This writer does not keep close tabs on anything Lena Dunham does, but I thought she was working on, in addition to GIRLS, a concept called ALL DRESSED UP AND EVERYWHERE TO GO. Now, it seems another comedy idea as surfaced and it recently got a pilot order. I honestly never perceived Dunham as a feminist but evidently that is a message she wants to make clear with a work titled MAX.
MAX is a single-camera comedy described as a raucous comedy set in 1963 about the struggles of second wave feminism, centered on an ambitious magazine writer named Maxine Woodruff looking for liberation. Maxine is an enthusiastic, if misguided, low-level magazine employee who stumbles into the forefront of a civil rights movement both she and the world may not be ready for.
Lena Dunha
m will direct the pilot from a Murray Miller (GIRLS and 7 DAYS IN HELL) script. They will also produce alongside Jenni Konner and Ilene Landress. Picked to star in the pilot and, most likely, the series if picked up will be Lisa Joyce (MUHAMMAD ALI’S GREATEST FIGHT and Mary Dittrich in BOARDWALK EMPIRE). Joyce (pictured) must imbue the qualities of Maxine Woodruff just right. As is the norm HBO will look at the finished pilot and make a decision based off of it, at some point, whether to accept it as a series, ask it to be reworked or drop it altogether. You can be sure though, that HBO wants to continue a relationship with Dunham.
Of course, they will as long as GIRLS keeps going. If you recall, Hannah broke up with Adam and it hit it off well with another guy; Shoshanna accepts an international job; Jessa was headed in a more positive direction and Marnie has Ray and Desi. We will find out what develops there as Season 5 comes in January of 2016. Plus, we just might get to see MAX.
(Source: Deadline)
2 comments
Judging by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner’s online ‘zine “Lenny” I think Dunham is riding the feminism wave at the moment, i mean she has always been very pro-woman, so I guess its only natural for something like this to come along. Something about it feels a bit off though, I don’t feel excited about it.
Sorry, know this is late, but what feels off is the fact that Dunham was criticized for being stuck within the limitations of second-wave feminism, i.e. being pro-white, upper-class woman, and her response is to make a pilot about, well, the struggles of a white woman in 1960s second-wave feminism. Not that I am minimizing what women went through, or the contributions of second-wave feminism, but we already have many shows that have addressed these issues-including Mad Men, Sex and The City, Pan Am, and, in a way, Girls. It’s been done, and feminists are trying to move into a more intersectional feminism, so it all feels dated and frankly tiring that Lena Dunham, despite the fact that her brand of feminism is quite self-centered and limited, is getting rewarded again. She seems stuck in second-wave feminism. That being said, Issa Rae has been approved for a show called “Insecure” about the lives of two black friends (it’s about time) – basically a breath of fresh air that I personally am very excited about.