‘Girls’ on HBO, Sundays at 10:30 p.m.

Warning: ‘Girls’ is a terrifying show. There are no monsters, murderers, spiders or bigger spiders, but a recent college graduate cut off financially by her parents? Cringe-worthy. Well, at least to me.

The show’s generic title sets viewers up for what to expect. There are four girls, all connected to one another as they try to get by in New York City. Lena Dunham has the most screen time playing Hannah, a self-proclaimed writer and the ‘voice of the generation.’

After getting cut off by her parents, Hannah spends time hooking up with her comically aloof carpenter ‘boyfriend’ Adam, played by Adam Driver, though she can never get in contact with him. Hannah’s friend Marnie, played by Allison Williams, is a career-oriented assistant at a public relations firm. She’s bored of her long-term boyfriend, but she can’t break up with him because he pays half the rent. Jemima Kirke and Zosia Mamet play cousins and roommates Jessa and Shoshanna. They round out the cast, but nothing major is devoted to them in the first episode.

There are no gripping cliffhangers or questions to be answered. Rather, thesewell-developedcharacters find themselves in situations that warrant both humor and insight. One of the pilot’s funnier exchanges is between Hannah and her internship boss. Now financially independent, Hannah asks if the internship can turn into a job and inadvertently ends up without the job or the internship.

‘Girls’ has an overarching story for sure, but its focus is more thematic. It is about figuring out life under the gun. After 20 years of privilege and expectations, how does one manage on his or her own when the safety nets are cut?

All comedic moments and insightful commentary stem from Dunham, the show’s creator. But they also come from the rest of the show’s staff, like writer Dunham, producer Dunham and starlet Dunham. Her almost totalitarian control over the show gives it a distinct feel of flawed people living in a flawed environment.

TV doesn’t have a lot of auteurs, but ‘Girls’ is a step in the right direction. The creative control allows Dunham to execute her vision instead of writing stereotypical sitcom weeklies that have no crossover from episode to episode.

As an HBO show set in New York City, it draws inspiration from ‘Sex and the City’ and gives its precursor a nod early on when Jessa moves in with Shoshanna. Shoshanna points out her ‘Sex and the City’ poster and goes off on a tangent trying to define herself as either a Carrie or Miranda, but also maybe a Samantha. It’s a cute way of setting the expectations of the romanticized NYC experience.

‘Sex and the City’ is the pinnacle of a privileged Manhattan existence with almost no real-world concerns. In the world of ‘Girls,’ Dunham and company are bogged down by financial burdens and consequences.

But in the end, they’re all still girls, not women. They live in the city and seek independent life, but not one of them is prepared for the problems of adulthood. It’s an experience most people can relate to. For a student, however, it’s an inevitable disappointment.

At least ‘Girls’ makes me laugh pretty hard. It makes up for brutally predicting my future as a man. Well, boy.

jswucher@syr.edu

Published on April 22, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jeff: jswucher@syr.edu