A roundtable discussion with 5 funny women and Lena Dunham

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/27/15 at 9:21pm

Oh sure, one of these is not at all like the others, but the funny ladies are really, really funny.

THR roundtable

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/27/15 at 10:08pm

Last night on Inside Amy Schumer there was a brief cameo by the Broad City broads.  I was so excited to see them. 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/27/15 at 10:14pm

They shoulda been on the roundtable… but perhaps the THR editors made a commitment not to have another all-white panel discussion?  Not that Lena Dunham would have noticed until it was pointed out to her later.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 12:34am

Oooh!  Such a good lineup.  Downloading that for my plane ride.  Though, what's up with the Lena hate?  I mean, I know that GIRLS isn't a comedic masterpiece like, ahem, 2 BROKE GIRLS, but uh... oh, nevermind.  

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 10:25am

Just read it.  She's simply not gifted with a quick wit.  At least she's let go of the defensiveness about creating yet another all-white HBO show about women friends.  Finally.  Years later.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 10:43am

Whew, I thought this was going to be another thread where HorseTears demanded people explain to him why they find things funny that he doesn't. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 11:11am

Dunham is probably a genius, and probably a monster. When confronted with her faults she likes to make them bigger in response instead of attempt to evolve. She has also admitted unapologetically to psychologically tormenting and possibly molesting her sister, just for kicks.

 

That said, GIRLS is fun.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 11:12am

And then claims "survivor" status depending on the particular discussion.

Just reading the interview.  I mean, Diana Ross's kid is no laugh riot either, but most of what Lena says is canned hacktivist phrases while most of the other women are able to make a point AND be hilarious.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 11:24am

Girls is the only show of the 6 represented by these women that I can't stand.  

[LarryD2]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 11:25am

Well, Tracee Ellis Ross is a comic actor, not a content creator like Schumer or McKinnon (or Kemper, who has a strong improv background despite being best known as a sitcom actor). I wouldn't necessarily expect her to be naturally funny in person as Schumer is, but she is terrific on her show.

Dunham, on the other hand, is entirely tiresome. To call her a "genius" just shows how deeply that term has been devalued.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 11:27am

Here is one of the only issues Namo and I find common ground on. Dunham is the worst. She's not even that funny or witty. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 12:27pm

"Oooh!  Such a good lineup.  Downloading that for my plane ride.  Though, what's up with the Lena hate?  I mean, I know that GIRLS isn't a comedic masterpiece like, ahem, 2 BROKE GIRLS, but uh... oh, nevermind.  "

 Awesome comment, Bravo Horsetears!

I think it's funny that this thread is made up a bunch of white men talking about a roundtable discussion full of women, and how empowering that is, and then vilifying one of those people because she....what?  Someone who makes you uncomfortable by being truthful or someone who doesn't share your views?  She's liberal, supports gay marriage, supports equal pay, is pro-choice, etc.  I'm pretty sure her views line up with yours since you complain about those things all the time.  Not many 26 year olds get to produce, create, direct, and star in their own show. If the show wasn't good, it would have been canceled, regardless of her privilege.  She's a good thing for women, much like Amy, she's funny and her show gets women's friendships with other women, something you can't know anything about.  

Stick to 2 Broke Girls where they make Asian and tit jokes.  I also think they invited Kim Kardashian on the show.  Quality. 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 12:28pm

"If the show wasn't good, it would have been canceled…"

You might be onto something.  I TOTALLY forgot that's how it always works.  Does that rule apply to 2 Broke Girls?

Updated On: 5/28/15 at 12:28 PM

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 12:44pm

This. ^

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 12:51pm

If the show wasn't good, it would have been canceled, regardless of her privilege

Glee was on for 6 years. Don't confuse quality with longevity.

I'm pretty sure her views line up with yours since you complain about those things all the time.

And yet she is still annoying as ****. Sometimes there is more to a person than their views.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 12:53pm

I think it's funny that this thread is made up a bunch of white men talking about a roundtable discussion full of women, and how empowering that is, and then vilifying one of those people because she....what?

 

You have a weird bar for what you find funny.  And you used the word empowering, no one else.   You seem mentally ill.  

 

Updated On: 5/28/15 at 12:53 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 1:11pm

Yeah, nobody said "empowering."

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 1:19pm

No one's really been vilified, either.  

 

 

 

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 1:19pm

I actually liked Lena Dunham a lot after the first season of Girls when I thought the whole thing really was a satire that commentated and criticized that whole twenty-something Brooklyn scene. I thought it was great that it wasn't being written by some cranky forty year-old (as much as I love her, Tina Fey certainly has a chip on her shoulder about young people...mainly young women) but someone of the same age group who was astute about our generation. Then, I realized maybe I gave her too much credit though I do think she does have something because some Girls episodes are pretty on point even if the overall theme is much more celebratory than I had originally thought. 

I still think it was dickish of her for making the one African-American character (yes, I know I'm exaggerating) in season 2 be a joke (get it, he's a black Republican!) after she got criticized for not having any people of color on the show and said she'd fix that. Well, 3 seasons later, nothing has changed except the show isn't the same kind of funny anymore. However, I do think the people of color criticism was a bit much. As a racial minority who lives in NYC myself, I do not find it hard to believe at all that a bunch of semi-attractive, young, educated (probably in small liberal arts colleges in Vermont or upstate New York), and outgoing white people will have no real deep friendships with non-white people. Forcing Dunham to write for people she's obviously had little exposure to or any contact with would've been false.

Updated On: 5/28/15 at 01:19 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 1:24pm

Nobody's forcing her to do anything.  What was funny was how freaked out she got when the race criticism reached her because she went to Oberlin where this sort of issue is taken very seriously. She actually came close, in a sentiment that was echoed on this board this week, to saying that if she included characters of color in her show it would have been more racist.

Of course, when it premiered (and Jordan liberated me from my misery when he pointed out I didn't HAVE to watch her show), we could have no way of knowing Broad City would make it to cable and just do what ANY contemporary show about New York should do.

 

[Everlast85]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 1:25pm

 

 

Updated On: 5/28/15 at 01:25 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 1:26pm

Dearest "everlast".  You said nothing about "empowering."  It was "Sutton Ross" who did.  Perhaps you have much bigger issues than taking on those in this thread.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 1:27pm

WHOOPSIE!   So now we know Everlast is Sutton Ross's sock puppet!

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 1:27pm

"Nobody's forcing her to do anything.  What was funny was how freaked out she got when the race criticism reached her because she went to Oberlin where this sort of issue is taken very seriously. She actually came close, in a sentiment that was echoed on this board this week, to saying that if she included characters of color in her show it would have been more racist.
Of course, when it premiered (and Jordan liberated me from my misery when he pointed out I didn't HAVE to watch her show), we could have no way of knowing Broad City would make it to cable and just do what ANY contemporary show about New York should do.
 "

True. I do remember many calling for her to be more inclusive in the casting, but the funny thing is that it's so obvious she has no idea how to even start nor was she even aware.

[Everlast85]

Posted: 5/28/15 at 1:28pm

"Just read it.  She's simply not gifted with a quick wit.  At least she's let go of the defensiveness about creating yet another all-white HBO show about women friends.  Finally.  Years later."

 She doesn't need to apologize for doing something that thousands of people have done over the history of television.  It's ridiculous.  She doesn't run the television industry, and she can do whatever the hell she wants.  Just like anyone else.  It's not up to her, she can cast whomever she wants in the role.