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5 Reasons Lena Dunham Rules at Life

by Brandi McCormick
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Lena-Dunham-300x200Brandi takes a look at one of her favorite characters on HBO as portrayed by Lena Dunham. What do you think about HBO’s newest (and youngest!) superstars? Leave her a comment below with your own thoughts.

If you’ve seen HBO’s latest series to garner critical acclaim, GIRLS, then you surely have fallen under Lena Dunham’s spell. Dunham, 25, is the creator of the show–she writes, she directs, she acts–and she may be new to your life, but she is anything but new to churning out quality projects that get people talking.

In a world where the TV and film industries are changing from being mostly male-driven and the female voice is becoming ever more apparent, Dunham is carving out a nice little niche for herself. She’s the go-to woman for real life scenarios that aren’t entirely grating or boring, but relatable and earnest. She’s got Tiny Furniture (winner, SXSW Best Narrative Feature 2010) and now GIRLS in her repertoire of awesome, and she’s not even 30 yet! Here are a few more reasons why Lena Dunham could run the world–and why I’d be okay with that.

1) She’s only 25!

Holy fudge. And she’s a writer/director/producer/actor. Whew, I’m out of breath. In her short life Dunham has managed to become a multi-faceted well of talent that I would kill for. She’s intelligent, funny, honest, and (again) SO talented it kind of makes me sick. She’s the kind of girl I want to grow up to be. (Or be now, considering I’m 24). She’s a good role model too–girls should see her as a pillar of independence and trailblazing and want to totally kick ass in their respective fields just like she has. She’s only 25 people–when I think of all the amazing stuff I’ve done in my 24 years on this planet, the list is pretty short. I want to be able to harness whatever abilities I have to make some great things, and I hope having people like Dunham cross that frontier before me makes it all the easier to do so.

Awesome-Lena-300x3002) She’s not afraid if people don’t like her shit

I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that for all the critical acclaim GIRLS has gotten recently, there’s also been a fair share of negative criticism floating around the interwebs as well. But Dunham is relatively unfazed by this–she set out to make projects that she believes in and if they speak to the right audiences, then great. If they don’t, well she’ll just keep on truckin’. In the last couple of years in my own life I have become increasingly less concerned with what people think of me. If you don’t like what I’m doing, fine. Doesn’t bother me any, I’m still having a great time doing what I love. Dunham clearly has a similar attitude; she wants to create quality work, knowing full well that it might not all be coming up roses; but she doesn’t let that stop her from continuing to make work she’s passionate about. We could all benefit from that kind of attitude. Life’s too short to get caught up in only the negative feedback.

3) She makes me feel okay with the fact that I’m not a size zero

I kind of hate myself for even bringing up the subject of size because I think it’s just so trite, but I just wanted to take a minute to say how glad I am that the main character of GIRLS does not have your typical glossy TV heroine physique. It just makes me feel so good inside that A) GIRLS is representing a majority of women in both lifestyle and looks, but B) that it’s totally believable. Not being a size zero (or 2 or 4 for that matter) has been something I’ve struggled with my whole life, but most recently I’ve come into my own and realized that I can still do whatever the hell I want, no matter what size I am. Even meeting celebrities in person I’m sometimes shocked by how normal they look, that for a split second I get angry that they get all airbrushed and Photoshopped  into oblivion, causing this vicious circle of girls everywhere starving themselves to look like them. I know it’s something that won’t really ever change, but if the face of modern entertainment looked a little more like GIRLS, I think (for the first time in a long time) we’d be moving in the right direction.\

Dunham-Lena-300x2004) She says stuff like “You’re raised to think being a mother is an inevitable step in your development but you start to ask yourself questions, because not every woman does want to have children….”

Yes, I’m going to go there. I’m going to point blank say that I don’t want children. Do I feel bad when I say it? No. Do I think some people wince when I say it? Oh they absolutely do. This one is pretty simple–sometimes, it would be nice when women in role model situations were OK saying stuff like this. If there wasn’t such a stigma associated with not wanting children, I don’t think I’d even be writing this section. But there is. The fact that she’s okay with vocalizing a thought that I think an increasing number of women are thinking in today’s society makes her totally rad in my book.

5) She’s friends with Judd Apatow and I want that to be my life

That’s really all I have to say about that one. For real.

Check out her latest interview on the Colbert Report for more Lena. Oh, and be sure to catch Girls Sunday night’s on HBO after Game of Thrones (10PM). Here’s a preview for the latest episode:

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1 comment

Charlie Harwood May 8, 2012 - 8:05 pm

Nice job Brandi! It’s nice to know that women can relate and sympathize with the character. As a guy, i’m having trouble getting into the show. But, i’m happy to see so many girls loving it!

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