TV

“Girls” Creator Lena Dunham: Chick-Lit Awful, “Makes Me Want To Move To The Outback”

Though some of my posts may appear otherwise, I really like HBO’s new comedy, “Girls,” which is well written and exposes a lot of my secret shames (cupcake binges, dating the worst breed of men, writing nonfiction essays at a slothful pace). So I was somewhat perplexed to see writer Lena Dunham trash chick-lit (why is this ugly phrase still being thrown around?) in a Thursday New York Times article about the 25-year-old’s reading habits.

When asked if she’d ever “read a book about girls or women that made [her] angry or disappointed or just extremely annoyed?”, Dunham answered, “I don’t have a taste for airport chick-lit, even in a guilty-pleasure way. Any book that is motored by the search for a husband and/or a good pair of heels makes me want to move to the outback. If there is a cartoon woman’s torso on the front or a stroller with a diamond on it, I just can’t.”

Though Barnes and Noble bookshelves could certainly devote a little less space to titles such as “Fifty Shades of Grey” and works of Nicholas Sparks, it’s a little odd to see so much chick-lit Haterade from a young woman whose TV character (that she created, by the way) sleeps with Adam, a slacker dude who consistently puts her down and ignores her attempts at contact. Hannah gives no indication that she wants to marry the young man who tells her to play “the quiet game” during intercourse and tries to have anal sex with her without asking for permission, but (while it might be accurate at times) “Girls” provides far from an empowered message when it comes to dating. So is Dunham really in a position to call out “chick-lit” for promoting dependency and unhealthy relationships? Unless her character punches Adam in the crotch at some point in the series, I’ll have my doubts.

Watch the “Girls” trailer below:

TAGS: girls | girls show | hbo girls | lena dunham | lena dunham new york times

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