Unenlightened

In the latest New Yorker Emily Nussbaum looks at Girls, the HBO show about four young, privileged, confused women making their way in New York. Nussbaum's a big fan and seems to think the second season may be better than the first. Girls has gotten tremendous media attention if not commensurate ratings--though this being HBO, the numbers aren't as important as they might normally be.

But it's not enough for Nussbaum to share her enthusiasm.  She's got to put down those--especially men--who don't like the show.  She places Girls in a tradition of art that discomfits males, thus they seek to dismiss it.  As she puts it:

While other female-centered hits, with more likable heroines, are ignored or patronized, these racy fables agitate audiences, in part because they violate the dictate that women, both fictional and real, not make anyone uncomfortable.

I've given Girls a chance. More than once. So far, I don't particularly like it and it hasn't grown on me. Sorry. And I can promise you, Emily, that's it not because it makes me uncomfortable. It's because it makes me bored.  The show isn't awful, but it's not good enough to go into my regular rotation.

Maybe some day I'll see the light, but until then, tell us what's going on in your mind, Emily, not mine.

PS  In the same piece Nussbaum notes how much she likes another HBO half-hour, Enlightened.  Sorry, Emily, I like that show even less than Girls. And not because it's, as she claims, "unnerving and out of control," but for the same reason I don't like Girls, only more so.