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2022 marks the tenth anniversary of a provocative TV show that I insist you watch more than once, HBO's Girls.
This year, the show's creator and star, Lena Dunham, returns to the spotlight with her first feature film in decades, Sharp Stick. I feel like it's a perfect time to explain why I'm still obsessed with her show Girls, ten years later.
HBO
10 years ago, Girls premiered on HBO and changed the television game.
HBO / Via tenor.com
The all-girl ensemble of highly privileged, somehow struggling twenty-somethings reinvented the wheel. I could only binge-watch so many reruns of Golden Girls, Living Single, and Girlfriends. Girls wasn't the first show with an all-girl cast, but it didn't follow the same formula as its predecessors. Iconic shows like Sex and the City walked in Christian Louboutin Petal Sandals, so Girls could run down the street in average body types, boy's underwear, and dirty tank tops. Female-forward television was never the same.
Here's why ten years later, Girls is still worth a watch:
1. First of all, Girls was revolutionary for its time.
HBO / Via media.giphy.com
TV shows led by women were hard to come by in the age of traditionally misogynistic television programming. (It's still not great today.) Lena Dunham was the HBO series's creator, writer, and star. Girls challenged unrealistic sitcom stereotypes for female characters and opened the door for new discussions. Girls struggled in BIPOC representation, but its portrayal of female characters with realistic standards and relatable flaws helped open doors for more diverse shows like HBO's Insecure, Amazon's Harlem, and Pose on FX.
Today, we're fortunate to see more women of all walks of life take center stage and inspire all of us to struggle, strive, and survive with our feminine class and style.
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2. I, a black man, could relate to every character as a struggling twenty-something.
HBO / Via media.giphy.com
Who didn't struggle with "finding themself" fresh out of college, navigating adulthood, or heroically failing at maintaining a fairytale romance? Previous shows depicted young adults living within unrealistic worlds of immediate success in their twenties. Watching Girls didn't spark questions on how these kids were paying their rent like Friends or How I Met Your Mother. It was answered in the first ten minutes.
3. Girls blessed our tormented souls with hilarious moments like Hannah doing designer drugs for a think-piece and Shoshanna accidentally doing crack with randoms at a warehouse party.
HBO / Via youtu.be
Dozens of legendary quotes, clips, and anecdotes came from this show and its ability to explain the difficulties of life, relationships, and careers in the most ignorantly funny way.
4. The show was going places. Before Emily went to Paris, Shoshanna went to Japan, and it was the perfect reality of how your Eat, Pray, Love adventure can go terribly wrong.
HBO
I'm grossly obsessed with the fast-talking Jewish-American princess played by Zosia Mamet. When she got her dream job in Japan, I lived every minute vicariously through her eyes. Truth be told, the only other language I remotely understand is Japanese, thanks to my college education, so my vision board is 60% this episode of Girls.
5. Judd Apatow, Jenni Konner, and Lena Dunham were the powerhouse trio.
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I was obsessed with Judd Apatow's Freaks and Greeks and his hilarious comedy features like 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Based on history, his involvement with the then brilliant writer/producer team of Konner and Dunham was destined to be an award-winning hit.
6. Girls was the birthplace of Adam Douglas Driver, the cinematic masterpiece of a man.
HBO
Before he was a leading figure in Hollywood, this ridiculously handsome, deep-voiced giant was a TV-bit player terrorizing our sanity as the complicated love interest of the series led, Hannah Horvath. Adam Driver's performance was intolerably perfect and opened doors everywhere for the now-familiar actor.
7. Two words: Andrew Rannells.
HBO
The award-winning Broadway actor became a permanent fixture on Girls, constantly stealing the show as the gay best friend Elijah (Rannells) nobody wanted, but everyone deserved. His frank observations and witty remarks always called out the hypocrisy of the main characters' everyday struggles. He managed to demand the show's spotlight like this time met his spunky fairy godmother, Athena Dante (Latisha DiVenuto), and received his big break at an audition for the White Man Can't Jump musical.
8. The "boys" were almost as cool as the girls.
HBO
In addition to the gorgeous large-eared live-action cartoon Adam Driver and the handsome harlequin Andrew Rannells, Girls introduced its audiences to some funniest, most dynamic male characters. Alex Karpovsky as Raymond Ploshansky, a sardonic barista. Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Desi Harperin, a self-absorbed musician. Peter Scolari in his Emmy-award-winning role as Hannah's father, Tad Horvath.
9. The show had some of the best cameos, including Jenny Slate, Corey Stoll, Ben Mendelsohn, Patti LuPone, and Kathryn Hahn. Here are my favorites to join the cast:
Rita Wilson
HBO
Evie (Wilson) is Marnie's overbearing mother who attempts to start a singing duet with her daughter when her drug-addicted ex-husband/bandmate bails.
Richard E. Grant
HBO
Jasper (Grant) is a sex-crazed drug addict who falls in love with one of the girls before they both get kicked out of rehab.
Patrick Wilson
HBO
Joshua (Wilson) is a doctor who has an affair with one of the girls after discovering she intentionally misplaced her trash in his trash cans. He later returns to deliver the news of an unexpected pregnancy that turns the entire show on its head.
Zachary Quinto and Gillian Jacobs
HBO
Ace (Quinto) and Mimi-Rose (Jacobs) are annoyingly romantic hipsters who use their flings with main cast members as a means to discover they were always meant for each other, but also not really?
Donald Glover
HBO
Sandy (Glover) is a die-hard Republican who battles his shame after discovering the crux of his sexual affair revolves around him being a conservative conquest.
Jon Glaser and Gabby Hoffman
HBO
Laird (Glaser) is Hannah's downstairs neighbor and former heroin addict who falls in love with Caroline (Hoffman), Adam's unhinged sister.
Riz Ahmed
HBO
Paul-Louie (Ahmed) is an adorably bug-eyed heartthrob surf instructor who pops in for a second but leaves a lasting impression nine months later.
10. And lastly, the Girls soundtrack is certified gold.
HBO's shows are known for their impeccable music selection. Girls' soundtrack is a hodge-podge of every angsty, indie-pop millennial searching for their purpose in life with everything from Tame Impala and Nancy Sinatra to Jay-Z and Salt-N-Pepa.
Do you love HBO's Girls as much as I do, or is there something wrong with me? What show, past or present, is your current obsession?
HBO
English (US) ·