When: Friday 31st October
Where: Royal Festival Hall
Why: Dunham + Moran = Dream Team
“There’s nothing I love more than a swearing woman.” Lena, I am so on board. And I should have utilised my well-worn cursing skills on the grumpy man sat next to me in an otherwise buzzy twittering excited audience of people with fantastic taste (and great booking skills – the show sold out in about 12 hours apparently). Grumpy man had clearly been dragged along by his girlfriend, who spent the rest of the show appeasing and stroking him – slightly not in the spirit of an evening of strident feminism, but never mind. The rest of the audience were on form, and the crowd included even more exciting people such as Sandi Toksvig, Sarah Millican, Richard E Grant and the cast of Call the Midwife (MIRANDA!). I was in good company despite being there (obviously) by myself (as is my wont).
The legendary Caitlin Moran introduced Lena, and after a reading from her new book, they settled down together for a chat and some top banter. They’re both inherently hilarious people, and I hadn’t just laughed out loud so much for ages. At the same time they are hugely inspiring and empowering, not only because of all their combined hugely impressive showbiz achievements, but also because they were just chatting normally and openly about life and issues and funny shit that happens. I love Girls, Lena’s much lauded TV show, but don’t massively relate to it much personally. For me it was much easier to connect to what she was saying in a chat format, and later on in her book as I ploughed through it on the bus home. I literally felt lucky to be there and made sure I’d switched on my wisdom absorbers to full beam.
The discussion swooped over a variety of topics, and most prevalent were issues of representation and just attempting to exist successfully in a judgmental world. As Lena put it:
“2014 has been about the power of saying no. For women no is not a word we are taught to say enough. There is a sense that you have to be amenable and pleasing and when you're a successful women you feel you have to apologise for it. Setting boundaries is the only thing that allows us to keep going on and keep our light on.”
“2014 has been about the power of saying no. For women no is not a word we are taught to say enough. There is a sense that you have to be amenable and pleasing and when you're a successful women you feel you have to apologise for it. Setting boundaries is the only thing that allows us to keep going on and keep our light on.”
I also loved a piece of advice from her father that Lena shared: “Fear isn’t what keeps the plane in the air.” She added, “… that was what made me think that actually, by worrying, we can’t prevent what’s challenging. All the things that have really thrown me, have been the things that I have not thought to worry about.” Which I immediately identify with. Another Dunham prescription for anxiety is just having a sleep. More sound advice, particularly when combined with the revelation that she owns more pyjamas than clothes. Oh god me too.
Fantastic and hilarious evening in the presence of a couple of thousand excellent people and two in particular. Not That Kind of Girl is definitely worth reading (if nothing else it will make you feel comparatively sane) and I will treasure my signed copy.
Brixpig x
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