{"id":445,"date":"2013-01-21T00:00:32","date_gmt":"2013-01-21T05:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smugfilm.com\/?p=445"},"modified":"2013-03-01T23:12:48","modified_gmt":"2013-03-02T04:12:48","slug":"lena-dunham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/lena-dunham\/","title":{"rendered":"The Empress, Quite Literally, Has No Clothes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nI\u2019ve been putting off writing this essay for some time, waiting for the \u2018right moment\u2019 I guess. As though there is ever a \u2018right moment\u2019 to write a scathing criticism of an individual and their artistic output. It\u2019s kind of a dick thing to do, I\u2019ll admit. But god dammit, when it comes to Lena Dunham, it really needs to be done\u2014and done by smart ol\u2019 me. Because even though there is plenty of distaste out there for her and her work, it seems no one is really getting to the root of exactly why<\/i> she should be despised. So, over the course of this essay, I will break down, on a deep, intellectual level, exactly why she is a counterfeit artist, and why Girls<\/em> is a hazardous product that goes against the proper functions of storytelling.
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\nMy first encounter with Lena Dunham\u2019s work was stumbling on a link to the trailer for Tiny Furniture<\/em>. It had just been acquired by IFC, and said link was making the rounds as a \u2018dude what the fuck is this piece of shit\u2019-type curiosity. The line delivery was so amateurish, the dialogue so faux-witty, the plot so narcissistic, the directing so non-existent, the cinematography so mishandled, the characters\u2019 eye lines so blatantly incorrect, that I absolutely could not wait to see it\u2014and, see it eviscerated by critics.<\/p>\n

But critics, as so often happens, dropped the ball. Not all critics, mind you, but most of them. The film currently holds a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. Some of the critics who contributed to this unwarrantedly high score are probably just morons. But to assume they all<\/i> are would be unfair. The truth is that most critics who gave it a positive review are probably mildly-observant enough to see that this is a very flawed film. They just felt like giving it a passing grade anyway, out of pity for the sad, lost, dumpy girl.<\/p>\n

Like a too-forgiving mother, they mistakingly believed that if they helped her out \u2018just this once\u2019, she\u2019d change. <\/i>She\u2019d break from her mopey rut, comb her damn hair, wear things that are not embarrassing, eat with regard towards food\u2019s effect on one\u2019s body, move around enough to burn off her lazy jiggles, surround herself with mature people, truly hone her craft, and maybe one day even make a real<\/i> film.<\/p>\n

These assumptions were and are all pipe dreams. Lena is perfectly content being an irresponsible, warts-and-all pig wallowing in her own filthy arrested development\u2014and, with the success of Girls<\/em>, has now built a powerful career around it. She\u2019s an affluent, all-grown-up, liberal \u2018Honey Boo Boo\u2019\u2014and similarly, a sensation. However, the toddler queen of TLC is accurately seen by most people, including her viewers, as emblematic of a growing national problem. Lena, on the other hand, is seen as positive, strong, fearless, a feminist icon, a role model, the \u2018voice of a generation\u2019\u2014all this despite having absolutely nothing of substance to offer her audience.<\/p>\n

Although lost chicks may enjoy her work, and dig that someone is finally speaking \u2018for\u2019 them, and \u2018gets\u2019 their \u2018struggle\u2019\u2014and maybe even, as a result of this, they feel slight relief from the pain of their life\u2014this is actually the absolute worst possible entertainment for them. It provides nothing they truly need: no wisdom, no rationality, no objectivity. It\u2019s the blind leading the blind. She\u2019s the pied piper of frumpy 20-somethings.<\/p>\n

Her goal is not to help her fans transcend their shittiness and become awesome people\u2014if they did, they\u2019d no longer enjoy her insipid works anymore. Instead, her goal is to keep her audience just the way they are: infants, sucking on her teat for ever and ever. Because so long as women have no idea what the hell they are doing, Lena, the profiteer, profits.<\/p>\n

Does this sound like an artist to you? Does this sound like art? Of course it doesn\u2019t. It isn\u2019t.<\/i> It\u2019s a deception. <\/i>Like a crack dealer selling to their own neighborhood, their own brothers and sisters and cousins and uncles and next-door neighbors, Lena may be \u2018just providing what her customers want\u2019 but it sure as hell is not<\/i> what they need.<\/i><\/p>\n

The purpose of art is to make people\u2019s lives better. To help them see the world in a new way, and understand more, and feel more, and do better things. That is the power of myth. Of storytelling.<\/p>\n

Girls<\/i> exists to do none of these things. Its goal is to be your pseudo-life, and for its characters to be your pseudo-friends that you must catch up every week on the gossip of. No actual story is being told, and there are no actual character \u2018arcs\u2019\u2014just character \u2018straight lines\u2019, so to speak. Things happening.<\/p>\n

No one grows\u2014neither the characters, nor the viewers. Which I guess is like the \u2018point\u2019 or something. (And the only \u2018point\u2019 Lena Dunham seems to know how to make.) How much longer she\u2019ll be able to get by on this ruse, I have no idea. But the public is bound to wake up at some point, realize they\u2019re being sold empty boxes, and take their business elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Look, there are plenty of brilliant works of art out there about lost girls. Works that have actual nutritional value, and depth, and will forever stand the test of time. There\u2019s no reason to waste your hours watching drivel. That time could’ve been spent way<\/em> more wisely. But it\u2019s not too late. I\u2019m here to help.<\/p>\n

Cody\u2019s Fantastic List of Ten Fantastic Films About Lost Girls:<\/b><\/p>\n

Fish Tank<\/a> (2009)
\nVicky Cristina Barcelona<\/a> (2008)
\nRosetta<\/a> (1999)
\nThe Last Days of Disco<\/a> (1998)
\nWelcome to the Dollhouse<\/a> (1995)
\nThe Match Factory Girl<\/a> (1990)
\nAnother Woman<\/a> (1988)
\nJe, Tu, Il, Elle<\/a> (1976)
\nAll That Heaven Allows<\/a> (1955)
\nBrief Encounter<\/a> (1945)<\/p>\n

Any one of these films are light years, galaxies, universes better than Lena Dunham\u2019s work. Knock yourself out.\u00a0And if you have ideas of ones you think might fit the bill, leave \u2018em in the Comments section.<\/p>\n