Featuring on HBO, Lena Dunham and Judd Apatow’s American comedy-drama television series, Girls (2012), navigates the lives of a group quirky friends in their twenties, living in Brooklyn. The narrative is constructed around the protagonist, Hannah (Lena Dunham herself), who is an aspiring writer that has been cut off from the financial support of her parents. Dunham’s characters within the series have been developed in parallel to her own personal experiences and life. Themes of sex, racism, feminism, nudity and body image filter throughout the series in an ultimately realist aesthetic style. As a result of these themes, Girls has been described as an awkward and uncomfortable series to watch (Watson, Mitchell & Shaw eds. 2015, p3).
Being premiered on the American cable television network, HBO, immediately and effectively positions Girls as a high quality television series. When considering what constitutes quality television, it is integral to understand that as an audience, we have subjective perceptions and criteria for what we consider to be the best. Throughout history, quality television has been justified and associated through a cultural canon. The canon is made up of what is perceived as the highest quality television shows, decided by official critics. HBO creates a cultural canon ‘of modern television art and storytelling’ (Akass & McCabe n.d). The network has a reputation for airing consistent quality television that differs from other cable stations. It is defined by its art cinema and complex narrative texts. Most importantly, by Girls being aired on HBO, we see the show within the canon – as a successful series.
Despite being considered as part of the cultural canon and as quality television, reviews have ‘attacked its politics, lack of racial diversity, style, self-indulgence, lack of likeable characters, and complex representation of sex (Watson, Mitchell & Shaw eds. 2015, p3). The series challenges the typical approach that television takes when dealing with themes of sex. Sex in Girls isn’t dramatised, aesthetic, polished or romantic as usual. It has a realistic quality to it – it’s as raw as it gets.
A particularly awkward sex scene is played out in the first episode of the series where Hannah struggles her way through bad sex. We see her fumbling around, pulling her undies down and positioning her legs in preparation for sex. Unlike how sex is filmed in most television shows; in a way that presents sex as ‘a kind of sleek digital candy’, this scene is utterly uncomfortable to watch (Nussbaum 2012). The scene lacks romantic music, it is filmed in a cluttered old room with dull lighting and jarring close-up shots. This scene as well as further sex scenes throughout the series have contributed to the negative connotations associated with the series’ themes. It portrays the characters in a negative light, making them cringey and unlikeable for the audience to watch.
Girls has been likened to Darren Stars’ HBO series, Sex and the City (2004), as it quite similarly depicts sex in a blunt and controversial manner. In contrast to Sex and the City, Girls reflects the lives of unsuccessful, somewhat petty and unlikeable women. Conversely, the characters portrayed in Sex and the City seem to have it all – they are lovable characters. Dunham was inspired by Sex and the City with the desire to fill in the gaps and themes that hadn’t previously been addressed (Goldberg 2012). Throughout the series, Dunham often references Sex and the City. Intertextual references are used within the first episode, such as a Sex and the City poster displayed on the wall of Shoshanna’s (Zosia Mamet) bedroom. In essence, both Sex and the City and Girls are HBO series which deal with themes of sex in a graphic and raw manner. They epitomise the differentiation of the HBO network as a brand to other cable networks in the way that they confrontingly deal with the theme of sex and present complex narratives.
With its unlikeable characters and undeniably uncomfortable sex scenes, Girls is a series that wouldn’t typically appeal to and engage an audience. It can be argued that it is the overall brand of HBO and its ability to position Girls within the cultural canon of quality television, that causes us to recognise the show as credible and a success. Being compared to Sex and the City, we see that both of these HBO series ultimately reflect sex in a confronting manner. As such, the depiction of sex is unlike other television networks representation and further emphasises the branding of HBO. We see that HBO lives up to its slogan- that it is ‘not TV’- it is a whole other ball game for television production that deals with complex narratives and controversial themes.
References:
Goldberg, L 2012, Lena Dunham Says HBO’s ‘Girls’ Isn’t ‘Sex and the City’, The Hollywood Reporter, viewed 15 October 2015, <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tca-hbo-girls-lena-dunham-judd-apatow-281483>
Watson, E, Mitchell, M, & Shaw, ME (eds.) 2015, HBO’s Girls and the Awkward Politics of Gender, Race, and Privilege, Lexington Books, USA.
Nussbaum, E 2012, It’s Different for ‘Girls’, Proquest, viewed 10 October 2015, <http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/docview/941610197?OpenUrlRefId=info:xri/sid:primo&accountid=13552>