(And Downton is fittingly the hour before Girls comes on...talk about DRAMA on that show. Only ONE more episode, though?! C'mon Julian Fellows. Hopefully he won't kill anyone...)
My sister likes movies and shows that show character development through dynamic change and the growth of a person, hopefully in a positive way. Ever since she mentioned this to me, I think all sisters of this family look for that when they watch something. And I haven't seen this with Girls. Perhaps in little ways, but at the core, they are all still who they are (which is a reason for some of the show's criticism: privileged white girls). This saddens me. I think I continue to watch it because it's kind of like a train wreck (of the #firstworld), I'm hoping I'll see some change, and I'm just curious what kind of crazy story/script Lena Dunham is going to put together this week.
As I'm reflecting on this show, however, I'm also realizing that it may actually be depicting how messy and uncomfortable being in your 20s can be. My sister recently admitted she thought she was going "insane" and wasn't sure what she was doing with her life (she's in college), and my immediate reaction was, "that's normal." I doubt that was the most comforting reaction...but for me, it's true. I feel like I'm constantly trying to figure things out and seeing where I fit in this world, while people around me my age are getting married or making babies or buying houses or settling into jobs. I don't feel old enough for some of that shit. But I guess it's normal.
So maybe that's why I watch the show; for although I feel annoyance at the constant negativity and circular patterns that define the show's central characters, maybe I feel a slight personal connection to the chaos, as if their chaos makes me feel less stressed about the chaos I perceive/create in my own world.
Lena Dunham has a creative voice, no doubt, and her upcoming book (of which I can't recall the title) looks interesting in a "will-this-be-a-mess-or-will-this-be-a-hit" kind of way, and it's obvious she is funny.
What have I learned from watching "Girls"? Be yourself (cliche of the day!). Nothing successful comes right away and we all have to go through our own versions of hell before we can see the greener grass on the other side. Don't pressure yourself to have your life figured out - you have your entire life to do that - we should all be making more mistakes, anyway. You hear all that, dear sister of mine? (Or, do you have anything else to add??)