3 seasons in and for me Girls is still a very accurate representation of the world of not only young women but young people in 2014. From the music, the dilemmas, the fashion, the relationships, the struggles and the friendships, there is a lot I find I personally can resonate with when I watch an episode of the programme. For that reason, it has become a show I not only respect a lot but one of my favourite shows on TV.
One part that really stuck out to me on this current series was not necessarily a happy moment but a slightly more sombre note that took place at Hannah’s birthday. Hannah turned 25 and when Shoshanna, who’s younger than her and just about to graduate, wished her Happy Birthday she followed that up with ‘how have you got to 25 and still not achieved anything yet’. Something I resonate with a lot right now. It’s coming up to my 23rd birthday and though I’m two years younger than Hannah and therefore only graduated 2 years ago not 4, I still feel at many times that I have not really achieved anything due to the fact I don’t yet have an actual proper job, house, car, income etc. That is something that was touched upon even more in a recent episode when Hannah’s grandma is dying and she discovers her younger cousin is a lot more successful than she is. Something that never gets any less annoying or disheartening I’ve found.
It’s not just the whole job and career moments of not achieving what you thought you would have by now but also the reminders to spend time with friends/family and how sometimes something so simple can actually mean so much when you are in your twenties. Just having that support network is what really helps in this weird and challenging decade in your life. If you are a teenager watching Girls you probably may not believe that life really is like that but let me tell you it is. You think being a teenager is hard try being in your twenties when you don’t have the excuse of being a hormonal teenager going through a hard time to fall back on anymore.
The look at responsibilities I found interesting too not just in terms of owning your own place, paying bills but family wise and having to deal with massive things in an adult way. For example, when Hannah’s publisher died she didn’t really know how to act about his death, obviously she was upset but now she is 25, how does she deal with it. There is a lot more responsibility thrown on you and people expect you to know how to act in those sorts of situations now but when exactly does this transition happen?
It’s something I’ve experienced with the death of my grandparents, my grandma died when I was 15 and I was very protected from the situation though 6 years on when my granddad, I was 21 and now let into the responsibilities and things to be done after a relative has died. I was there when he died, I helped with the funeral and I helped deal with the sorting out of solicitors stuff too, something I never thought I would deal with until I was much much older and it was that shift in responsibilities and way I was treated by others that shocked me slightly as I didn’t know how to deal with it. That was exactly what I saw in Hannah’s reaction to her publisher dying, I’m not sure if that is what Lena Dunham was trying to get at when she wrote that episode but that is what I got out of it.
For me, the genius of the show Dunham has created and written along with co-writer Judd Apatow is that it is a show that you can relate to, that sums up our generation so well and that wherever you are at in your life you can either find solace or happiness in it, you can reminisce or you can just enjoy what is happening on screen. Dunham has become an inspiration for me writing wise and after seeing where she has come from to where she is now it makes me worry slightly less about having not achieved anything huge career wise yet because as long as I work just as hard as she did then maybe I will be lucky and get my break too. It took her years to get noticed and become the respected figure she is today. Until then though I can watch the rest of season 3 of Girls and look forward to season 4 due to air next year to give me inspiration to work as hard as possible career wise, to help me think about my life and also to see that other people understand exactly what I am going through too because as a show aimed at someone of my generation, age and probably gender, though it is not just a show for girls, I think it is so well loved because it rings so true for so many people.