Known for its poignant take on the Millennial experience and messy characters, the TV showGirlsfaced plenty of flak and criticism throughout its run. Airing on HBO from 2012 to 2017,Girlsfollowed an ensemble cast of young women attempting to find themselves in New York City, including Allison Williams as Marnie. High-strung and imperfect,Williams was often unfairly compared to her character.Most of the other women on the show, like Lena Dunham, Jemima Kirke, and Zosia Mamet, faced similar critiques from audiences and critics.
Ahead of the premiere of her upcoming movie,M3GAN 2.0, Williams has reflected on the early works that made her famous, likeGirls. Though Williams has been tied to the horror genre in recent years thanks to projects likeGet Outand the firstM3GAN,she’ll always be associated with Marine and her time onGirls,for better or worse. However, as time has progressed, Williams has been honest about how these connections impacted the cast. When speaking withThe Guardian, Allison Williams opened up about the harsh criticisms lodged against the stars ofGirls:
“A gazillion think pieces about every episode that we did – and most thought we all took ourselves too seriously. We were all pretty privileged people who were the leads of this HBO show that was definitely skewering our own, but we weren’t given credit for that, or for being in on it.”
“The shame is that, when it is coupled with misogyny and fatphobia and everything, the valid criticism gets lost. We were easy targets, I get it.”
“I really desired to put distance between us, because I thought that was the kind of acting everybody respected – like, I’m wearing a prosthetic nose and I gained 40lbs, or whatever. And here [our characters] were, who looked basically like we looked and sounded like we sounded, but crucially said and did things that we would never do. It always felt weird that, since we didn’t transform ourselves in some way, people weren’t buying us playing characters.”
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As Williams stated, there’s no question that the actors in the series were so closely associated with their characters and not given credit as performers because of misogyny. Assuming that the women on the show weren’t acting and were just being themselves doesn’t give them enough credit, as Williams mentioned in her interview. However,Girlsis still worth watching today, andit’s exciting to see Gen Z discover the showand remark on how relatable and enduring the themes of the story still are.
Williams was one of the actors most associated with her character. However, it’s vital to remember that– alongside the rest of the cast– Williams was acting. Though she looks like Marnie and was also entering adulthood during the same tumultuous period of history, this doesn’t mean she and Marnie are interchangeable. This doesn’t mean there aren’t aspects ofGirlsworth examining, as it’s far from perfect. However,it’s important to reflect on what constitutes a valid criticismand what tears down the creative process of the series.
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Girls Is An Enduring Show, But It Deserves Plenty Of Criticism
There are some very real and resonant criticisms ofGirls. In some ways, the series is irrevocably of its time, as it only portrays a narrow view of New York City in the 2010s through the lens of a group of privileged white women. While the show does comment on this very privileged and limited worldview, it doesn’t always do so with the most nuance. Critiquing a series likeGirls, especially in the wake of its revived popularity, is an important part of engaging with media like this, as long as these judgments and thoughts are sound.
