Tillie Adelson describes how the most recent season of ‘Girls’ actually has a lot to say to men.
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Gaby Hoffman’s prenatal moans and groans while stimulating an at home birth will forever be etched in viewers mind’s following the Season 4 finale of Girls. However, the episode continued an important theme from this season: choices regarding pregnancy.
Most women will, at some point in their lives, experience needing to make decisions about this topic. Lena Dunham, the show’s creator, lead actor, and writer, has been known to take a very public stance on a woman’s right to choose and feminism in general, which is in congruence with the way she chose to tell two pregnancy storylines on Girls this season. One involved an abortion, while the other involved a very pregnant woman about to give birth. Since the show is about girls, it is easy to look at these issues from the female side and understand why the characters act the way they do in their respective situations. However, when it comes to this show, a sometimes better examination is taking a look at the how their male counterparts act/react.
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The men have always had a strange relationship with the show and its females in general. They often serve as a side bar or a kernel of wisdom—an antidote to the ladies’ often overworked streams of consciousness. So it’s particularly interesting when the men are faced with such life altering issues such as pregnancy—something men have inherent autonomy towards.
Since the show is about girls, it is easy to look at these issues from the female side and understand why the characters act the way they do in their respective situations. However, when it comes to this show, a sometimes better examination is taking a look at the how their male counterparts act/react.
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The first storyline regarding the topic is about abortion, and it presents itself about halfway through the season. “I can’t go on a run today because I had an abortion yesterday,” deadpans Mimi-Rose to Adam. You would have thought he asked her if she was ready to swim after eating. Adam is visibly stunned and instantly becomes enraged—upset that the girl he is dating and living with (after only knowing her for about a month, I might add) would abort his child without telling him. Mimi-Rose on the other hand, plays it incredibly calm, cool, and collected. If you watch the show, you’ll know that Adam’s character has never been one for restraint in his emotions, but in this case his feelings are valid and warranted. He has a right to know that the woman with whom he is sexually active is pregnant and he has a right to make a decision regarding abortion with her. The writing and reactions are very telling here. On the one hand, it’s a clear pro-choice angle, but at the same time, having Adam become so visibly upset and jilted is also a clear message that somehow it shouldn’t just be the woman’s choice. His lack of power and decision-making was a hard pill to swallow, and it shows that he did deserve the choice to know and contribute to the decision.
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Juxtaposed with the casual abortion storyline, the season finale explores another type of pregnancy and this one is, shall we say, pretty much full throttle. Adam’s sister: Caroline, played by Gaby Hoffman (yes the adorable younger version of Demi Moore from Now and Then!) is pregnant with Laird’s (Hannah’s neighbor) baby. Caroline is determined to torture the entire gang (and the viewers) by having a home birth and spends most of the episode in their Brooklyn apartment’s tub moaning as she tries to induce labor. Amongst all this commotion, Laird has a break down and is not able to handle the reality of the situation any longer. He starts to cry and exclaims that he’s not ready to take charge of the situation. It’s a very strange moment—to see this soon-to-be father lose his cool.
Caroline is determined to torture the entire gang (and the viewers) by having a home birth and spends most of the episode in their Brooklyn apartment’s tub moaning as she tries to induce labor.
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His reaction, in opposition to Adam’s, is very jarring. One character felt so determined and unjust while the other felt very weak and feeble. Perhaps it is because neither has control over their situations. Adam finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant after she aborts the child, while Laird relinquishes his power to his (somewhat deranged) girlfriend. Laird is overcome by the pressure of needing to take charge and rise to the occasion, while Adam thirsted for that chance to choose.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition of how the men in this show really have such important roles—their reactions to life and these seminal moments may just be what keeps Girls balanced.
Photo: Flickr – alien_artifact/”lena_dunham_0214_vogue_us_05″
That was a well written article. Hit the nail on the head concerning both pregnancies, and how men could react in those situations, especially the first one. He had a right to be outraged. It was a two person decision. The second guy who broke down was a babbling weakling, but I guess that could happen. Lena Denham certainly has an agenda in her writing. Seinfeld on the other and was just fun, no real agenda.
Hi FlyingKal,
Thanks for commenting and reading the piece. I do stand by my assessment of the scene between Adam and Mimi-Rose. I think that Lena Dunham wrote Adam’s reaction in that way because she wanted to show that it’s not ok to just get a casual abortion without telling the person with whom you are in a relationship (not to mention the person who impregnated her). However, Lena is clearly very pro-choice and that storyline is evident. This surely is a topic that will be fodder for many years to come.
Tillie
having Adam become so visibly upset and jilted is also a clear message that somehow it shouldn’t just be the woman’s choice.
Are you sure about that interpretation of the message?
becase the message I get is that a man may very well have an emotional outburst in hindsght, but it still the woman’s decision, and hers alone, to make..
good to know the GMP is pro-ped ophil ia, provided said pe dop hi le is a woman.
Surprise surprise, wonder what word triggered the m o d squad. Or are all the responses gonna be.
I’ve never even heard of the show … glad that I read this because I know not to bother looking for it. BTW, my wife hasn’t heard of it either. Thanks for the heads up.
Then you obviously don’t have HBO Tom (as they promo the $hit out of this show). Tried watching it once or twice, never made it through an entire episode. It’s reminds me of Seinfeld(you know, a ‘show about nothing’!) but with lots of bad sex thrown in. I will say this, If the men depicted in this show (a bigger bunch of whiners and slackers you’ve never seen) is an accurate account of the male species today, we’re in trouble my friend!
Hey Tom and Bob! Thanks for commenting and reading the piece. I must say, I am surprised that you’ve never seen the show Tom–it’s been a large part of pop culture since it debuted a few years ago. It sort of is a mixture of Seinfeld, Friends, and Sex and the City–young people, living in NYC and not always making the best choices. I don’t think that the men in this show accurately describe all men, it certainly is a very specific kind of man that Lena Dunham has created. However, there are men like that I’m sure. I do… Read more »