“One of the great lessons of my life”, according to Lena Dunham
Following the release of her award-winning indie feature Tiny Furniture, Lena Dunham was suddenly thrust into the mainstream with an HBO deal, which gave the world Girls.
She was only in her early 20s, but Tiny Furniture showed a filmmaker brimming with talent (she wrote, directed, and starred in the film) as well as a level of vulnerability and honesty that would come to be a trademark of Dunham’s artistic style. Unafraid to appear messy and a little spoiled, her semi-autobiographical film was unapologetic in its honesty, with the star bringing something so personal and revealing to her own work that few people would perhaps have the gall to present to an audience.
But Dunham has never been one to shy away from the parts of being human that aren’t so pretty. With Girls, she played Hannah, a selfish 20-something aspiring writer who suddenly finds herself cut off from her parents. Over six seasons, we see her character navigate complicated romantic and platonic relationships with some of the most complex, irritating, yet captivating characters TV has ever seen, while everything from OCD, abortion, STDs, drug addiction, virginity, sexual abuse, and pregnancy finds a place in the narrative.
Dunham penned some crazy, unforgettable lines when writing Girls, which was packed with so many iconic moments that some of them have even become internet memes (“Good soup” comes to mind). Despite this, she has always been considered a polarising figure, with the show frequently criticised by certain viewers for its frank depiction of sex and nudity, with the actor constantly getting her kit off, only to get flooded with comments about her weight.
In fact, Dunham has faced a lot of criticism over the years for her unabashed approach to creating heinous yet utterly real characters, ones that depict people who are intense, rude, selfish, and delusional. For making a show that seemed to prioritise a privileged group of women who are so wrapped up in their own lives. But Dunham is always self-aware, and when you consider how young she was when she wrote and starred in this major network TV show, bringing such clever writing and honest topics to the screen, you have to hand it to her. Not many people could handle such responsibility before hitting 25.
And Dunham was still learning. She was new to this industry, especially one that gives much more grace to men working in the same positions, which she learned the hard way. But when she walked away from Girls in her early 30s, she was now better equipped to navigate an industry that has always given women a much more difficult time.
She told The Guardian, “One of the great lessons of my life has been, like, companies are not your friend. And companies that are publicly traded are not your friend. I’m no longer interested in breaking my body for a company that gets more in tax write-offs in a year than any of the artists will make in their lifetime.”
Dunham added, “I know lots of male wunderkinds, and they’re having a different experience”. The entertainment industry has long favoured the male creative, and Dunham undoubtedly faced some unprecedented challenges when she emerged in an environment where being a young woman with such power is rare.
“As a woman, you have to perform grace all the time, in a way that I’m only just now starting to unbuckle from,” she said.
Now that she’s older, with the experience of several TV projects and books under her belt, she knows that in this industry, men and women just don’t get held to the same standards, and women are always going to have to work much harder for the same thing, when really, all that the higher-ups care about is profit. She’s not going to take it anymore, though.
