Something which constantly irks me is when things are underappreciated. Mostly said things are abstract, like when someone’s efforts go unnoticed or someone’s kindness is completely disregarded. Yeah that’s pretty shitty when that happens (I’ll probably get to that some other time), but under-appreciation is also very relevant with material things too. And when it’s art and it’s underappreciated then I feel there’s a lot of sadness that accompanies it, especially when cheaper things in the same field are praised just for being mainstream and likeable, or even ‘easy’.

You’ll probably laugh when I tell you that HBO’s TV Show Girls is art. It’s an extremely niche show and one which you’ll only really appreciate if you understand it. It’s a very complex show and not your standard tea-time millennial romantic-drama series. The plot lines, the concept overall and its rhetoric is very unique and something I admire the creator, Lena Dunham, so much for. It’s raw, it’s painful and most of all, it’s heartbreakingly true. No matter the range of weird situations the characters wind up in, more often than not, you can translate them in your own way somehow.

I think people find it so difficult to get into because the relatability is so disguised, because the narrative makes you think and ask questions about your own life. With Girls, if you just simply sit there and watch, you’re not going to enjoy it, you have to analyse the characters and almost become one of them. It’s stimulating and it’s provoking and it isn’t conventional and that’s not a bad thing. Hannah Horvath, the lead character, for example, is absolutely infuriating at times. No main star of the show in reality is ever perfect and that’s what’s embraced – the absolute opposite of the norms.The cast aren’t exactly glamorous, the sex scenes are far from elegant and the relationships are impossibly complicated yet so normal at the same time.

Another important thing is how the show deals with the curses of mental illness in such a tasteful way. Though to some, the representations may seem brash and overbearing, the actors portray the chaos, the pain and the anguish so fucking well. Apologies for the expletive, but I’ve not yet come across a show which is so poignant in so many ways, particularly in portrayals of crippling mental afflictions. Girls is not made to entertain, but to create a dialogue which sadly I feel is very under-discussed – if that’s even a word.

I’ve babbled on enough about this for today, but I simply wanted to get my appreciation for this TV show (and it’s so much more than that) out there in the world. Ironically, sadly, it’s a show that barely anyone I know watches but is at the same time one which would provoke so much rich conversation. It’s weird, it’s ‘out there’, it isn’t your run-of-the-mill polished sitcom, and that’s why it’s so beautiful. And that’s why I think it’s so sad that it’s (as far as I know) so underappreciated, so unknown. First world problems, eh?