In my general assumption, roughly 80% of TV shows in the past 10 years have been utter trash, because the common show is reality TV or the show is based highly on bringing in an audience and being popular. When you look at the root of most shows with that ideal, it usually has little to no lesson or moral behind it’s broadcasting. One show that I love for its message, humor and actuality is the HBO Original, Girls.

Now, I know Girls maybe isn’t a show you should watch with your grandma because of its frequent and sudden nudity*, but it’s called body positivity, get over it. The show, written and produced by Lena Dunham, revolves around 4 young women in their early 20’s living in New York, their issues with growing up, conflicts with relationships and other daily dealings that millennial are met with; student debt, the rising cost of living, having healthy lifestyles, etc. The show does not set or portray unrealistic expectations of living in New York, like others based in the city.

A part of the show that always sticks out to me is the relationships that are portrayed, like Hannah and Adam’s, played by Lena Dunham and Adam Diver. Hannah plays a 20 year old, with low self-esteem, searching for her place in the world, while her manipulative lover, Adam, distracts her from facing herself and the turmoil that he creates for her. This relationship to me puts into action the relationship that no one should ever be in or accept, because of it’s toxic nature that so few can walk away from and be unaffected by.

This relationship is most powerful in the show because of the lesson it teaches to young viewers. Most young women and men don’t grown up around generally happy relationships, and so this becomes almost generational where parents don’t live amicably with their spouse and then in turn that becomes the norm for their children when they go off and begin having adult relationships. This way of treating each other’s kindly is truly only taught in the home. 

This show has so many teachable facets surrounding self-love, living on your own, love and the struggle to become your own.

*This is my biggest bone to pick with the American Culture, ‘the fear of nudity.’ It is so frustratingly ironic that we are squeamish towards a woman, or man, in the nude on TV or in a movie, but yet we allow the objectification in everyday ads and marketing.