Love it or hate it, HBO's "Girls" is the series that people just can't stop talking about. Pop-culture critics have their weekly platforms, but we thought we'd pass the mic to those we feel are most qualified to comment: the women of NYC themselves, of course.
Every week, we'll be checking in with New York City women to see what they thought of the latest installment of "Girls," and whether they think of themselves as ... girls. (Are we really, as Shoshanna insisted in the first season, the ladies?)
Season three kicked off Sunday night, and Nayomi Reghay, a 29-year-old comedian who lives in Brooklyn's Bed Stuy neighborhood was watching. She gave us a piece of her mind about hiking, hotel sex banishment and girl-on-girl verbal crime in coffee shops.
Are You A Girl?
Oh man, this question. I mean, I definitely still feel like I'm growing up all the time. But I don't really think of myself as a "girl" exactly. I guess I started thinking of myself as a woman this year after Beyoncé dropped her secret album.
I read this article about whether female humans throughout their 20s thought of themselves as girls or women, and it seemed like almost everyone thought of having a baby or getting married as the turning point into womanhood. I don't have a baby and I am not married, but to quote one of my top-three favorite Beyoncé songs off the new album: I can do whatever I want. I'm grown.
What's Your Baggage?
I do standup comedy and improv, so clearly I had a painful childhood. But I like to think my baggage is neatly packed in like a decent suitcase set that I can comfortably carry on my own, with little to moderate help from friends, loved ones and my therapist.
Do You Relate To "Girls" In General?
Yes and no. I mean I think they show a really funny and thoughtful look at what it's like to navigate adulthood and intimacy, but socio-economically there's a deep lack of awareness about the range of experiences that exist in New York. That said, I love the show and I think it's super entertaining. I think it gets people, ladies, girls, gents, germs, all of us talking about identity and intimacy and I'm into that.
Are You A Hannah/Marnie/Shosh/Jessa/Charlotte/Carrie/Whatever?
My heart is 100 percent Shosh. I love near the end of season two when Jessa disappears and Shosh is walking in the park wondering aloud about Jessa and she has this light-bulb moment where she's like, "Oh my gosh, is she warm enough?" That's very much my heart. I am a lover and a nurturer and a worrier.
We also both love pop culture and I could totally see myself bingeing on reality shows with her. Like, I'd love to watch "Love and Hip Hop" with her. That would be a DREAM.
What Did You Think Of The January 12 Episode?
I liked it. I like that the characters are in new places in their lives. I like that we're seeing vulnerability in Adam and Hannah without recycling older phases of their relationship. Everyone seems to be moving forward but not in ways that seem predictable or shiny or overly neat.
Speaking of messy, I'm enjoying Shosh's hair. The hair, in general, is really nice this season. Also, there was limited Marnie time and I'm very anti-Marnie so that was a huge relief for me. And I was thrilled, just THRILLED, to see Amy Schumer making another appearance. She's so funny and bold and smart, and I thought her scene was great and surprising in all the right ways.
What Moment Felt Most Like Something You'd Do?
Retrieving a friend from rehab. I would pretty much run to a good friend's rescue in an instant. I wouldn't ask questions, I'd just pick up and go. Also, refusing to go on Adam's random nature hike. I nearly did that whole 'sit and curl into fetal position with cell phone' thing, like exactly, last summer. I was visiting a friend in Colorado and she was like, "Yeah, I'm going to take you to see all this beautiful nature stuff but, like, let's take it super easy — no hiking."
And I was like, "Perfect, I love nature but I also love doing NOTHING." Then she took me to the sand dunes which are massive and beautiful and a super-doable but challenging climb and I was instantly like, "You lied to me and I'm not going to the top." (I did make it to the top, and the view was totally worth it, but I threw a huge tantrum for like 15 minutes and trailed like a good hundred feet behind everyone most of the way.)
What's Something You'd Never Do That Happened On The Premiere?
Letting Shosh run into the hall while Adam has his "I-need-this-to-sleep" orgasm! No, Hannah! Ugh. I mean, go have car sex. At least that could be kind of interesting or make you feel like a rebellious teenager. Find a weird secret part of that dirty hotel — get embarrassed when you're caught by a hotel attendant [but] don't make your friend sit in the hall! That really bummed me out.
And then you come talk to her all full of motherly concern? To me that felt somehow more insulting. Then, to make it even worse, Hannah is like, "Oh, I didn't even like the sex, I just had sex with him to meet his needs so he would leave me alone"?! This was all kinds of wrong for me. I would rather see a real blow-out fight between Hannah and Adam because Hannah doesn't want to do that to her friend, or some good old season-one-style failed kinky sex where it's meant to be risky and deviant and hot but it's just fumbling and awkward. I was not pleased.
Would You Be Chill If Someone Harassed Your Partner And Cast Doubt On Your Rhetorical Ability To Breastfeed?
Ha! Well, this was a really interesting scene because I feel like it played out some really complicated female-on-female power issues. On the one hand, I think we're all kind of happy for Natalia. She deserves to have her say and it's gratifying to see her and her bestie really let Adam have it. On the other hand, she totally hits below the belt and it's just super ugly to see her condescend to Hannah and insult her based on her looks and devalue her as a woman and basically objectify her.
I think I might have a similar response to Hannah. It's not that I'd be chill, I'd just be so shocked that I'd have to kind of sit back and take the whole thing in. I think Hannah loves love and she doesn't want anyone to get hurt in love, so I don't think she has it in her to attack this girl who is sort of a weird victim of her and Adam's confused love story. Natalia and her girl need to vent. ... That said, I'm no proponent of girl-on-girl or woman-on-woman or just human-on-human attacks like this one. But it was a riot to watch, like funny and then cringe-inducing.
What did you think of this week's "Girls" premiere? Sound off in the comments!
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