awful SATC) or that Dunham is overweight, there's not much I can say to those complaints. Just shrug.

 

[SuperT]

Its getting talked about more than just on "fanboy" sites. I think a lot of the articles do bring up valid points and criticisms about the show.

You can't say that your show is the voice of a generation when it's only showing one, narrow minded perspective. Not to mention almost all the characters on this show are exact clones of each other.

It's also easier to criticize a show when its writers are total jerkbags as seen by one of the shows writers comments on twitter.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I saw it. I liked it. Will be continuing to watch.

 

[DACrowe]

Its getting talked about more than just on "fanboy" sites. I think a lot of the articles do bring up valid points and criticisms about the show.

You can't say that your show is the voice of a generation when it's only showing one, narrow minded perspective. Not to mention almost all the characters on this show are exact clones of each other.

It's also easier to criticize a show when its writers are total jerkbags as seen by one of the shows writers comments on twitter.

Who said it was the "voice of a generation?" The character says it in the episode, but she is also high and it's played as a laugh to show how delusional/narcissistic she is.

Perhaps, fanboys is the wrong word. But I've read nothing but rave reviews on news and entertainment sites for weeks. The only criticism I've seen are in comment sections and on a few message boards I glanced at (whose writers are predominantely male).

I know I'm not the target audience as a straight male, but I enjoyed the pilot. However, I can guess the target audience for Game of Thrones and Eastbound and Down (I like the former, so-so about the latter) are not the ones to watch Girls. I just feel like a lot of people dislike it because it's not their bag and not because of its quality. I think it is certainly more intelligent and honest than Sex and the City which I always thought was grating.

But to each their own.

P.S. Again going after shows because their writers are smug on Twitter seems like a reach to me. If that were the case, fans would have ditched Community long ago.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

People throw that word around all the time now. The only hipster in it is the blond girl with the fake Brit accent. The main character probably wants to be hipster but she's too mainstream for that.

Yeah, what was I thinking, a girl wanting her parents to support her while she writes the "next great American Novel" is the opposite of being a hipster. Oh, but she doesn't want too much money, so she can give off the air of being poor, nothing hipster about that. The girl is a poster child for hipsters.

 

[Bruce Malone]

I know it's not a great excuse but part of the show's reason for putting me off is that pretty much every actress on the show is the daughter of famous parents i guess it makes sense for the characters though in that the actresses never had to try that hard either.

 

[DACrowe]

Yeah, what was I thinking, a girl wanting her parents to support her while she writes the "next great American Novel" is the opposite of being a hipster. Oh, but she doesn't want too much money, so she can give off the air of being poor, nothing hipster about that. The girl is a poster child for hipsters.

Well I can't argue what a hipster is. But I took her begging for money as she wanted enough to pay the rent without getting a job. But the story begins with her living off her parents and having (even if it's unpaid) a somewhat serious career-focused job and is a person who acts like she's never been high. Most hipsters I meet live, as you say, "just getting by" to seem cool working low-wage jobs while they practice being an "artist" or just hanging out and are always getting buzzed.

I think her blonde friend who pretends she has an English accent to seem cool, refuses to use Facebook and travels from one city to the next until she gets sick of people (or they of her) is a hipster. Probably her boyfriend as well who is a struggling "actor" who makes wood carvings as opposed to "being a slave" (i.e. getting a job).

But I don't think that there being a few hipsters makes it bad television. It can be interesting, as the portrait is unflattering. It's not trying to romanticize it like Scott Pilgrim or something. And her roommate, her boyfriend, their neighbor and her pseudo-intellectual friend don't feel like hipsters to me. Just the type of people you meet at that age in a big city. Though there being no other ethnicity is crap.

But to each their own.

 

[SpitCurl]

... I think it is honestly a more realistic depiction of what people in their 20s are like right now than a lot of shows. Are they narcissistic and spoiled? Sure. That doesn't make it untrue...

And see, I think you just hit on exactly why I didn't like it, and why it probably will never be for me, despite whether it's written or acted well. When I read that quote above, all I can I think, "well, now why the hell would anyone want to watch that?"

Which is weird, because I love Shameless (US), and its characters are plenty narcissistic, but I guess it's just a different aesthetic. I realized after that quote that I have zero interest in a show dedicated to shallow 20 year-old girls. I don't like them in real-life, either. I had no idea this was what the show was about initially, I just saw great reviews and gave it a go. But yeah, you nailed. This show and its premise just feels like the television equivalent of standing around watching a kid throw a tantrum on the supermarket floor.

 

[TheComicbookKid]

Perhaps, fanboys is the wrong word. But I've read nothing but rave reviews on news and entertainment sites for weeks. The only criticism I've seen are in comment sections and on a few message boards I glanced at (whose writers are predominantely male).

Well, the female dominated sites I visit have a problem with the diversity issue based on a quote from an interview Dunham made where she kind of "pissed" on the diversity question as "something she'll address if they get a second season."

I just feel like a lot of people dislike it because it's not their bag and not because of its quality. I think it is certainly more intelligent and honest than Sex and the City which I always thought was grating.

But to each their own.

I guess honestly, if we're to assume that the reason these type of privileged white girls live in such a bubble is because they're niche. Why would it garner a large fanbase?

 

[DACrowe]

Most people don't live like Sex and the City or Entourage yet women and men loved those shows, respectively. Though that is the wish fulfillment aspect. I think Girls has a good shot of growing into a popular show with a female audience. I know people dislike them because they're "girls" who won't grow up and are spoiled, but I kind of find that refreshing. It is talking about how a lot of 20-somethings act like college and/or high school never ended. Besides, when Apatow taps into that with movies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin (everyone not played by Steve Carrell in that movie) or Knocked Up, it's embraced. I'm sure this show will find its audience.

 

[TheComicbookKid]

Most people don't live like Sex and the City or Entourage yet women and men loved those shows, respectively. Though that is the wish fulfillment aspect.

Yeah, I figured that was a given.

I think Girls has a good shot of growing into a popular show with a female audience. I know people dislike them because they're "girls" who won't grow up and are spoiled, but I kind of find that refreshing. It is talking about how a lot of 20-somethings act like college and/or high school never ended. Besides, when Apatow taps into that with movies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin (everyone not played by Steve Carrell in that movie) or Knocked Up, it's embraced. I'm sure this show will find its audience.

Those Apatow flicks are straight-out comedies. Chest-waxing and vomiting while driving and crashing are played over a very universal nugget of a story about an awkward guy trying to find someone.


This is closer to Freaks and Geeks (not long for this world either) except it's missing that universal appeal of high school exclusion.

I don't think it's a matter of not liking them so much as what are you asking people to identify with if this is supposed to be a "real" look at twenty-somethings? The oxymoron of a niche group that's supposed to be universal is the problem. I don't think women are supposed to identify with them except as an observer.

 

[Rowsdower!]

I liked the first episode. I'm not sold on all of the characters yet... I hated the *****ebag that the main character bangs in the middle of the episode (though I think I was supposed to hate him) and the girl who with the Sex & the City obsession didn't feel very realistic to me. But I liked the main character, her roommate and everyone else for the most part. I don't know if it will continue to hold my interest yet, but we'll see.

 

[DACrowe]

Yeah, I figured that was a given.



Those Apatow flicks are straight-out comedies. Chest-waxing and vomiting while driving and crashing are played over a very universal nugget of a story about an awkward guy trying to find someone.


This is closer to Freaks and Geeks (not long for this world either) except it's missing that universal appeal of high school exclusion.

I don't think it's a matter of not liking them so much as what are you asking people to identify with if this is supposed to be a "real" look at twenty-somethings? The oxymoron of a niche group that's supposed to be universal is the problem. I don't think women are supposed to identify with them except as an observer.

HBO has renwed comedies with lower ratings like Enlightened. If Girls maintains its current audience or grows there will be a second season next year.

 

[TheComicbookKid]

HBO has renwed comedies with lower ratings like Enlightened. If Girls maintains its current audience or grows there will be a second season next year.

Oh, I'm sure it's going to get a second season already.

But 10 epsisode over two seasons equals one Freaks and Geeks.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Anyone watch it this week? I thought it was hilarious and better than the premiere episode.

The backlash this show has received is a little baffling to me. Fine, these characters seem to be examples of "privileged white people" but how is that so different from 75% of other shows out there? I think people are taking out all of their frustrations with modern TV shows on Girls, which really isn't fair, considering the show is only two episodes in. If people want to take their hate out on something, why not bash a show that has been given years to improve and has continued to suck indefinitely, like Two and a Half Men.