Lena Dunham, the indie darling best known for her film Tiny Furniture, is the driving force behind the new HBO series Girls. The 25-year-old produces, writes, directs, and stars in the project about four girls trying to make it after college while living in New York City.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she said, “People are graduating from college during a recession, and that’s a huge deal. And I think that TV shows, at the time I started writing this, weren’t necessarily reflecting that reality. [One of my goals is to] look at that financial struggle, and the fact that students are graduating with these degrees, going like, ‘World! Can you wait for me?’ And the world is like, ‘Uh yeah, I actually can wait for you.’”
Dunham is also excited at the possibility that the show’s storylines will help reflect her demographics’ view on certain political issues. She said, “I know that the show, even though it’s highly personal, has the potential to start sort of a politically leaning debate. And I’m excited to watch those dialogues happen, and I’ll need to make sure that I’m electorally informed so I can engage with them.”
Another key part of the show is the location of the Big Apple as the backdrop for the characters’ lives. Dunham said, “It was really important to me to get those details of really what the fabric of New York life is for girls this age. I just wanted it to be just like, if a New Yorker watches it, there were subtle nods to them, but it wouldn’t isolate anyone else.”
At this point, Dunham has been deemed somewhat of a voice of her generation, providing young girls with characters that are more similar to their lives than the gals of Sex and the City. But she does have some reservations about obtaining that title. She said, “I think that’s a scary mantle to assign someone, just because every generation is comprised of so many different types of weirdos.”
Girls airs on HBO, Sunday nights at 10:30 PM.
