Lena Dunham

[delilahjones]

She annoys me and her show annoys me, but I like the fact that she is willing to unapologetically show her body. I was reading some magazine a couple days ago (I don't remember which one, I want to say Marie Claire, but I'm not sure) and there was some blurb about her needing to put some clothes on. They avoided fat shaming, but said she was doing it to much, and had exactly two examples of her getting naked. But I have never read/heard anyone tell Emmy Rossum from Shameless to stop being naked all the time. And she's naked almost every episode!

[carrier76]

I'm not so sure about that. I think women overall, especially women 30 and younger, have been a bit duped over the past 12-15 years into thinking that being naked, doing sex scenes, stripping, etc., are feminist statements when often times they just are what they are...the old business of showing skin to get attention and/or make money.

I can agree with this. I don't want to see her getting naked all the time. I don't want to see anyone getting naked all the time. I just don't. *shrug*

I get a little confused about the gigantic uproar because the show lacks "women of color." I am a white person. My friends are mostly white. This is not because any of us are racist, or xenophobic, or whatever, it just is. I also don't feel compelled to go find racially diverse friends so I can be a good example or whatever. If I do have racially diverse friends, great! I get that I'm not making a TV show, and using the lame "voice of a generation" line, but still. Nobody complains because Tyler Perry movies and shows feature a majority of African American actors and actresses.

I'm not trying to be a jerk or start anything, but I am always a little confused about the outcry here. Perhaps she's just telling a story about her experience. All that said, she kind of bugs me, and she shouldn't.

[incognito]

Nobody complains because Tyler Perry movies and shows feature a majority of African American actors and actresses.

Well, black people aren't overrepresented in the media to begin with. The two situations are not equal.

A lot of the shit that Lena got was because she set the show in Brooklyn, of all places. Friends got a lot of (retroactive) crap for being a lily white show set in NYC, too.

ETA: And yeah, I do agree that some of the flak she got re: the "voice of a generation" bit was unfair because IMO people were taking what her character said and running with it as though that was what Lena herself actually believed. I just sorta rolled my eyes at what she had to say in response to the criticism, although to reiterate I do think she meant well. At least she wasn't a dismissive jerk about it.

[ladyvorkosigan]

Jan 11, 2013 21:09:14 GMT -4 incognito said:

Nobody complains because Tyler Perry movies and shows feature a majority of African American actors and actresses.

Well, black people aren't overrepresented in the media to begin with. The two situations are not equal.

A lot of the shit that Lena got was because she set the show in Brooklyn, of all places. Friends got a lot of (retroactive) crap for being a lily white show set in NYC, too.

This. Not to mention that when the show does show people of color, it's a black homeless man, and other stereotypes like that.

Yes Lena Dunham's life is probably full of other white people, but she's now an employer and a content producer for pop-culture. There's no way it's not better for all of us if she digs a little deeper and casts outside of her experience.

It's probably not fair, but I give her a big side-eye that her life is so white, anyway. She lives in NYC. She went to a college in the Northeast, she has *no* Asian, Southeast Asian or black friends as parts of her life that she can draw in for her show? Ick.

[petitesuite]

I'm not sure why it's surprising why Dunham herself wouldn't have any non-white friends--I'm in no way saying this is a good or desirable thing, but in my experience most people are friends with and date people of the same race as themselves. Having said that, I think whether or not Dunham's own life is super-white is a separate issue from whether or not she should make her show more diverse. She should, and so should just about everyone else running a tv show.

[baileydash]

I think Lena and her show are vastly overrated. That's why I never understood why some women of color seemed offended that her show was so white. While in theory, non-white actresses have the same right to play whiny, entitled, self-satisfied, hipper-than-thou butt-holes as any white actress, I can't see why they want to.

And folks, this isn't sour grapes. I sincerely hate this show and think it's excrement.

Nobody complains because Tyler Perry movies and shows feature a majority of African American actors and actresses.

No, people complain about Tyler Perry because his movies suck. They suck big time.

Here's what I don't understand. When minorities complain about being ignored or marginalized in movies and films, they are told to make their own. Then when they do so, they are accused of self-segregation or reverse racism.

Folks, not everyone is starting off on a level playing field.

Do people think that HBCU's (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) came into existence because most black people wished to be segregated?

For anyone who thinks that, they should read literature from many prominent black leaders in the 1950's. Those folks were almost pathetic in their desire for African Americans to be accepted or just visible in mainstream American society.

Anyway, for those who don't know, HBCU's came to be because there was no alternative. Even the best and brightest in the black community, weren't accepted in many white institutions of higher learning.


When it comes to seeing representations of ourselves in TV and on film and as the center of our own stories, if there was no Tyler Perry, there'd be next to nothing.

[Neurochick]

Here's what I don't understand. When minorities complain about being ignored or marginalized in movies and films, they are told to make their own. Then when they do so, they are accused of self-segregation or reverse racism.
Folks, not everyone is starting off on a level playing field.

I think some people forget that, or choose to forget it.

The problem I have with her is this, she's a person living in a city that itself is not all white. I have no problem with she and her friends being white in the show, but what I hated was the stereotypical way WOC were portrayed when we finally did see one on the show. I thought it was disgusting, I'm talking about the woman who worked in the office with her.

[baileydash]

I wish Lena and her bud Mindy Kaling would both tamp down on their smug factor just a bit.

[americanchai]

I haven't seen Girls yet but I've read some of her interviews and seen her on talk shows. I thought she seemed charming. I cant imagine what kind of show I would have written at that age. It's weird that she's such a lightning rod for discussion on feminism and diversity when I feel like she's pulling from a very limited worldview and experience at her age in the first place. I was surprised to see her in This is 40. She played a hipster record label person which was just about right.

[Deleted]

It's weird that she's such a lightning rod for discussion on feminism and diversity when I feel like she's pulling from a very limited worldview and experience at her age in the first place.

Somebody needs to tell her this, because she's the one who brings this attention onto herself. In fact, she welcomes it.