Are You Enough of a Hipster to Appear On a Girls Reality Show?
Do you watch Girls and secretly think you’re a Marnie? Or a Hannah? Or maybe you think you’re a Jessa, but probably you’re not, because there are very few actual Jessas in real life. And there are no Shoshannas. She’s a great character, but let’s not pretend that she actually exists or something. That would be absurd. Or maybe—just maybe—you don’t identify with anyone on that show because you’re not a white, twenty-something woman who lives off her parents? Well, probably not that, right? Because that’s what life is like for all of us here in Brooklyn, I’ve heard.
But anyway, even if you don’t identify with any of the main characters, you now have a chance to create your own character, but, like, in real life. Jezebel posted an ad from Craigslist which asks people to apply for a new reality series inspired by Girls. The casting call poses the following, incredibly relevant questions, “Ever feel like life in the big frantic city is just too much? Are you a twenty-something young woman seeking fame, fortune, love or even a hookup with potential? How do you get from here to there when you can’t even get a seat on the L train!” I mean, the last one is such an important question that they used an exclamation point. Important! L train! Girls!
The ad calls for “well educated” “cultural extroverts” who are “living the dream in hipster Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.” And, also, the ad wants you to know that even if you are “thinking about that show—’Girls?'” they “didn’t say it but. . ..now that you mention it.” Although, actually, the Craigslist ad mentions the show Girls right in the headline, but whatever. Reading comprehension is not listed in the casting requirements.
I guess this was inevitable, right? A show that gets both lauded and derided for its depiction of Brooklyn life is just ripe for the reality television treatment. And, in a sense, it might be interesting to see which show—the fictionalized one or the “real” one—actually seems more truthful. Knowing what very, very little I know about reality tv, I’m inclined to say that Girls might wind up being the more honest depiction of life in Brooklyn. Because, for all its flaws, Girls holds up a somewhat warped mirror to the somewhat warped reality of early adulthood and the resultant reflection can be startlingly clear. I guess we’ll see? I can’t say I’m really looking forward to it, but then I have a complicated relationship with reality and television anyway.
Follow Kristin Iversen on twitter @kmiversen
