Girls & Menda

The Year My Voice Broke (1987)
Menda (left) and Taylor (right)

Menda in Girls

Noah in Game Of Thrones

I just watched the second season of Girls and hey that was weird wasn't it? Way less laughs in this season. It had me thinkin of Woody Allen doing Interiors after his early comic hits ie. Girls season 2 was really quite bleak and disturbing. Then in maybe the second to last episode my continuity/disbelief suspension was totally ruptured. Great Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn shows up as Jessa's dad! My viewing then switches from identifying with the kids/20 somethings to then having to readjust to relating to Mendelsohn's character's situation as he's only a couple of years older than me. Funnily enough it was not that dissimilar to mine as in he'd moved to the country and was watering the grass, something I'd never done until 2 days ago. I guess I relate to the characters in Girls in a retroactive kind of way. I watch them and see what they're up to and mainly think 'Thank god I'm not that age anymore'. I still relate to their more universal human characteristics though. Just like when I watch The Simpsons I still relate to Bart on a lot of levels but I'm also surprised how Homer-like I can be. Is this navel gazing? Anyway seeing Ben Mendelsohn put me in mind of a time in the early 90s when late at night after boozing on there he was in the same St Kilda kebab shop as me. I remember thinking 'He's from one of my all time fave movies (The Year My Voice Broke) and here he is just as drunk and in need of late night lamb sandwich as me'. Noah Taylor from that same movie turns up in Game Of Thrones but that wasn't nearly anywhere near as jarring as Menda being in Girls makin me feel well old. I guess also Taylor's appearance doesn't jar because Game Of Thrones is fantasy while Girls almost feels like Cinema Verite. Oh shit I'm in trouble now with the pretentious police for saying C..... V.....  Judy Collins, yes the singer from the 60s, makes an appearance too, looking quite frightening. Lena Dunham, Girls creator, has created some exceptional characters including Hannah played by herself. One wonders/worries how autobiographical Hannah actually is with her escalating OCD and Hypochondria. In Girls the boys are especially brilliantly acted. Ray, Charlie and Adam are confusing, complex, frightening, stupid and real. Then there's the ladies, Jessa is fabulous, Shosh is just weird and how much do you hate Hannah's mum and bloody Marnie? It's one of the few telly shows right now worth watching.

Ray. Service with a sneer.