When the Need to Appease Destroys

I started watching Girls in April of 2012, when the pilot episode premiered; the first season was fantastic. “Girls” has none of the cheeriness , and forced punch lines of “2 Broke Girls” or “New Girl”, which also focus on women in their 20’3 “trying to figure out life.” Hannah, Lena Dunham’s character, is not a heroine. She is unpleasant, annoying, selfish and a ‘tamed crazy’ in ways that are only occasionally endearing. Her friends are differently flawed, but equally as irritating at times. Shows that have the same premise as Girls- 20-something year old trying to figure her life out with some help from her friends- feature lead characters that can be described as ‘cute and funny.’ The characters of Girls are funny, but because you laugh at them, not because you laugh with them. The girls of Girls were deeply flawed, but incredibly relatable. The questions asked, the situations that they found themselves in were familiar. The feelings of hopelessness and desperation were familiar, but they were presented in a humorous manner.
The show gained popularity as its first season continued and garnered 4 Emmy nominations and 2 Golden Globe wins. As more people began watching the shows, criticism popped up everywhere. One of biggest complaints was that Girls was racist. Girls was racist because there were no black people in the show. This criticism was not without a fault; it was true. However, I had never noticed that because the show wasn’t about race, it was about everyday life situations. The situations that Hannah and her friends faced were relatable to anyone, regardless of race. This became a point of contentment and the first episode of the second season Hannah is dating a black man. Lena Dunham was a relative unknown the first