HBO has been at the forefront of some of the most iconic television shows, especially those that cater to and center on the lives and experiences of women. Sex and the City broke cultural barriers and continues to be one of the largest pop culture phenomena in the world. Yet another show about four women living in New York has become a cult classic among the community of 20-something girls: Girls.
Girls is an American comedy-drama television show written by and starring Lena Dunham. The show spanned six seasons from April 2012 to April 2017. The show is drawn from Dunham’s personal experiences, providing a more nuanced and raw representation of a girl’s life after college, living on her own.
To some, it seems like the show may be too similar to Sex and the City, being a show about women, for women, and life in the city. However, Girls is like a more amped version of the period between girlhood and womanhood.
It puts the viewer in the position of viewing Hannah, a 24-year-old girl out of college, who doesn’t know what to do with her life. Easily the opposite of glamorous, Hannah and her friends are real, raw, and insufferable to the point of realizing that we’ve all been an insufferable Hannah, or a pent-up Marnie, or even an obnoxious Jessa or painfully awkward Shoshanna.
“I think I might be the voice of my generation. Or a voice. Of a generation.”
Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham, Girls)
Girls was so revolutionary for its time because it unapologetically refuses to conform to anything it doesn’t wholeheartedly believe in. Dunham wrote it the way women truly see and experience things, without the glamour filter. While Sex and the City was revolutionary for the time, Girls jumped on that train and doubled down. It isn’t a shame to talk about the ideas people are uncomfortable around. It received attention for its controversial depictions of sex, relationships, sexuality, friendship, and raw personal growth. The power is its ability to dive headfirst into the complexities of human adult relationships without worrying about anyone watching, just like a normal 20-something-year-old girl could understand.
So, “Why should I watch Girls?” you may ask. It is a show that finds you when you’re not looking for it. Its ability to relate to the everyday woman in the ways that we may be embarrassed to admit wholeheartedly is what gives the show its charm.
So, my answer to your question would be because all adventurous women love it.