Most people know the TV show, Girls. Starring Lena Dunham, this groundbreaking show is about, “an aspiring writer and her three friends, all in their early 20s, together try to make sense of what life has in store for them after living in New York for two years. They’re not sure what they want, or who they want it from, and the picture isn’t getting any clearer. Hannah thinks she has what it takes to be a successful writer, if only she would write something. She wants a boyfriend without dealing with an actual relationship, and she wants a job without having to work. Marnie is Hannah’s best friend, a Type A personality who has a serious boyfriend and an actual job. Jessa is a devil-may-care bohemian whose apparent lack of fear hides her own kind of insecurity. Her cousin, Shoshanna, is an NYU student who would love nothing more than to experience a “Sex and the City” lifestyle. The others tend to underestimate Shoshanna, but she proves to be a sharp source of wisdom.”
The final season of HBO’s hit series Girls premiered Sunday, February 12th at 10 p.m. and it’s truly the end of an era. I think I know Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner well enough to say that this show is going out with a bang. The first season premiered on April 15, 2012, over three and a half years ago. (I was practically a fetus!) I’ve grown immensely over that time, surviving my fair share of bad haircuts, heartbreak, and wardrobe malfunctions. While the girls on the show were discovering themselves and maneuvering life as young women, I was right there with them.
When Hannah’s mental illness made her feel helpless and lost, I found humor and acceptance with my own. I felt Marnie’s urge to control every little detail of the weekend at the beach house on a deep level. Shoshanna freaking out for accidentally smoking crack was literally me the first time I drank or smoked too much. Jessa’s balance of spiritual awareness and realism has helped me keep my cool when life doesn’t go my way. I think the biggest things I learned from Girls involved the dynamics of relationships and friendships.
1. Arguably one of the biggest themes of the show is that that the best of friends can be the extremely different, which is totally okay. Sure, it’s nice and easy to be around people who are a lot like you, but where’s the fun in that? I think we learn a lot more about ourselves and the world around us when our comfort zones are tested and we are forced to face reality.
2. Hannah Horvath’s parents prove our parents are human too. They’ve been our age, they’ve had setbacks, changed their minds, and questioned their purpose in life. Most importantly, they’ve made mistakes. We shouldn’t be so hard on our parents; we should try to consider what they have to say, and love them unconditionally. My mom has done more for me than I can ever repay, and I love watching Girls with her. Her honesty about her experiences has made me laugh and feel closer to her.
3. As for romantic relationships, Girls has taught me that things change. We will never have the same love twice, and at this age, we sometimes choose partners for selfish reasons. Just like books, there are beginnings, middles and endings in relationships. Life is weird in that when a relationship ends, sometimes we feel like we never really knew the person we were “intimate” with at all. How do relationships reflect on who we are as individuals? What changes have we made after a breakup, and why?4. Lastly, the complex characters on this show have all displayed the most important relationship in our lives: the one we have with ourselves. Being young is a learning experience. Trying new things is the only way to figure out what we like and don’t like. We may not be able to control what other people do, but we can control how we react. How do we respond to unexpected situations? What are the values we hold most dear? Where do we see ourselves in the next five or ten years? Sometimes our whole worldview is altered in just one day.
Finally, I’ve included a link to Hannah’s speech that gives me all the feels. Feel free to watch and experience all those emotions with me. It’s been real, Girls. Thank you for teaching some of the best life lessons.