I’ve drifted back and forth with Girls, which at times has slightly lost my confidence when it veered too far into the “look-at-me-and-my-self-inflicted-problems” category. However this final season grabbed me again as I find myself deeply connecting once more with Hannah.
At the beginning of the season, Hannah hooked up with a surfing instructor she met while on assignment for her new magazine job. This beach side stoner, Paul-Louis, played wonderfully by The Night Of alumni Riz Ahmed, gets Hannah pregnant which is revealed to viewers in the following episode.
Girls centered the second episode of the series on a character’s abortion appointment and has never shied away from saying what they want to say, unplanned pregnancies included. Which is why it threw me for a loop when Hannah decided – almost instantly – to keep the baby.
Hannah who is a hugely selfish character makes the most selfless decision: have a baby she didn’t plan on. She chooses herself over and over again and is now making the choice to put herself second even as her friends tell her it’s a bad idea and quite frankly, it’s making me feel like a shitty person.
A kitten’s breath away from 30 it would be ridiculous to say that I’ve never entertained the idea of having kids. But honestly, that’s as far as it goes…entertained. Every time I think seriously about having kids the same argument goes through my mind which is some version of: I love my life the way it is now and I don’t know if I want to change it. I love binge-watching Netflix shows, going to basketball games, getting drunk at a bar and taking an Uber home — all of which would have to be altered to allow for a baby.
Girls has often held a mirror up to the millennial generation, showing both promise and flaws and this story arch continues to do just that. If this innately selfish character can chose to have a baby even when those closest to her have encouraged her to not to, what the shit is wrong with me? Is there something innately selfish in choosing not to have a baby? Or is it just knowing what’s best for you?
So many women I know who have kids were just aching to be a parent and mostly what I see is how much day care would cost. Which leads me to my question: is Hannah truly doing something selfless and wonderful? Or is she just naïve to the true commitment of having a baby?
Only three episodes left until the final credits roll and I for one am completely invested in seeing the end play out.
This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 6, 2017.