The Girls debate rages on.
James Franco is the latest TV fan to weigh in on the popular–and controversial–Lena Dunham-created HBO series in a Wednesday blog post for The Huffington Post.
Franco, 34, addresses (and generally concurs with) critics who say the show lacks diversity, and relies on stereotypes–particularly when it comes to the program's male characters, which he sees as one-dimensional.
"I've read comments about Girls that said, in a nutshell, 'I like the show, but I can't see me in the show,'" the Oz: The Great and Powerful star says. "I feel the same way. The guys in the show are the biggest bunch of losers I've ever seen."
Continues Franco, "There is a drip who gets dumped because he bores his girlfriend [Charlie, played by Christopher Abbott]; a dad who hits on his babysitter [Jeff, played by James LeGros]; a bevy of wussy hipsters who are just grist for the insatiable lust of the too-cool girl with the British accent; and the king of them all, the shirtless dude who talks funny and hides his stomach all the time [Adam, played by Adam Driver]."
Franco sees Girls' portrayal of males as a natural response to the "endless parade of airheaded women" on what he views as the show's male counterpart, Entourage. (Which, in turn, he says was "fair payback for the cast of male dorks on Sex and the City.")
The actor makes it clear that, although he doesn't love Girls, he isn't bothered by the fact that it's a female-focused, female-driven project. He just doesn't appreciate that "struggling male idiots" are the only men viewers get to see at all.
"I am fine watching a show about women dealing with men I would never want to be. I watched Steel Magnolias incessantly when I was in junior high school, and I can get off on female bonding," he writes. But, while "Lena Dunham gives the female characters just as many flaws as the guys . . . we hear the girls' insider conversations, so we side with them against the men."
Tell Us: Do you think James Franco has a point when it comes to the guys on Girls?
