Throughout the HBO show Girls prolific history it has been harshly criticized for its lack of diversity. While its creator Lena Dunham publicly espouses progressive views on social justice issues (like that bad sushi is cultural appropriation), her show does not hire many non-white actors.
For a show set in the very diverse New York City, it is kind of strange that it’s about four white girls and their white boyfriends.
Girls is approaching its final season, and HBO’s programming chief Casey Bloys was finally able to put the diversity question to rest. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he pointed to Dunham’s waistline as a reason for the criticism.
We knew we were doing something that was provocative, but I was still surprised [by the criticism]. There was the diversity stuff, the charges of nepotism [all four lead actresses have famous parents in the arts and media world, including Dunham, whose mom is a renowned photographer], which never made sense. … I think some of it had to do with the fact that Lena represented a new generation breaking through, and that can be unsettling for people, especially because she was a woman and she was someone who was comfortable not being a rail-thin actress.
Then Dunham chimed into the interview, saying: “My dad likes to joke that I was the kid who annoyed everyone in the third grade — it’s almost like that’s the way I’m used to being.”
At least that much is true.
