Lena super annoyed by talk around ‘unlikeable’ women
The cocreator of Girls — and now of Camping — says that she can’t believe how male characters that wreak havoc are accepted, but women with thorny personalities don’t get any empathy
Actor-writer Lena Dunham says that she finds it difficult to understand why projecting “unlikable women” on the small screen continues to be a task.
Dunham, co-creator of the multiple Emmy-nominated show Girls and most recently of the show Camping, calls out the hypocrisy of the television industry, saying that grey male characters like Tony Soprano of The Sopranos and Walter White of Breaking Bad have been lapped up without any objections.
“I can’t believe that we’re still having a conversation about unlikable women on television. It doesn’t matter if you like our lead character. It truly doesn’t matter. What matters is that you relate and you understand,” says Dunham. “It just drives me nuts that we can have a Tony Soprano or a Walter White or any of these characters who are wreaking literal havoc on the world around them and killing people, and then when you have a woman who’s thorny and complicated, and there’s no way to find empathy for her,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter.
Girls showrunner Jenni Konner has co-created Camping, which is an adaptation of a British series about a group of friends that goes on a big camping trip to celebrate a birthday.
The show, featuring Jennifer Garner and David Tennant, has been panned by critics and audiences alike. This is in contrast with the initial positive reception of Girls, which featured a set of flawed characters.
PTI