![molls:
folkinz:
tvhangover:
I read the pilot episode for Lena Dunham’s soon to be released HBO show Girls a few months ago and was so impressed by it. Check out the trailer here.
I hadn’t seen Tiny Furniture at this point, but had heard of it and her, I mean anyone with an internet connection basically has, right? I later watched Tiny Furniture (available on Netflix Instant and headed to the Criterion Collection) and thought it was OK. I wasn’t overly excited by the story since it’s been done a million times: Young adult finishes college and doesn’t know what to do with life, moves back home, gets crappy job, hangs out with friends they don’t really like anymore, has sex in trash, and then finds themselves (sorta) in 98 minutes.
We don’t really know how much Aura is Lena and how much of Lena is Aura and I think that’s very similar to how we portray our lives online, how much of what we put online is a character that we want people to see and how much of us in real life is that character. I would be remiss if I didn’t note that she wrote and directed this film at the age of 24. I would also be remiss to note that she does not fit the ‘Hollywood’ image of beauty which she even notes and jokes about in the trailer for Girls (“I am 13 pounds over weight and it has been awful for me my whole life”). She’s quirky and kinda weird and wears tights and is living in Brooklyn and all those things people love to hate on.
Maybe the trailer for Girls leaves some people a little affronted, but based on the actual pilot and the fact that Judd Apatow has produced, written, and directed some of the bestTV and is attached to this I am excited.
Let’s instead of looking at how ‘quirky’ or whatever you want to think or call the show or Lena Dunham, let’s look at Girls in a step in the right direction for TV, specifically female fronted TV. Last September, The Director’s Guild of America released a report assessing director diversity in TV.
The DGA analyzed more than 2,600 episodes produced in the 2010-2011 television season from more than 170 scripted television series. The report showed that Caucasian males directed 77% of all episodes; Caucasian females directed 11% of all episodes; minority males directed 11% of all episodes and minority females directed just 1% of all episodes. Among one-hour series, Caucasian males directed 80% of episodes, and in half-hour series, Caucasian males directed 74% of all episodes.
The shows highlighted below are from major production companies ABC, CBS, Fox, HBO, NBC, Sony, Warner Bros. and other production companies whose shows appear on broadcast, basic cable and premium cable networks. They do not include series that have been cancelled. First-year shows are broken out separately because hiring decisions on first-year shows are often made differently than shows in their second seasons or beyond. Pilots are not included in the statistics. Shows that primarily hired only one or two directors for the entire season [Big Bang Theory; Eastbound and Down; The Game; How I Met Your Mother; It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia; The League;Louie; Retired at 35;Two and a Half Men] were included in the overall data, but are not singled out in the lists below.
The Center for the Study of Women in Film & Television released another study of women behind the scenes and onscreen in TV in 2010-2011 season
The percentage of women working as writers on broadcast programs plummeted this season, declining from 29% in 2009-2010 to 15% in 2010-2011. The percentage of women directors also declined from 16% in 2009-2010 to 11% in 2010-2011.On screen, females accounted for 41% of all characters. This represents a decline of 2 percentage points from the 2007-08 season when female characters accounted for a historical high of 43% of characters. However, programs with at least one woman creator or writer featured more female characters than programs with no women creators or writers.
Girls deserves to be watched not only because it (in my opinion) is well written, but especially because it is a female written, directed, and acted TV show. What’s more important is that these actresses, the girls in Girls, may be daughters of rich people, are basically unknowns and it should/could/might give hope to all those other talented writers, actors, and directors that this is possible for them too. At least that’s what I get out if this.
I had some thoughts on Girls and Lena Dunham’s importance.
Can’t wait to finally watch Girls.
“What’s more important is that these actresses, the girls in Girls, may be daughters of rich people, are basically unknowns and it should/could/might give hope to all those other talented writers, actors, and directors that this is possible for them too. “…. as long as they, too, have rich or famous parents. Sorry, I do agree with the writer of this post that supporting Girls and Dunham is great for female filmmakers, but I think pointing out who their parents are sends the wrong message (one that does NOT give hope to others in a similar field), as well as demeaning the accomplishments of these girls themselves for making and being on this show.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lys4mez8bo1qgs4hjo1_1280.jpg)
I read the pilot episode for Lena Dunham’s soon to be released HBO show Girls a few months ago and was so impressed by it. Check out the trailer here.
I hadn’t seen Tiny Furniture at this point, but had heard of it and her, I mean anyone with an internet connection basically has, right? I later watched Tiny Furniture (available on Netflix Instant and headed to the Criterion Collection) and thought it was OK. I wasn’t overly excited by the story since it’s been done a million times: Young adult finishes college and doesn’t know what to do with life, moves back home, gets crappy job, hangs out with friends they don’t really like anymore, has sex in trash, and then finds themselves (sorta) in 98 minutes.
We don’t really know how much Aura is Lena and how much of Lena is Aura and I think that’s very similar to how we portray our lives online, how much of what we put online is a character that we want people to see and how much of us in real life is that character. I would be remiss if I didn’t note that she wrote and directed this film at the age of 24. I would also be remiss to note that she does not fit the ‘Hollywood’ image of beauty which she even notes and jokes about in the trailer for Girls (“I am 13 pounds over weight and it has been awful for me my whole life”). She’s quirky and kinda weird and wears tights and is living in Brooklyn and all those things people love to hate on.
Maybe the trailer for Girls leaves some people a little affronted, but based on the actual pilot and the fact that Judd Apatow has produced, written, and directed some of the bestTV and is attached to this I am excited.
Let’s instead of looking at how ‘quirky’ or whatever you want to think or call the show or Lena Dunham, let’s look at Girls in a step in the right direction for TV, specifically female fronted TV. Last September, The Director’s Guild of America released a report assessing director diversity in TV.
The DGA analyzed more than 2,600 episodes produced in the 2010-2011 television season from more than 170 scripted television series. The report showed that Caucasian males directed 77% of all episodes; Caucasian females directed 11% of all episodes; minority males directed 11% of all episodes and minority females directed just 1% of all episodes. Among one-hour series, Caucasian males directed 80% of episodes, and in half-hour series, Caucasian males directed 74% of all episodes.
The shows highlighted below are from major production companies ABC, CBS, Fox, HBO, NBC, Sony, Warner Bros. and other production companies whose shows appear on broadcast, basic cable and premium cable networks. They do not include series that have been cancelled. First-year shows are broken out separately because hiring decisions on first-year shows are often made differently than shows in their second seasons or beyond. Pilots are not included in the statistics. Shows that primarily hired only one or two directors for the entire season [Big Bang Theory; Eastbound and Down; The Game; How I Met Your Mother; It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia; The League;Louie; Retired at 35;Two and a Half Men] were included in the overall data, but are not singled out in the lists below.
The Center for the Study of Women in Film & Television released another study of women behind the scenes and onscreen in TV in 2010-2011 season
The percentage of women working as writers on broadcast programs plummeted this season, declining from 29% in 2009-2010 to 15% in 2010-2011. The percentage of women directors also declined from 16% in 2009-2010 to 11% in 2010-2011.
On screen, females accounted for 41% of all characters. This represents a decline of 2 percentage points from the 2007-08 season when female characters accounted for a historical high of 43% of characters. However, programs with at least one woman creator or writer featured more female characters than programs with no women creators or writers.Girls deserves to be watched not only because it (in my opinion) is well written, but especially because it is a female written, directed, and acted TV show. What’s more important is that these actresses, the girls in Girls, may be daughters of rich people, are basically unknowns and it should/could/might give hope to all those other talented writers, actors, and directors that this is possible for them too. At least that’s what I get out if this.
I had some thoughts on Girls and Lena Dunham’s importance.
Can’t wait to finally watch Girls.
“What’s more important is that these actresses, the girls in Girls, may be daughters of rich people, are basically unknowns and it should/could/might give hope to all those other talented writers, actors, and directors that this is possible for them too. “
…. as long as they, too, have rich or famous parents. Sorry, I do agree with the writer of this post that supporting Girls and Dunham is great for female filmmakers, but I think pointing out who their parents are sends the wrong message (one that does NOT give hope to others in a similar field), as well as demeaning the accomplishments of these girls themselves for making and being on this show.
