Week 6: Life Imitates Art

I have my biases towards Lena Dunham. I was an avid Girls fan, but I really only liked the show because of how much I hated the characters and if anyone has watched it, you know what I mean. Dunham's character especially angered me, and when I learned that a lot of the show was written from her real-life experiences in New York City, I can't see her any other way.

Dunham's memoir piece was almost unbearable for me to read. I could never see myself in the way she sees herself, and if she was anonymous in this piece, I may have felt differently. In this case, I can't separate who she is and what's she's done from this memoir. She's entitled, bratty and selfish and I can see it clear as day in the way she speaks to the people around her in this memoir. So in a way, I do believe it is her true voice, but not one I could ever find myself relating to. I don't doubt she had these mental illnesses and I'm sure they were horrible to deal with every day. I can't relate to growing up in therapy, or in New York City, and I can't relate to the way she fantasizes about how other people perceive her.

The blog post "Cousins" was a much more tolerable piece for me, and I saw myself in this one a lot. I know the feeling of having to separate yourself from someone you love over some stupid fight. My older sister and I have had these same issues more times than I can count. We would fight over something stupid, say hurtful things to one another, and vow to never speak to each other again, only to silently join each other on the couch to watch Love Island together a couple of hours later. Her post reminded me of those feelings I had with my sister. In a way, the story was also reminiscent of a break-up, and those awkward encounters after you see each other again and all the pent up remorse of the way things ended comes crashing back into your life.

Dunham has a habit of over telling, but I think, in this case, she did a good job of sharing the core details. I do think she told way too much information about the personal lives of those around her, which she is no stranger to doing. She tells us her perception of people in a subjective way that makes me feel uncomfortable reading. I couldn't really picture the events happening as much as the blog post, but I could picture Dunham talking this way, and acting this way. Any more detail would have been too much, and she could have done with a lot less, shortening the story down to just one or two significant instances.

The blog post does almost the opposite of Dunham. They show without telling to much, and this is because it is a story everyone can relate to or a situation everyone has been in at least once. I knew the feeling they discussed at the end of the story, when both of you say something, while also saying nothing. The author could have gotten away with adding in a few more details, but nevertheless, they got her point across in a much shorter piece.

I can never tell when Lena Dunham is being truthful. I'd like to think she is most of the time, but again, my biases of her take away the objectivity of this piece. I don't get a sense of truth-telling with Dunham in general, but in this piece, I think she is being her honest self. She comes across to me as self-absorbed, entitled and overdramatic, and in her eyes, I don't think she realizes that she comes off this way. It's clear Dunham grew up privileged, but I don't think her entitlement is apart of her mental illnesses, I think it is just who she is at her core. I know I am being very hard on her, but if anyone knows the ins and outs of Dunham's public persona, it's hard to ever get behind her. I think that she is telling the truth in this piece, but she doesn't understand how inconsiderate she comes off to the readers, to me I all can see is how badly she wants to be a victim, someone who warrants all the pity in the world.

On the other hand, the blog post "Cousins" is truthful, simply because we have all been there. The author clearly shows regret for something they had done to the one they loved and isn't asking for some sort of compensation for that. Right away I knew the feeling the author described. I don't believe anyone would lie about stuff like this because it isn't a fun situation to be in. Even to admit that they were in the wrong with whatever had happened between the cousins shows a true sense of reflection and honesty. The author told a touching story in a small number of words, without making it seem like we missed something.