In the last few days, Lena Dunham's lauded comedy drama Girls has had a bit of a reappraisal. An old anecdote - which establishes that the programme was commissioned after Lena pitched it on one and a half pages, without character summary or synopsis - has popped back up on social media, used as proof that Girls, while wonderful, came about via its creator and star's family connections and inherent privilege. Those working in TV have shared their own stories, of how it took them years to get their own programmes off the ground, or how they have struggled to find work at all despite presenting far more than a page of notes to a network. But the renewed attention on the programme also has some pointing out that there is privilege within the privilege, and Twitter users have remarked the irony that, in a cast of talented women, it is one of the show's men - Adam Driver - that has become a Hollywood star.
Lena Dunham pointed it out herself, way back in 2014. She said it’s Hollywood’s long-debated sexist attitude towards women that is holding the women back, and she was pretty disgruntled about it.
Leading the keynote lecture at the SXSW film festival, Lena pitted male and female members of her hit show Girls__ against each other, comparing their successes since the launch of the show.
'Our male lead, Adam Driver, has had a bang-up year in movies, which could not be more deserved,' Lena said. 'Because he is a ferocious genius with an incredible work ethic and I have learnt so much from him. But the girls are still waiting patiently for the parts that are going to honour their intelligence and their ability.'
Since appearing in Girls, Adam has landed numerous Hollywood appearances. In 2013, he appeared in Bluebird and The F Word, took the starring role in Tracks, starred alongside Justin Timberlake in Inside Llewyn Davis and is now set to star alongside Tina Fey and Jason Bateman in next year’s film adaptation of Jonathan Tropper’s novel This Is Where I Leave You. Then, he went A List, playing Kylo Ren in the hit Star Wars trilogy, and earning Oscar nominations for BlacKkKlansman and Marriage Story. In short, he's killing it. That's not to say that his female co-stars - Allison Williams, Zosia Mamet, Jemima Kirke and Lena herself - have failed to make an impression. They have worked solidly and have appeared in some great films. But it is undeniable that Adam's success surpasses anyone else in the cast.
According to Lena, unlike Adam, they are being offered roles which are painfully lacking in variety - the ‘ditzy’ girl, the ‘American sweetheart’ and many other tiresome, overplayed roles for women in Hollywood. It’s not only frustrating for actresses keen to extend their repertoire and prove they can be more than just ‘cute’, but also for the viewers.
'The world is ready to see Adam as a million different men, playing good guys and bad guys and sweet guys and scary guys,' Lena continued. 'The world is ready to see Adam do all that, it’s not ready to see Allison Williams or Zosia Mamet or Jemima Kirke stretch their legs in the same variety of diverse roles. Allison is relegated to all-American sweethearts, Zosia is asked to play more flight nudnicks, and even though both are capable of so much, they are not asked to do it. And this is not a knock on Adam’s talent which is utterly boundless, and he is exactly the actor who should be doing all this. It is a knock on a world where women are typecast and men can play villains, lotharios and nerds in one calendar year. Something has to change, and I’m trying.'