‘Girls’ star deftly deals with diversity

  • By Helena Andrews The Root
  • Friday, January 18, 2013 2:11pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

I’m really proud of Lena Dunham as she embarks on the second season of her hit HBO series, “Girls.”

The actress-writer-director deftly navigates a clear path through the tsunami of deserved criticism over her show’s lack of diversity.

“Girls” follows four young women — all of them white — living the decidedly unglamorous life in New York City.

In a show with such a sweeping, all-inclusive title, the lack of even one girl of color was felt by fans and eventually by Dunham herself.

“But for me to ignore that criticism and not to take it in would really go against my beliefs and my education in so many things,” Dunham said in an interview with NPR in 2012.

And in the new year she made good on her resolution to take that criticism to heart without being campy.

Season two is all about new beginnings. In the premiere episode, Hannah (played by Dunham) has a new boyfriend, Sandy (Donald Glover of NBC’s sitcom “Community”).

Glover’s casting could easily be dismissed by some as tokenism, but those rabble-rousers need only to actually watch the first two episodes to realize Sandy’s character is hardly out of place.

For a girl like Hannah, a guy like Sandy is a godsend.

Sandy is the kind of guy your girlfriends can get behind. He is nice and in law school. He has a clean apartment minus the annoying roommates and, most importantly, he is just that into Hannah.

Sure, Sandy’s a Republican, but nobody’s perfect.

Hannah has been taking care of her ex, Adam, despite his mood swings and their “it’s complicated” relationship. So therein lies the choice: the nice guy or the bad boy?

Hannah and Sandy eventually get into one of those fights couples have when they’re trying that brutal-honesty thing. Instead of accepting Sandy’s criticism of her “work,” she goes on the defensive and attacks his political beliefs.

And a political discussion between two interracial hipsters who’ve sort of been blissfully ignoring their disparate races thus far can only go so well.

“The joke’s on you because, you want to know what, I never thought about the fact that you were black once,” Hannah blurts out at the height of the fight. “I don’t live in a world where there are divisions like that.”

It’s not hard to imagine what happens next, and that’s the great part about the conversation.

As I watched Hannah’s implosion in amused horror, my boyfriend, only half-listening before, spoke up from his side of the couch. “I can see those people having that exact conversation,” he said. “It makes total sense.” And in rushed my pride in Lena Dunham.

So for me what’s great about this season of “Girls” is that Dunham has recognized that people who don’t look exactly like her could help tell her story.

Sandy doesn’t have to be black. He just has to be the nice guy for whom Hannah isn’t ready — a necessary point in the narrative of her self discovery. A stepping-stone.

But the fact that he is black is a step in the right direction.

Helena Andrews is a contributing editor at The Root and author of “Bitch Is the New Black,” a memoir in essays.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.