I’m a Marnie…

“There’s a [n]ew American way of thinking that I call the Unrealistic Happiness. This culture tries to negate aggression and unhappy feelings. But we have all these uncomfortable, icky feelings that we have to work through as human beings. To repress them is just not honest. ” – Libba Bray (Carter, 2010, p.25). 

                This third season of HBO’s Girls has really hit its stride. Going back to a similar season one – anything is better than season two – the stories are less about romantic misgivings and thankfully more about how these young women will reinvent themselves as they become adults.  Jessa’s back from rehab, Shoshanna is about to graduate from college, Hannah is working and becoming an actual person, and Marnie is… she’s trying to figure it all out. Shoshanna’s experience is probably the most typical of a 21 year old: ­­­­­­­­­­­she goe­­­s to college and she parties a little, but mostly she wants to start her adulthood headfast with a great job, apartment and boyfriend. She’s ambitious and it is becoming increasingly clear that she has very little in common with her friends, most of whom are vagrants. In a recent episode, Hannah becomes terrified of her 9-5 job, believing she will never become a real writer by staying in this corporate vat, quits only to take it back. Normal people don’t do that. But Hannah gets away with it. In any case, the real interesting story of this­­­ season is a less obvious one and it is Marnie’s.

                Marnie, Hannah’s supposed best friend, started out like Shoshanna. She had the great job and the great boyfriend, she was living NYC in her 20s the way it is supposed to be done. However, along the line she’s ended up alone without direction. Marnie represents the other side – the side that most people are afraid to talk about – the depressed, crippled, unsure 21 year old who curls up in bed binge watching Game of Thrones, Scandal, or Girls trying to escape the real world.  Early in the season, Marnie claims her miserable state is due to her recent breakup with boyfriend Charlie. However, it has been subtlety evident that what Marnie is really depressed about is failure. She has meaningless jobs and meaningless relationships.  Her actions show that she believes if she stops trying, she can’t fail.  Girls gives no easy answers, next week Marnie will probably be still searching for her next steps, but that is what is so great about this season of Girls, it is (mostly) realistic.