On Being a Stereotype

          And...I’m back!  A few people have asked about my blog and its whereabouts- (THANK YOU!) and yes, I've been quiet this year.  But here's me back, being loud, opinionated and unashamedly optimistic. Wasn't sure what to write here but friend and expert blogger consultant Natalie Covill suggested that I write about life after uni, which is where I'm at now (hopefully- still waiting on approval to graduate).  And not just life after uni, but life after uni as a Creative Arts graduate, the most useless and stereotyped of the tertiary qualified. Two weeks left in Edinburgh before my semi-triumphant return to Oz, the triumph because I’ve finished a year’s exchange in the city of  cold and deadly cobblestones, the semi because my one and only offer of employment at this point has been a job painting the house for my dad, who is now referring to me as his apprentice.   

          Looking at jobs today I realised that not only was I not qualified for the majority, but I didn’t know what the majority of the titles meant, technical records and compliance administrator?  So despite the constant struggle against convention I find myself freakishly conforming to the supposed stereotype of the ‘boomerang’ generation.

          Lena Dunham, the 26 year old writer, creator and director of the new HBO hit Girls is the latest big thing, a new hero of mine and well-deserving of her fame and success.  She’s smartly pointed out there’s a gap between 20 and 30, a new breed of age caught in a strange limbo between youth and adulthood, and typified by characters such as Zooey Deschanel’s New Girl.  The girls in Girls are atypical of fictional females; brilliantly and majorly flawed with moments of heroism disproportionate to times being spent disorientated, high, and self-destructive.  I don’t agree with the media’s announcement that Dunham is the voice of our generation- of what generation- New York/The West’s basically privileged and educated twenty year olds.  Dunham herself doesn’t necessarily agree- which is why she’s brilliant: "It's funny to me that I'm writing a show that people consider to be the voice of twentysomething people," she says. "Because I don't feel that connected to it all the time." 

          What I do love about  Dunham’s characters is how they struggle to stay free-spirited and creative in the ruthless ‘real’ world.    Their individual selfishness makes their relationships all the more fascinating and loaded with grace.  Scenes like this one where we fall in love with the weird kids:

This is why I’m ok with the future because however much my lofty ambitions are shot down, if I fit a stereotype, it means I’m not alone.