We Don’t Know How or Why, But She’s Back

The woman who infamously published an autobiography with an anecdote in it about diddling her younger sister, and who has caught the A.W.F.L. Millennial zeitgeist by storm with her overrated Girls show on HBO, Lena Dunham, has penciled a deal with HBO Max to produce and write a show.

Yep. Took the zeitgeist by storm.

And it’s precisely what you’d expect from a “talent” of her caliber.

From the trades:

HBO Max has picked up to series Lena Dunham-produced half-hour dramedy, Generation, marking the streamer’s first pilot to get a series order.

Created by Zelda Barnz and her father Daniel Barnz, who also directs, Generation is a dark yet playful half-hour following a group of high school students whose exploration of modern sexuality (devices and all) tests deeply entrenched beliefs about life, love and the nature of family in their conservative community.

Oh yeah. This can’t miss. 

This Show is Par for the Course for Dunham

This is from the feminist writer and creator who has made the following statements in public over the last few years:

Back when she was kinda pulled together…

“I had this dumb, Western idea. Like, I’m going to go to India and it’s gonna be so transcendent that I’m not gonna be afraid of death anymore, and I’m going to lay down so many of my Western anxieties and embrace a new kind of knowingness and bring it back to the U.S.”

And…

“I used to be really into Rihanna, that pop star, and then it’s like—again, I don’t want to ever throw stones from my glass house—but I follow her on Instagram and I just think about how many little girls beyond what I could even comprehend are obsessed with Rihanna. Like, you know, she left Barbados, she’s had this amazing career, she’s won a Grammy…She’s talented. And then she gets back together with Chris Brown and posts a million pictures of them smoking marijuana together on a bed. And it cracks my heart in half in a way that makes me feel like I’m 95 years old.”

And…

“I’m not super thin, but I’m thin, for like, Detroit.”

And…

“I was sitting next to Odell Beckham Jr., and it was so amazing because it was like he looked at me and he determined I was not the shape of a woman by his standards… He was like, ‘That’s a marshmallow. That’s a child. That’s a dog.’ It wasn’t mean—he just seemed confused… The vibe was very much like, ‘Do I want to f**k it? Is it wearing a…yep, it’s wearing a tuxedo. I’m going to go back to my cell phone.’ It was like we were forced to be together, and he literally was scrolling Instagram rather than have to look at a woman in a bow tie.”

We could keep going on, but why bother.

HBO’s producers think the concept behind the show—as well as Dunham herself–is just great though.

From the trades:

“Daniel and Zelda are an incredibly passionate team with true vision and authenticity, providing an inside look at the windy path many adolescents have to navigate as they come to terms with their identity and sexuality in Generation,” Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max, said Thursday in a statement.

Added HBO Max chief content officer and TBS, TNT and TruTV president Kevin Reilly, “Zelda has a particular ability to speak to and about her generation with humor and relatability, only brought further to life by this incredible cast. We couldn’t be prouder of a show to mark our first pilot to series order for HBO Max.”

HBO Max Doesn’t Care About Audiences in Peoria, IL.

The fact is, niche networks like HBO Max can afford to blow cash, reputation, and time on Dunham and her wacky ideas and content like Generation, particularly with the fragmenting audience that streaming has brought us.

This is what fame and a few million bucks looks like in 2020 America.

So, prepare for more content that’s going to be green lit by HBO Max and other rump streaming platform over the next few years, for the following reasons, stated by Dunham herself:

Said Dunham, “I have fallen head over heels for this brilliant family, who have allowed their 18-year-old daughter Zelda to express herself in a way that’s both effortlessly funny and plumbs the depths of the adolescent experience. Daniel’s direction is sensitive and artful and as a producer, Ben is equally committed to rigor and fun. I cannot wait for people to see Zelda’s brilliance come to life and to meet this insanely impressive cast of honest, powerful performers and I’m so excited to be a part of the soon to be juggernaut of HBO Max.”

“Honest, powerful performers?”

“Soon to be juggernaut?”

Somebody get Ms. Dunham a new hangar for her crazy pants because we don’t think she’s bothered to change the pair she’s been wearing for the last ten years or so.

One last point:

In addition to Generation, Dunham directed the pilot for and executive produces Industry, a drama set in the world of international finance, for the linear HBO.