Yvette Carnell: Writer for HBO’s ‘Girls’ Calls Defecating “Taking Obama to the White House”…and More

by Yvette Carnell

The Twitterverse is all abuzz  about how there are no black main characters in HBO’s new series “Girls”. To answer the criticism, “Girls” writer Lesley Arfin tweeted,  ”What really bothered me most about Precious was that there was no representation of ME.”

Frankly, I don’t care much about Arfin, or what characters she does or doesn’t include in her snarky mashup. There are other real writers out there, like Colson Whitehead and the late Octavia Butler,  and we have Medicine for Melancholy, Pariah, and Middle of Nowhere on the movie end of things. Point being, I don’t need to see my black self reflected in Arfin’s little whitebread Glitterati crew. We’ve got our own thing going, so it’s probably best that we leave the urbane sort of racism, the kind that keeps Chelsea Lately forever asking Loni Love how much bacon and fried chicken she inhales, to Arfin and her gaggle.

Still don’t believe me? Still want Arfin to add a black character to “Girls” ? This from The Atlantic: 

On Arfin’s website, she’s posted a guide to being a groupie on tour titled, “The Groupie Chronicles 3: When the s**t Hits the Fan.” It’s about to deal with the unpleasant physical realities of being a girl on the road, like getting your period. The fourth section is about defecating, a topic Arfin introduces like this: “That Which Shall Not Be Named: You know, ‘dropping off the kids’ or ‘taking Obama to the White House.’” 

Something in that comment tells me that Arfin can’t write any black characters that I’d appreciate.

Yvette Carnell is a former Capitol Hill and campaign staffer turned writer. She is currently an editor and contributor to Yourblackworld.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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