Girls

I really like this show.

The problem with Lena Dunham is she's overhyped.

Once upon a time you labored in obscurity, you gained traction slowly and then were universally applauded.

Now it's the reverse. You haven't got your shit together, you emerge with tons of publicity, the press says you're great and we say you're undeserving of the attention and after checking you out we ignore you.

I watched "Tiny Furniture."

That's right, Lena's feature that got a testimonial in the "New Yorker." It was barely one step better than watching paint dry.

I'm gonna tell you something, we live in the land of publicity. And if you're smart, you won't be thrilled when you see your name in the paper, when Howard Stern mentions you, rather you'll have a whole campaign, a picture of the destination you want to arrive at and then you'll manipulate the press to land get you there.

That's right, the press is not a mirror, but a tool. Something you use to achieve your goal. That's what Steve Jobs did best, other than create astounding products, he got the press to tell his story. And at first few were watching, but Steve was so good we now even watch the execrable Tim Cook tell us stories. Tim was born to gain efficiencies, not speak in front of audiences, he should not do the Apple presentations, but we watch because of the glow of Jobs's greatness. The same way we go to see the classic rock acts again and again even though they haven't recorded anything worth listening to in eons. Then again, Tim Cook introduces new products and I've just about had it with my old favorites, I'm done seeing them in concert.

And I'm done with the movies. Oh, I know there are great ones, I know that Hollywood dominates the conversation but is not the only option. It's just that... The tsunami of hype offends me. I love not going, I love not giving them my money. I'm a one man protest against the bullshit. I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore, their lowest common denominator high concept dreck that is windowed to the point where when I'm excited about seeing it I can't. There are so many small pics I'd watch on demand if only I could. After the review titillates me. The small stories, about people.

Like "Girls."

I tried once before, with the premiere. And for all I know it might have gotten better, but when the show launched, four seasons ago, the hype on Lena Dunham was so overwhelming, all the "Voice of a Generation" ridiculousness, that my expectations were so high that nothing could fulfill them.

Lena Dunham is a minor talent.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

Why does everybody have to be Jay Z, why does everybody have to dominate?

But what Lena Dunham attempts to do is chronicle the world she sees.

That's what musicians do, that's what Taylor Swift got famous on, before she went on react and defaulted to Max Martin and became all about the glitter and the fame as opposed to the honesty and the heartbreak. Come on, I'm supposed to have sympathy for you because you've got haters? And you bake cookies and deliver presents so people will like you? Have you no dignity?

No, Taylor Swift does not.

Write another song about me Tay-Tay, go for it.

Or be a mensch and ignore all this, because most people won't even see it.

And most people have never seen "Girls." And I'm not sure most people would even like "Girls." Because they can't handle the truth.

And the truth is we are all not winners. We're all lost, looking for a location to reside. And just when we think we've got it together, we find out we do not.

Like Hannah/Lena going to graduate school in Iowa. With the cream of the crop. Although most of these people never make it, if they publish at all it's to a tiny audience. They're all about resumes, like the losers who win undercard Grammys... Feel good about yourself, even though you affect almost no one.

That's the American game, you've got to see yourself reflected, you can't have any self-esteem, despite your parents saying you're great...that's right, you've got to hear it from others again and again and again.

But the truth is even those who went to Ivy League schools will falter. We all falter, some sooner than others. You might get a gig at the prestigious law firm but then you don't make partner. The love of your life cheats on you, leaving you with your heart broken and nothing but a title.

Our parents are crazy.

And today's generation has a relationship with their parents unlike the one the baby boomers had with theirs. All this best friend/advice stuff. We were on our own. Hannah leans on her mother and father, ain't that a laugh, and it is.

And Hannah is not beautiful, but that does not hold her back. She flies on her personality, which opens doors at the same time it makes people squirm.

And then you've got Shoshanna/Zosia Mamet, who thinks she's entitled to a career after graduation and she can't even get a job.

And Marnie/Allison Williams may be beautiful but she's strong in all the wrong ways and picks bad men.

And the men themselves... Don't know whether to be sensitive or macho or friendly or obstinate... Society has made them blink. For every fraternity brother raping a drunk partygoer, there are scores of nerds who've digested the politically correct behavior manual and are afraid to make a move. But they don't do stories on them.

Except in "Girls."

Judd Apatow is not the only person doing good work in comedy.

Lena Dunham isn't in the league of Woody Allen, but she's trying.

And HBO is giving them a runway.

Meanwhile, the somnambulant press eats it all up and regurgitates such a fawning report that the truth embodied in the series is eviscerated.

I'm watching "Girls" on HBO Go. On my iPad. It's more intimate than the big screen.

And "Girls" is an intimate story. About growing up. The old envy the young but I wouldn't want to be in my twenties again, with all those questions and almost no answers. Forget that these people are actors, in real life they'd be struggling losers, whose parents would be debating whether to pay their bills or cut them off, tearing their hair out all the while.

I sometimes feel I'm not made for this world. One where everybody is starting a business that will change the world and rain down millions. Used to be everybody had a screenplay, now everybody's got a business plan.

I never wrote a screenplay and I never went to business school and I'm thinking if I can just lay down my truth I've got a chance.

Lena Dunham has.

And she's winning.


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