“Brooklyn’s ‘Zombie Girls” : More Backlash on Dunham’s Girls

By on January 26, 2013 11:34 pm in Celebrity Residents

Hit series, Golden Globes, media darling and generational “it” girl… Of course you’re destined to become a target for haters. While HBO’s “Girls” continues to be a solid hit in its just-launched sophomore season (866,000 viewers), Brooklyn Heights rez and show creator, star, et al, Lena Dunham gets another feminine lashing, courtesy of Heather Wilhelm in “The Zombie Girls of Brooklyn” in Real Clear Politics, who makes clear, this is no “Downton Abbey”!

“‘Girls’ managed to take home two Golden Globe awards last week. This included a prize for best comedy, which makes me think that the Golden Globes might be the Western world’s most elaborate working satire since Jonathan Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal.’”

“‘Girls’ follows the largely depressing, sex-fueled lives of four self-centered, fresh-out-of-college Brooklyn women. Indeed, it is a reintroduction to our old, tired, overworked friend ‘Sex and the City,’ only dusted off, tossed into Brooklyn and dipped into a grungy, plastic kiddie pool filled with floating bugs, self-referential meta humor and ennui.”
“Since 99.6% of the population aren’t watching the show, apparently a lot of people don’t get the joke (so) 0.4% do, about the same percentage that get the humor of bum fight videos.”

“To a really strong woman, being bold might mean standing tall and dignified. For these characters, boldness means barfing and bad language.”

“The media is throwing awards and praises to a show for nothing more than reaffirming their own philosophy about lifestyle. No one watches it, no one likes it.”

In the famous words of every 1960s’ musician… “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

 

( h/t McBrooklyn )

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  • Knight

    I am neither a fan nor a detractor of our neighbor Lena Dunham. I have not watched a single episode of “Girls.” But reading the clips from Ms. Wilhelm’s analysis, I find no basis for her rejecting Dunham’s Golden Globe wins. Golden Globes are critical acclaims that honor the content of a series, regardless of the popular vote that is largely influenced by scheduling against other shows.

  • Mr. Crusty

    If a show’s success can be measured by the strong emotions it engenders in viewers and the number of vitriolic articles written about it, then I would have to say “Girls” has been phenomenally successful.

    What I don’t get from articles like this is the acknowledgement that not every work of of art need be liked, or even understood, by a large segment of the population. There are great works of art that I don’t particularly care for but yet I can appreciate that many others do.

    The author of this article doesn’t like the show. Got it. She certainly has the right to her opinion. She does not have the right to her own facts however. Her last line, “no one watches it, no one likes it” is just demonstrably false and actually tells us more about the author’s inability to accept that others have different reactions to the show. Much like what she says in her critique, she is letting her “philosophy of lifestyle” interfere with reality.

  • Lady in the Heights

    The author of the article sounds a little jealous. Who wouldn’t be with all of the success Dunham has achieved.

  • GHB

    Heather Wilhelm? A nobody writing on a blog no one cares about. Read her full column and you’ll see what a bitter and jealous creature she is.

  • C.

    Is this the Lena Dunham blog now? I can’t stand this girl and it seems there’s a new post about her every other day. If this blog is now a Lena Dunham fan site, please let me know so I can update my bookmarks.

  • Mr. Crusty

    One can always skip over those threads that don’t appeal to you. I do that to the “Brooklyn Heights Best Nail Salons” and similar such articles.

  • billinhp

    1. Girls is not a hit. IT has terrible ratings even for basic cable and last week had its lowest ratings ever.
    2. Everyone in Hollywood knows the Golden Globes are sold to the highest bidder. Two Globes simply means that HBO is trying to buy a hit.

  • BrooklynBugle

    Renewed for 3rd season – http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/01/25/girls-officially-renewed-for-12-episode-season-3-by-hbo/166797/

    Factor in DVR audience, on demand, HBO Go the show is pushing 3.8 million audience. It’s also driving subscriptions for the channel with a younger demo. So, yeah, it’s a hit.

  • billinhp

    1. DVR audience is one of the most bogus stats around. First off, you’re trusting HBO on those numbers. Secondly, someone watching 5 minutes gets counted as watching. and it also doesn’t factor someone watching it more than once.

    2. Showtime, with a smaller subscription base, is pounding HBO head to head with Shameless and House of Lies killing Girls and Enlightened.

    3. Those were the premiere week numbers. Last week Girls posted it’s lowest numbers yet. Under 600,000 on live viewing. On the plus side, the second viewing numbers were up indicating Girls is probably the second choice for some people on a crowded evening. But the SECOND choice. So low in fact that it wasn’t even on the list of the 100 cable shows for that Sunday. Get it, At least 100 shows on that Sunday were more watched than Girls. Oh, and it’s 18-49 numbers are abysmal. Meaning it is mostly watched by old people. You know the one’s who write about it all the time.

    4. The show was picked up for a third season before the second season started. Everyone in Hollywood knew that dirty little secret. Just like everyone knows the Golden Globes are sold to the highest bidder. HBO has thrown in with Lena for whatever reason and they’ll stop at nothing trying to get it more buzz.

    You people in Brooklyn need to get out of the house more. You are quintessential suckers.

  • BrooklynBugle

    Clearly they think it will drive subsciptions which in theory trump ratings. That said I think we can all agree that Bored to Death was a much better show.

  • petercow

    Envious, not jealous. Better your friends tell you.

  • billinhp

    Yeah, well they’re getting their arse kicked in that area by Showtime recently as well. But whatever. I’m not a Time-Warner shareholder.

    As far as better shows. There are a lot of them. Not bitter about Dunham’s success like other people. She should go for all she can get while she can. I think it is just confusing to people why so many powerful people in the press seem to worship her. Diablo Cody got thrown under the bus by a lot of the same people now embracing Dunham, yet Juno was a worldwide smash and The United States of Tara had similar ratings on Showtime as Girls has on HBO with a bigger subscription base.

  • AmandaDineGamble

    Getting dissed by people like Heather Wilhelm is probably one of the nicest compliments an artist can receive. Thanks, H-Dog!