Back in January 2014 at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, a reporter drew the ire of GIRLS star Lena Dunham and executive producer Judd Apatow by questioning the role of nudity on the show. Dunham took offense to the implication that her nude scenes were not titillating and Apatow leapt to her defense. theTVaddict.com caught up with Apatow at the Costume Designers Guild Awards in Beverly Hills on February 22, 2014 and asked Apatow if he was surprised about the resulting kerfuffle that sent waves through the blogosphere.
“I just think people are looking for something that sounds interesting to talk about. I don’t actually think it’s that interesting because it’s the third season of the show. The show is a frank depiction of women in their 20s; there’s nothing new about it. The only thing that was new was how rude [the reporter] was and I don’t like that part of the internet. I think people are just trying to rile you up. It was a question we’ve heard a thousand times, but never said in such a nasty fashion. We don’t mind answering it, we just don’t like when people are not nice.”
In fact, Apatow admits that he doesn’t find the subject of nudity on the show all that interesting and doesn’t think reporters’ fascination with it reflects the views of the audience.
“I don’t think people focus on [the nudity]. If you’re writing, you look for something interesting to write about and I think it’s more lazy. If people are asking about it, I don’t think they’re thoughtful enough to ask about what the show’s about. So it’s a surface kind of question that we get in settings like [TCA]. But the fans, they know what we’re doing. We’re not that shocking. The truth is we’re not really that shocking at all.”
So putting aside the controversy, what can we expect to see from GIRLS this season and beyond?
“We’re tracking them in their 20s. So we’re going to see the full evolution of that as they try to navigate what they want to do with their lives. Hopefully, they’re slowly maturing – not too fast cause then the show’s over.”
But, after the 20s come the 30s, which means that things only get better.
GIRLS airs on HBO on Sundays at 10pm.
Photo Credit: Courtney Vaudreuil