HBO’s polarizing seriesGirlsdefined the young millennial experience in the 2010s, and it’s not only still worth watching all these years later, but younger generations are connecting with it in a big way. Created by Lena Dunham,Girlspremiered in 2012 and centered on the misadventures of aspiring writer Hannah Horvath (Dunham) and her three female friends as they learned about life and love in Brooklyn, NYC.Girlswas the millennial “it show”, and made huge stars of its cast, particularly Adam Driver and Allison Williams.
As tends to happen with Dunham and her projects, controversy surroundedGirlsalmost instantly. The series' raw depiction of female sexuality sparked much debate, with some saying it was empowering and others that it was cheap shock value. Another contentious issue wasGirls' lack of diversity, with the four female leads and most of their love interests all being white. The series was also dismissed by those who sawtheGirlsmain charactersas unlikable and entitled. While many would like to seeGirlsburied in a time capsule forever, it’s actually clicking with the latest crop of young adults.
Gen Z Is Embracing Girls & Everyone Else Should Too
Nobody Is At Their Best When They’re Trying To Find Their Place In The World
It may be a Gen Z stereotype that the generation loves to make fun of millennials, but it appears that the former iscertainly getting something out ofGirls, the quintessential millennial series. There areGirlswatch podcasts, Gen Z-ers visiting filming locations in Brooklyn, and Marnie Michaels actressAllison Williams has even commented on theGirlsresurgence. Considering how much backlash the show received when it was airing, you’d think it would have aged extra poorly in the years since it wrapped, but the opposite is true.
Nobody is their best self when they’re trying to figure out their messy and complicated lives out, and being in your early-mid twenties is when many of us feel the most lost.
Yes, much of the criticism is deserved, particularly the show’s lack of diversity. And I admit, there are moments inGirlsthat are so cringey, I’m watching it through covered eyes like it’s a horror movie. But ultimately,neither Hannah, her friends, nor millennials as a whole invented selfish, entitled behavior. Nobody is their best self when they’re trying to figure out their messy and complicated lives out, and being in your early-mid twenties is when many of us feel the most lost. Also, keep in mind, theGirlscharacters have just graduated from college into a recession.
Speaking for myself, when I was in my twenties, I was obsessed withSex and the City, not just for the glamour and the fashion, but because watchingCarrie Bradshaw struggle to get her life togethereased the pressure for me to get mine together before I turned 30. I could be single, fabulous, and take my time figuring out who I was and who I wanted to be. Now, it looks likethis millennial show is doing for Gen Z what the Gen XSex and the Citydid for millennials.
Marnie Actress Allison Williams Speaks To Girls' Resurgence In Popularity
The Tides Have Turned For Marnie Michaels & Messy Female Characters
In an interview withScreen Rantpromoting the upcomingM3GAN 2.0,Allison Williams discussed not onlyGirls' resurgence in popularity but also the reassessment of her controversial character, Marnie Michaels. Of all theGirlsleading ladies, Marnie was by far the most reviled, as many found her narcissistic, judgmental, cruel, and some of us all but pulled muscles we were cringing so hard at Marnie’s impromptu singing performance at Charlie’s app party. But, according to Williams, Gen Z sees the character in a whole new light. Williams said:
There is [a Girls resurgence], actually. I think it is actually just happening. It’s real. It’s incredibly gratifying and very cool…but I am loving it. Gen Z is having a moment with the show almost 10 years after we made it. When the millennial generation was watching it, we were watching our own life happening, and I think now, for my friends, they’re all doing rewatches because now they feel like they’re in the safety of their adulthood and they can enjoy watching the chaos.
And then for current 22-year-olds or whatever, they’re watching a version of their own existence that’s just far enough away that they can enjoy it. And it also means thatpeople like Marnie now, which is not something I lived with while we were making the show. People vehemently hated her. And I do think M3GAN is a Marnie.
I think it’s great that Marnie is being looked at under a new light. For as terrible as she behaves at times, she’s alsothe most unapologetic of her friends when it comes to putting herself out there even if she falls flat on her face. This is a woman who was brave enough to leave her husband after only a few months of marriage because she knew it wasn’t working.
Also, love the characters or hate them,we want shows with messy female protagonists, whether that’s Hannah Horvath, Marnie Michaels, or Carrie Bradshaw. Their popularity means shows likeGirlskeep getting made. It means we getFleabag,Insecure,The Sex Lives of College Girls, the list goes on. It means not only accepting the fact that we’re imperfect, but celebrating it — no matter your generation.
