The best shows I’ve ever watched have had the word “girls” in the title. “Gossip Girl,” “Gilmore Girls” and, my most recent obsession, the HBO original “Girls.”
I’ve heard great things about “Girls” since it first aired in 2012, but never watched it because it isn’t on Netflix and I couldn’t remember the password for the random person’s HBO GO account I was using.
Thankfully, a friend recently lent me the first two seasons on DVD. Not surprisingly, I watched the two seasons in less than two weeks.
“Girls” is an accurate, hilarious work of art. So many shows about young women are misrepresentations of transitioning into adulthood and leave viewers feeling sad that they can’t be as awesome as the characters on the show. “Gossip Girl” is amazing, but every time I would watch it I would feel inferior to Blair and Serena because my life wasn’t as glamorous and exciting as theirs. Same for “Gilmore Girls.” Why couldn’t I be as smart as Rory, as witty as Lorelai and eat whatever I wanted without getting fat?
I never feel jealous while watching “Girls.” Instead I feel sympathetic, understanding and like I can genuinely relate to the characters. All four main characters have problems that are both humorous and real. They all have aspects of life they excel at and fail it. They are all beautiful yet envious of others. The girls in “Girls” represent every single 20-something woman who doesn’t know what’s going on in their life most of the time, myself included.
Dating, careers, family relationships, money troubles, mental issues—“Girls” tackles it all. There isn’t a single episode I haven’t related to and saw myself in Hannah, Marnie, Jessa or Shoshanna. “Girls” is also very weird and sometimes dark, but I have laughed out loud at every episode. Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino is also in a few episodes, which just adds to the show’s amazingness.
If you want a show that accurately portrays becoming a real adult in tumultuous New York City, I recommend finding someone with an HBO GO account and borrowing it for a few weeks.