I realize a couple of things: 

  1. Lena Dunham is not her character Hannah
  2. This is based on life experiences Lena Dunham has had. 
  3. It is inspired by Sex and the City, “Dunham herself says she “revere[s] that show just as much as any girl of my generation.”[1]

I totally respect everyone’s right to be boring, loathsome, self-absorbed and subsequently write about it, make a show about it, tweet about it, one-man/woman play act it. 

Making me care about your play/show/tweet/comedy bit/whatever takes something extra.*

I saw the season finale last night. 

Spoiler: it ended with Hannah stuffing her face with cake on the beach after a fight with her boyfriend Adam led to her falling asleep on the Subway and getting her purse stolen. 

My problem with this show – I want to emphasize that it is my own problem – is that I cannot care about these people. The show’s tone isn’t funny enough for me to laugh at the loathsome fuck ups like Seinfeld or Life’s Too Short. It isn’t serious enough for me  to feel like I am learning about some real shit going down in Brooklyn for white people, like in that one where Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio fight in the suburbs. Instead I am left with some good things like Adam and Hannah’s argument in the street (feel like I’ve had that one before) or Marnie and Hannah’s argument in episode nine (sounded realistic) and some bad (Pretty much everything involving Jessa, lack of Shoshanna, inconsistent tone, Hannah talking about anything). 

There isn’t even eye candy. Watching Lena Dunham isn’t pleasant. Watching her kinda sorta act funny is alright. Watching her kinda sorta be dramatic is alright. When they are all mixed up together I get a show that I kinda sorta want to watch but will totally drop for something better. 

Please, someone remind me of why I am supposed to care about Hannah’s life?

Of course, this could be the plan all along. In real life people aren’t funny and entertaining all the time. The witty guy gets angry and yells and does stupid things in relationships. I can get that by living my life, however. Here Is My Life isn’t a message and message-less forms of art are lazy. 

When everyone on the show is damn near unlikeable, the only connection is “Some aspects of their lives may be similar to your own if you squint and put lemon in your eye” and there isn’t enough train-wreckage to keep you from glazing over you end up with a lukewarm show.  

I will now eat cake. 

*I do realize the irony of writing this on a infrequently-read tumblr by Some Guy.

This was originally published here