I came to the “Girls” party late; I only downloaded Season 1
from iTunes long after the show aired on HBO. 
But I was driven to find out what all the fuss was about and to see if
the show was as good/bad, controversial/provocative, well-written/poorly-written
as opposing viewpoints and reviews seemed to say.  There was a lot on the Internet about the
show and its writer and creator, Lena Dunham, and what the show possibly said
about what it is like to be a twenty-something young woman living in a very
intense city.  (I think that’s one thing
we can all agree on:  living in New York
at any age is a challenge.  The city is
the best in the world, in my opinion, but is loud, expensive, and sometimes
difficult to navigate, both literally and figuratively.)

I watched the first season from start to finish in one
dreary afternoon.  As a television show
with interesting characters and story arc, I found it enjoyable.  As a mother with a young adult daughter, though, I
came away thinking:  I really hope her
twenties aren’t quite this difficult.  I
hope she doesn’t have about eighty percent of these experiences. I hope she
travels a less-conflict-ridden road.  The
show makes me uncomfortable and after sorting through my feelings about various
characters and plot devices, I have come to the conclusion that that’s not a
bad thing.  In fact, it’s good.

Again, my opinion only, but to me, “Girls” is good
television, despite being difficult to watch, despite the situations that the
main characters often find themselves in, despite making me so uncomfortable
that I often have to pause to think about things I have just watched.  The conflicts are disturbing and sustained,
not resolving themselves in one half-hour episode. But watching the episodes as
one long story rather than separate episodes, I got to thinking:  does the show need the extended, brutal
conflicts in order to be entertaining?

And the answer, I decided, was yes.

Conflict is the salt /pepper in the plot recipe. A dash
here, a dash there and you have a compelling story that speaks to readers in a
way that a conflict-less story would not. 
Do I want to cringe while watching a show about young women trying to
figure out how to journey through a decade of life in an exciting city?  I guess I do. 
Even my favorite show of all time—“The Brady Bunch”—created a half-hour
episode about a happy, blended family on what would be considered cringe-worthy
topics of the early ‘70’s:  not making
the cheerleading squad, having a fake boyfriend, having one’s nose broken
before the big show, bombing an audition. Happiness, if we believe our favorite
shows and books, begets boredom while conflict brings the intrigue, the desire
to watch/read more.

I’m in the midst of writing a new book and contrary to what
might seem like common sense, am watching and reading as much as I can.  (I’m on a “Veronica Mars” kick right now and
even contributed to the Kickstarter campaign to make it possible for the movie
to be produced.)  I don’t “lose my
voice,” as some writers claim they do by reading more while writing.  Rather, reading different kinds of books and
watching television shows help me hone the conflict that must exist, temper the
drama that I want to bring to my story. Good writing is good writing, whether
it be on the page or on the screen and always helps me get to where I want my
story—my writing—to be.

I’ve read various stories and reviews of this season of
“Girls” and it sounds like the situations are more disturbing and emotional
than they were in season one.  There’s
OCD and disturbing sexual situations and even a mishap with a Q-Tip.  The writers seemed to have upped the ante,
creating more drama where a lot already existed.  Will I have to suspend disbelief when I watch
this new season?  Most likely. But will I
watch?  Definitely.  And most importantly, will I be
uncomfortable?

That goes without saying.

I know the Northern half of Evelyn David has an opinion
about “Girls”—we’ve talked about it and agree on the depiction of the more
salacious aspects of the show—but anyone else? 
And do you like shows or books that make you uncomfortable, that contain
so much drama that it practically hurts, or would you prefer less conflict,
more harmony?

Maggie Barbieri