Lena Dunham Responds to Anger Over Comedian's N-Word Tweet
Lena Dunham didn't speak to the press at the Writers Guild Awards last Sunday, nor did she give a long speech when she accepted the trophy for best new series. And yet, she still finds herself embroiled in a controversy that launched during the show, even though it was none of her doing.
Comedian and presenter Lisa Lampanelli, who is famously known for her foul mouth, tweeted a photo of herself and Dunham at the awards, with the caption "Me with my n---a @LenaDunham of @HBOGirls - I love this beyotch!" Predictably, the tweet fired up critics, angry at Lampanelli -- a white woman -- for using the word.
One writer, Shayla Pierce, wrote several stories for various online publications expressing her outrage, and then took to Twitter to call out Dunham for not condemning Lampanelli.
".@LenaDunham has showed her true colors on this whole n-word debacle. Her silence speaks volumes," she tweeted. "I don't think I'll be watching @girlsHBO anymore. And I say that with honest sadness... Lena advertises herself as a progressive but she's chosen not to address the situation. She seems phony to me now."
Dunham responded on Twitter, writing that she would never use the n-word and that Lampanelli's tweet made her "supremely uncomfortable," but stayed silent because "twitter debates breed more twitter debates."
She added that "140 characters will never be enough for the kind of dialogue that will actually help us address issues of race and class," and then commended Pierce for a "beautifully written piece," apologizing for any discomfort she may have felt.
Pierce happily accepted her response, writing, "Thank you so much. And I do <3 you and your work. Thanks for addressing this *hugsies* @lenadunham."
For her part, Lampanelli has defended her use of the word, saying "The N-word ending in 'er' is far different context from the word ending in 'a.' Ask any person who knows the urban dictionary, it means 'friend."
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Yours was a nice attempt to stump me though.
So it's not okay when Joss does it, and it's not okay when Lena does it...but you seem forgiving enough to be a fan of that work and wear it as a badge, meaning you basically enjoyed, and contributed, to the very cause you seem to be so angry with and fighting against with all your passionate little POC-cheerleading heart in this post. White people will continue to rule the tv landscape, you say? Well you certainly didn't do a thing to stop it before.
I'm not trying to out you as a Joss-stan, it took one, quick moment of holding up the mirror to show you what an intolerable hypocrite you are. Like many people in this post, you're just full of irrational, misplaced, misdirected anger.
if it makes you feel better that I watch a show that also deserves the criticism I dished out go for it! just because I watch it doesn't make my argument any less true. Hahahaha and was that last line supposed to offend me? You are so cute with this this I swear.
Also there are sooooooo many different groups not represented on every TV show... why is Girls being singled out? Personally I am gay and while it's awesome to see a gay character on TV, I'm not going around and bashing all the shows that don't have any. If a show portrays gays wrong then I will criticize them, but it's not any writers responsibility to make a show based around my background. So it's confusing why it's Lena's fault to these people.
And you accurately pointed out their icon which is a very whitewashed show. I love irony.
but I already knew that, doesn't make my comments any less true, but if that makes you feel better!
And I never said it makes your comments less true. I can easily say without your icon that a lot of your comments are you channeling other anger about the general lack of POC on TV into hating Lena Dunham for truthfully not doing anything negative towards any minority. You are personally not represented on a show where you feel like you should be, that's fine... but Lena didn't do anything wrong and people act like she did.
You are talking to someone who is gay and the only roles on TV with gay people are the sassy rude friend or the drug addict who everyone looks down on... so yah I understand your point. But I don't go to random shows where i feel like gays should be included and say that show is terrible and the lead writer is homophobic for not including a gay character. It's not like that. So that's how I view this. Everyone is acting like she is belittling POC when she's not.
And you were arguing with a single latino mother about representation on TV. I want to say that there are more strong black characters on TV than strong latino characters. So it seemed a little crazy that you feel wronged by this random HBO show Girls, when this woman has pretty much no shows to look up to.
Edited at 2013-02-23 04:07 am (UTC)
I don't think in any of my comments have I said she's racist nor do I actually blame her, I spoke very directly about the lack of opportunities to showcase POC writers and characters by the media itself.
I got peeved off at the user above because they I guess assumed I was white and had to mention that they were hispanic from meager beginnings, a background which actually is exaclty mine. Then basically said that if I cared so much I should "do something about it" as if people aren't actively already doing this? I don't know it struck me the wrong why as if they only reason POC, gays, women, etc. aren't in media because they aren't working hard enough on doing just that... idk.
All in all I actually don't hate Lena, I watch Girls occasionally and ~gasp even relate to some of it (not Hannah though, never Hannah).
Haha, that is basically the point I found myself continually needing to reiterate, but perhaps not as succinctly (or cleanly) as you just did. Then having to deal with several assumptions that I must be white or privileged to even have these opinions just shows the ugliness and outright hypocrisy.
Plus there are soooooooooo many other shows on TV to watch. Like literally thousands of TV shows on TV all week long. And these people can't stop focusing on Lena Dunham who has a show on HBO which is a network with a key demographic of older white men and have very little viewers compared to a show such as How I Met Your Mother which has 15 million viewers and a cast with no POC... but that somehow doesn't compare to Girls... with it's 6 or 7 person cast set in a Jewish neighborhood and maybe a million viewers at most. Logic is not something a lot of people seem to have here at ONTD.
Luckily you have the Latina card to defend your views on this matter. I'm ~sadly~ white and have the gay card, but that just gets people even more stir crazy because comparing gays to racial minorities in blasphemy. As if I don't get cast aside for who I am, or a lack or representation, or dare I say legal status. But I'm smart enough to not take a beating and get down here. I just wish more people could look at things objectively on this site and know which things are real battles in this world instead of beating someone down for wearing a war bonnet ignorantly.