I watch it, my best friends watch it, my best guy friend watches it and my mom and dad watch it. So what makes Girls so addicting? Why do I get the same amount of excitement watching a brand new episode as I do when given a free cupcake? And why does it appeal to everyone, not just girls?
The modern-day Sex and the City is what many critics have dubbed Girls, but as an avid watcher and huge fan of SATC, I can’t say I see a shocking amount of similarities. New York City is as fabulous as Carrie herself, but SATC never gave viewers a look at the dirty, raw parts of the city. Truthfully, this is borderline the entirety of NYC, which is what makes the city what it is. For example: we never saw Charlotte accidentally smoke crack at a warehouse party and end up in just tights (no skirt) by the end of the night like we did with Girls’ Shoshanna.
Critics also search for reasons why it’s not ‘realistic,’ but is anything realistic on TV anymore? Even reality shows seem to be the least realistic of them all. Girls is at least honest enough for a majority of young women to relate. Lena Dunham does not only star as Hannah, but she is also is the writer and director of Girls. She has said she bases a lot of the storyline and characters off of her own life experiences; this is most likely why the show rings so true. Whether it’s Hannah’s awkward sexual experiences with Adam, Marnie’s true feelings being exposed, Jessa’s flirtations with her boss, or Shoshanna’s virginity crisis, we, as true ‘girls’, can relate and identify with each character.
There is a small similarity between Girls and Sex and the City that I’ve picked up on, though, and I’m a huge fan. In many SATC episodes, Carrie will be typing up her column about something that pertains to the episode. Girls has a more modern take on this with Hannah occasionally tweeting (side note: check out Dunham’s actual, and very funny, Twitter). The tweets in the show aren’t the easiest to pick up on (I had to actually pause it to read them), but they are hysterical, and of course, relatable. One tweet reads, “just poured water on some perfectly good bread to stop myself from eating it. ate it anyway. BECAUSE I AM AN ANIMAL.” This actually reminds me of the SATC episode where Miranda pours soap on a pan of brownies that she threw in the trash because the trash didn’t stop her from digging for another bite. We all know how that goes…
But now that I’m drawing small similarities between Girls and SATC, I feel the need to mention how my favorite scenes from both shows relate to nakedness. Maybe I’m just immature, but I think it’s because I actually feel embarrassed for the characters while I’m crying of laughter. Either way, when Hannah is visiting her parents in Michigan, her dad falls out of the shower (obviously completely naked). Hannah must help her mom move him to the bed, and let’s just say I died. Especially when Hannah brings attention to the fact that everyone involved in the situation is extremely mortified. In the SATC episode, Miranda also falls out of the shower due to a neck problem. She calls Carrie for help and Carrie sends her boyfriend, Aiden, instead. Aiden and Miranda share a horribly awkward encounter in which he must pick her up…cracking up right now just thinking about it.
Whether the shows are similar or not, HBO has done it again with another fabulous show about young women trying to make it through life without too many embarrassing moments. Whether Hannah is letting her co-workers draw on her eyebrows (leading to Adam telling her she looks like a Mexican teenager…died) or Marnie stalking her ex-boyfriend’s Facebook pictures of him and his new girlfriend, we laugh and quietly sigh because we just know. And when it comes to love, Hannah put it best for us collegiettes: “I just want someone who wants to hang out all the time, thinks I’m the best person in the world, and wants to have sex with only me.”