If you were to say, “I like Lena Dunham. I think she is very talented and funny.” What kind of reaction do you think you’d get? You might get a dirty look back from whoever you are with or you might also get the customary “You like her because she shows her tits a lot,” response. Dunham has catapulted to fame with the HBO show Girls, where she plays the lead character. However, Dunham has also written the bulk of the episodes and directed a few of as well. She has tried to put a very human face on what its like to be a girl, with a deft and subtle touch of humor. She is a good role model for girls and girl power, and a very legitimate filmmaker.
Personally, I want to like Lena Dunham. She is not only good for women in cinema but for cinema as well. She is very much a purveyor of a smaller, more personal cinema that is endangered of being torn asunder by the cinema of the cheap sensation, Marvel. She is both a skilled performer and great at the subtle timing aspect of comedy, that few performers have. Dunham has a Woody Allen quality to her performing and writing.
The question remains, though, can she dig into the trench and do what needs to be done to be a filmmaker and just not a celebrity. It is nice that magazines are letting go of trite concepts of how a woman should look and embracing more full-figured women. I would however appreciate it more if Dunham focused more on being a film director than a cover model. Let someone else be the role model. Give me Lena Dunham the filmmaker.
In an article appearing on the website, The-Broad-Side, author Liz Henry purposed we lower our expectations of Dunham, ” I acknowledge my Dunham-free life is an anomaly but it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. If I had to pick a feminist patronus, I’m an Amy Poehler kind-of woman; which is to say, when given the choice I pick jokes first and feminism second.
I find Dunham appealing because she’s willing to take her clothes off without shame, gave exactly zero fucks that her Emmy dress was the tampon of Bjork’s swan and creates things on her own terms quite successfully. But she’s not appealing enough that I actively pursue watching and reading.”
I guess I couldn’t have said it better. Should guys like Lena Dunham? You can if you want. Just don’t expect her to be anymore than she is.
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