Grading Girls

The boy loves Franco. The girl (c'est moi) loves HBO's "Girls". And obviously boy loves girl and vice versa. And girl has made boy watch "Girls" with her, not totally reluctantly I might add.

So when boy's love collided with girl's love and Franco wrote about "Girls" in "A Dude's Take on Girls" in Huffington Post, I had to debate his grade. I suggest you pause and read his article now so the rest of my post makes sense. And if you haven't seen "Girls", I suggest you get on it ASAP or at least, if you are a girl, recall what it felt like to be 24 and it will make more sense.

You're back? Good! Now...here are my "Girls" and here are my thoughts.

Some of my "Girls" - pre-digital photo era. Excuse the scan quality.

Firstly, when we graduated from college, which is the age of these girls, my friend base (my close girlfriends) were all a LOT like me. I mean, of my roommates, 6 of us were blonde and 6 were brunette, and we all had pretty similar backgrounds. The cultural diversity of my friendships didn't evolve until my late 20's. And even then, it wasn't necessarily my tight circle, which this show represents. So, as far as cultural diversity goes, the relationship with Adam who seems somewhat disenfranchised, seems "outside the box" for these girls at that age...or at least it seems that way to my once 20-something self. Lena also coined a response to this very criticism.

Secondly, I don't think Aidan or Big were 'dorks' on SATC. Quite the opposite...one was a power house business man and one was a romantic man's man...Steve is another story. Big dork. But perfect for Miranda. I'm still smarting from the time in my 20's that an ex boyfriend's best friend said I reminded him of her...

Thirdly, I think it will always be hard for adults to retain perspective of being 20. I think the way the guys are portrayed on the show is also part of Lena's perspective of what 'guys' are to girls at that age and the lack of communication and the assumptions made and the total compromise of your integrity (i.e. when he sent her a pic of his wanker and then a follow-up text "that wasn't for you" and she tried to explain it away.) It resonates so loudly with me. But I was also a girl in my 20's living in LA where stuff like what these girls on "Girls" are facing, thinking, and experiencing happened to us. We had some weird experiences and did some dumb stuff, but that's what you did then! We thought we were so old and mature and knew so much, but we didn't. And we probably still don't, but hindsight is always 20/20. Someone as A) male and B) experienced in SO many ways and C) intellectual to the nth degree like Franco might be over-thinking it...and that's partly because he didn't experience being a girl in her 20's.

I agree on getting a job, whatever it may be, for Hannah. Some homeless guy on the L train last night was stumbling through asking for money. He was legitimately obese. If you can be obese in this city, you don't need my money. I mean....ridiculous.

What do you think?