OPINION: Lena Dunham and the reign of the Girls

On April 7, 2022, Vanity Fair published an article celebrating the 10th anniversary of HBO's series, “Girls.” Over the course of the next two years, the "Girls" revitalization has made its way to the for-you pages of Gen Z. But this wave of attention on the series, though different than when it originally aired, offers keen insight on capitalism and privilege for our generation.

Instead of awe and disgust, Lena Dunham's comedy is now met with commiseration from 20-year-olds who can relate to the characters' woes of graduating into a job market that makes no effort to cushion their egos. This comes just in time for Dunham's comeback to Hollywood with her new film "Treasure," the Netflix series "Too Much" and the new "Polly Pocket," which she is set to write and direct.

The previous height of her popularity followed the release of her memoir "Not That Kind of Girl" in 2014. At the time, criticism of Lena Dunham was based on privilege. Daughter to New York artists Carrol Dunham and Laurie Simmons, Dunham is an alumnus of the St. Ann's School, one of the schools featured in the infamous "Nepo Baby" article from New York Magazine.

After producing one short film, Lena Dunham received an offer from Judd Apatow to produce "Girls" for HBO. At just 23 years old, Dunham wrote, produced, directed and starred in the series, which follows four recently financially independent young women as they navigate their early 20s in New York City.

The show made no attempt to downplay the flaws of these characters. Dunham's characters exhibited a plethora of classically immature behaviors. They were incapable of keeping jobs and stable relationships, and the storylines typically revolved around a bad decision one of the main characters was making.

As anyone who's had a friend like this knows, it is not a plausible reality for most of the population. Audiences were quick to point this out, also noting the fact that the four main actresses had parents who worked in entertainment and Dunham had known Judd Apatow since she was a child.

Ben Cela, a recent NC State graduate with a master's degree in English with a concentration in film studies, watched the series as it aired in 2012.

"It was kind of funny that it was so cringy and that people liked it and they were still watching it, even though they were like, ‘I hate this,’" Cela said.

In the first episode of the series, Lena's character attempts to prevent her parents from cutting her off before she can get a book deal. She claims she is "the voice of her generation, or at least a voice of a generation." I don't think the relevance of this joke could have been fully realized in 2012, prior to the ubiquity of social media.

"I think that maybe she was onto something that we couldn't have predicted,” Cela said. “… [Nowadays] everyone kind of thinks that they can be the singular voice for their people and go on social media and think that they can, you know, become like this huge celebrity just by doing nothing or promoting something.”

In one episode, a character receives an offer for her first corporate position post-graduation. She responds by politely letting her interviewer know that, unfortunately, this was just supposed to be a practice interview. She then takes this experience to McKinsey where, to her complete dismay, an offer isn't extended to the NYU marketing graduate with no experience.

The show is completely in on the joke of four white women somehow coasting in New York without any real careers. The absurdity of the show provides for some of the best storylines.

"Because it is like a parallel ‘Sex in the City’,” Cela said. “Because Carrie was a writer and she had this amazing apartment. And I know the home girl was maybe writing like one article a week, and I know that was not paying the rent."

"Girls" was recommended to me by a close friend with an upbringing I cannot relate to. Nonetheless, I found myself watching the show with a shallow breath, often reluctant to face the earnesty of Dunham's writing. Despite the remoteness of Dunham's characters, she maintains a brutal honesty in her comedy that allows for incredible lines like, "I'm in a long-distance relationship, so like why rock the boat by seeing each other?"

With that said, we should look forward to her take on capitalism's next girl power picture. "Girls" has proved Lena Dunham is the perfect person to write a half-baked feminist film for the next social media generation.