Musings on...Lena Dunham

Lena Dunham is an actress, writer, producer and director who since 2012 has directed, produced, written and starred in her own show on HBO. I hate her. All jokes aside Dunham is a supremely talented woma, her show, Girls is a comedy about four young women living in new york city, struggling to deal with the realities of supporting oneself and maintaining a meaningful relationship. Dunham plays Hannah Horvath, a young writer living with her friend in a Brooklyn apartment, working on her debut novel having been cut off by her parents.

Dunham is fantastic as an actress, her portrayal of Hannah is tender, unique and sutle, she portrays Hannah as a genuinely flawed character, a woman who is self centered and selfish. Despite her flaws Dunham gives us something to love, something to latch on to, we empathize with Hannah and we are able to see ourselves in her, despite her flaws. In addition to being a fantastic actress, Dunham also writes the show. The show features a great selection of characters, each finely crafted and well defined, and the best episodes are the ones written by Dunham herself, as she really has a good feel for these characters and the directions they should be taken in.

In addition to her work on Girls, Dunham has also authored a book which is due to be released in September, and has directed a film, previous to the television series. Tiny Furniture was Dunham's first mainstream film, a comedy drama about a girl returning from art school, and dealing with finding a direction and defining herself. The film is well made, and acts as a blueprint for Girls, with Dunhams character being similar to Hannah, and the film also starring Jemima Kirke and Alex Karpovsky, which would later both be featured on Girls. Despite not having a huge number of credits to her name, Lena Dunhams work on these projects is impressive, and Dunham is well on the way to becoming the voice of our generation, or, at least, a voice.