Girls and Louie share a lot of commonalities. Both are subtly cutting edge shows that have become critically acclaimed rather quickly, and both rely heavily on the creative control of a singular visionary (with Louis being even more auteurish than Lena). What is perhaps most striking about their similar styles though is their propensity, through comedic sensibility no doubt, to oscillate between realism and expressionism, weaving through moments of pure fantasy and more abstract impression as well as moments that feel like direct, real experiences from our own lives.
Sometimes the nudity in Girls captures intimate moments that happen when we’re not wearing clothes. Other times, it embellishes embarrassing moments that could occur when we’re particularly exposed, capturing the feeling of the moment if not the realistic details.
It’s also meant to be comedically unflattering. Louis is a sad sack who gets trampled on routinely, sometimes berated for his less than ideal physical attributes. Similarly, Lena routinely films herself from angles that pay no compliments to her appearance, even though if you see her outside of the show she’s a perfectly good looking person. But the contempt for her persists. It’d be like if Ricky Gervais’ bathtub photos were met with reactions of “ew, I would never sleep with that guy! Ever!”
Add to that the recent example of Jason Segel (a fellow Judd Apatow collaborator) doing full frontal nudity in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, for comedic effect. I don’t recall hearing this level of outrage and scoffing over that scene, which seems to indicate a pretty strong disparity.
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