Girls

I watched the second episode of "Girls" last night and... I have an odd mixture of feelings.

There are funny things in it (which is good.  It is a comedy). Some laughs.  And there is some truth and observant writing. 

There's also a LOT of cringing.

Unfortunately, I think the lead has the potential to easily swing from the intended "endearingly quirky" into "annoying as hell" as she's both generous to her friends (that she thinks are cool) and completely self-absorbed in the way of... I still side with her parents that wanting to be supported at the clip of $1100 a month for two more years  (as in they've already paid for her college degree, have already paid for her to live -- jobless in New York -- for two years and she wants them to pay for ANOTHER two years!) At this stage of her life this is not only absurd but somewhat obscene.   It may be a generation gap, but I was with her mom yelling "I want to be able to retire someday!" 

And it was really nigh impossible to sympathize with the job interview gaff.  I mean, who in the hell 'jokes' out of the blue that the person  doing the interview is a serial date rapist?  [/haha-funny...? o,O].  Who the hell does that?!   Then she proceeds to explain to him that she is casting him as a date rapist in her joke. In an interview (Yeah, he got that part.  Why do you think he stopped laughing?) No one does this in any social situation, much less a job interview unless they're self-sabotaging.

Which is where my wariness of the show comes from.  I'm not sure that watching self-loathing women is going to be enjoyable.  For her to put up with her 'boyfriend' takes more than a fair degree of self-loathing (he's generally scuzzy and on top of he treats her atrociously.  Add in squicky sex (I'd describe what he was wittering on about while having sex with her... but I really don't want to. Yuck!)  And there's nothing good to say about this relationship other than it clearly portrays that the protagonist has severe lack of self-esteem.)...As does the  job interview self-sabotage. This characterization could have potentially huge pitfalls.

And dear lord,I know she's not supposed to be at all glamorous, but whoever told this girl that flat-mid-gray tights were attractive with her outfits? (I mean, gray tights with some outfits, fine.  But with a rainbow shirt and brown skirt that looks suspiciously like one I owned in 1987?  Is the costume designer/wardrobe person shooting for her character to be considered to 'color blind'?  Worse than causing viewer eye-bleed, however, was that story-wise, those tights went straight from sex-- without an intervening shower-- to a job interview.)  Seriously, Hannah, hon. They're tights.  Buy a second pair!  Even you can afford that.   Perhaps something on the same end of the color wheel with your array of brown skirts.   I know you idolize Carrie Bradshaw, but the truth is, many of Carrie's fashion choices came off as impractical and weird.  And take a damn shower before an interview!  It's not even about poor fashion sense.  It's about an icky lack of hygiene.  S-H-O-W-E-R 

ETA: And now having read some of the interviews and tweets by the people behind this series, I think I'll opt out now.  The writers seem more unpleasant than the characters themselves.

Girls

I watched the second episode of "Girls" last night and... I have an odd mixture of feelings.

There are funny things in it (which is good.  It is a comedy). Some laughs.  And there is some truth and observant writing. 

There's also a LOT of cringing.

Unfortunately, I think the lead has the potential to easily swing from the intended "endearingly quirky" into "annoying as hell" as she's both generous to her friends (that she thinks are cool) and completely self-absorbed in the way of... I still side with her parents that wanting to be supported at the clip of $1100 a month for two more years  (as in they've already paid for her college degree, have already paid for her to live -- jobless in New York -- for two years and she wants them to pay for ANOTHER two years!) At this stage of her life this is not only absurd but somewhat obscene.   It may be a generation gap, but I was with her mom yelling "I want to be able to retire someday!" 

And it was really nigh impossible to sympathize with the job interview gaff.  I mean, who in the hell 'jokes' out of the blue that the person  doing the interview is a serial date rapist?  [/haha-funny...? o,O].  Who the hell does that?!   Then she proceeds to explain to him that she is casting him as a date rapist in her joke. In an interview (Yeah, he got that part.  Why do you think he stopped laughing?) No one does this in any social situation, much less a job interview unless they're self-sabotaging.

Which is where my wariness of the show comes from.  I'm not sure that watching self-loathing women is going to be enjoyable.  For her to put up with her 'boyfriend' takes more than a fair degree of self-loathing (he's generally scuzzy and on top of he treats her atrociously.  Add in squicky sex (I'd describe what he was wittering on about while having sex with her... but I really don't want to. Yuck!)  And there's nothing good to say about this relationship other than it clearly portrays that the protagonist has severe lack of self-esteem.)...As does the  job interview self-sabotage. This characterization could have potentially huge pitfalls.

And dear lord,I know she's not supposed to be at all glamorous, but whoever told this girl that flat-mid-gray tights were attractive with her outfits? (I mean, gray tights with some outfits, fine.  But with a rainbow shirt and brown skirt that looks suspiciously like one I owned in 1987?  Is the costume designer/wardrobe person shooting for her character to be considered to 'color blind'?  Worse than causing viewer eye-bleed, however, was that story-wise, those tights went straight from sex-- without an intervening shower-- to a job interview.)  Seriously, Hannah, hon. They're tights.  Buy a second pair!  Even you can afford that.   Perhaps something on the same end of the color wheel with your array of brown skirts.   I know you idolize Carrie Bradshaw, but the truth is, many of Carrie's fashion choices came off as impractical and weird.  And take a damn shower before an interview!  It's not even about poor fashion sense.  It's about an icky lack of hygiene.  S-H-O-W-E-R 

ETA: And now having read some of the interviews and tweets by the people behind this series, I think I'll opt out now.  The writers seem more unpleasant than the characters themselves.

Girls

I watched the second episode of "Girls" last night and... I have an odd mixture of feelings.

There are funny things in it (which is good.  It is a comedy). Some laughs.  And there is some truth and observant writing. 

There's also a LOT of cringing.

Unfortunately, I think the lead has the potential to easily swing from the intended "endearingly quirky" into "annoying as hell" as she's both generous to her friends (that she thinks are cool) and completely self-absorbed in the way of... I still side with her parents that wanting to be supported at the clip of $1100 a month for two more years  (as in they've already paid for her college degree, have already paid for her to live -- jobless in New York -- for two years and she wants them to pay for ANOTHER two years!) At this stage of her life this is not only absurd but somewhat obscene.   It may be a generation gap, but I was with her mom yelling "I want to be able to retire someday!" 

And it was really nigh impossible to sympathize with the job interview gaff.  I mean, who in the hell 'jokes' out of the blue that the person  doing the interview is a serial date rapist?  [/haha-funny...? o,O].  Who the hell does that?!   Then she proceeds to explain to him that she is casting him as a date rapist in her joke. In an interview (Yeah, he got that part.  Why do you think he stopped laughing?) No one does this in any social situation, much less a job interview unless they're self-sabotaging.

Which is where my wariness of the show comes from.  I'm not sure that watching self-loathing women is going to be enjoyable.  For her to put up with her 'boyfriend' takes more than a fair degree of self-loathing (he's generally scuzzy and on top of he treats her atrociously.  Add in squicky sex (I'd describe what he was wittering on about while having sex with her... but I really don't want to. Yuck!)  And there's nothing good to say about this relationship other than it clearly portrays that the protagonist has severe lack of self-esteem.)...As does the  job interview self-sabotage. This characterization could have potentially huge pitfalls.

And dear lord,I know she's not supposed to be at all glamorous, but whoever told this girl that flat-mid-gray tights were attractive with her outfits? (I mean, gray tights with some outfits, fine.  But with a rainbow shirt and brown skirt that looks suspiciously like one I owned in 1987?  Is the costume designer/wardrobe person shooting for her character to be considered to 'color blind'?  Worse than causing viewer eye-bleed, however, was that story-wise, those tights went straight from sex-- without an intervening shower-- to a job interview.)  Seriously, Hannah, hon. They're tights.  Buy a second pair!  Even you can afford that.   Perhaps something on the same end of the color wheel with your array of brown skirts.   I know you idolize Carrie Bradshaw, but the truth is, many of Carrie's fashion choices came off as impractical and weird.  And take a damn shower before an interview!  It's not even about poor fashion sense.  It's about an icky lack of hygiene.  S-H-O-W-E-R 

ETA: And now having read some of the interviews and tweets by the people behind this series, I think I'll opt out now.  The writers seem more unpleasant than the characters themselves.