Are You a ‘Girls’ Girl?: The Revival of HBO’s ‘Girls’
By Catherine Murphy
Courtesy of HBO
There is a woman writing somewhere in New York. She’s debasing herself by sharing stories of her life and sexual exploits. She finds herself crawling back to the same man over and over again. A group of friends surrounds her: one sexually liberated and unafraid of conflict, another more inexperienced and anxious, and the third (relatively) level-headed. Two popular 2000s series fit the description: Sex in the City and Girls, both staples of the 2000s culture. Despite the many similarities, the shows could not be more different.
Most people on TikTok have likely been exposed to the recent Sex and the City revival. Any chronically online woman can tell you, “Big is moving to Paris.” But Sex and the City isn't the only four female lead series experiencing a renaissance. HBO’s Girls has been receiving its own wave of attention, partly thanks to the “Girls Rewatch Podcast.” It’s not difficult to understand the appeal. Lena Dunham both writes for and stars in the series as Hannah, a struggling writer. Along with friends, or sometimes frenemies, Marnie (Allison Williams), Shoshana (Zoshia Mamet), and Jessa (Jemima Kirk), Hannah attempts to navigate her late 20s. Wherever you are in life, these girls are right there with you. While the ladies of Sex and the City often seem to be holding at least part of their lives together, the cast of Girls is barely functioning. There’s an allure in how raw Girls is: in sex, in love, and in life. Even as the series ends, it's clear these women are stuck in old habits, and it's comforting to know we’re not alone in this aspect.
There’s something out of touch with Sex in the City’s narrative. Even while Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) contemplates her infidelity with Big (Chris Noth), yet again, she does so in her Upper East Side Brownstone. It's hard not to hate her for making such bad decisions in such good shoes. When Girls first aired in 2012, six years after the recession, you can feel the impact of its current environment. While the girls of Sex and the City seem relatively free from the financial difficulty of New York living, Girls doesn’t shy away from the economic uncertainty of millennials as they exit adolescence and enter the real world. The series starts with Hannah being cut off financially from her previously very generous parents. As we enter a similar era of monetary dread, it's more difficult to align ourselves with the Carrie Bradshaw and Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) of the world.
Courtesy of HBO
It is aspirational to watch these accomplished women, each in their own field, reap the benefits of their success. But it's not exactly relatable. Girls on the other hand, are filled with trial and error. Hannah repeatedly faces roadblocks in her writing, and when she is given the opportunity to shine, she often messes it up. All four women find themselves in their fair share of dead-end jobs or relationships and they don’t always make it out. This isn't to say that Sex in the City isn’t without its moments of realness. Carrie shares Hannah and perhaps our own stubborn and occasionally selfish behavior. It can be difficult to see ourselves reflecting on screen in this way, this holding up the mirror. Both characters grow slowly but surely, mostly through error after error.
Courtesy of HBO
If Sex in the City is escapism, Girl is reality. The glitz and glamour of Sex in the City’s New York is enticing; the endless nights of parties and sex are the life of our dreams. Conversely, at its inception, Girls was repeatedly accused of characters too unlikable to root for. In many ways, this is the result of existing too soon to be appreciated. It was before we all came to the realization that women can be flawed. Not existing as Madonna or Whore, but somewhere in the middle. For much of history, female characters filled small boxes of mother or temptress, angel or witch. There was no room for the complex women we see in Girls.And when I look at the people in my life, and even myself, I know we’re Girl’s girls.
