First-time poster, long-time follower (2007). Keep up the good work!

I’d like to point out that all this hubbub about Lena Dunham’s creative direction misplaces the criticism. She is first and foremost, a person who has lived just over two decades and the limited experiences that provides. Secondly, she is an artist who has been given some liberty to guide her production.

In response to the criticism: “And this is a hard issue to speak to because all I want to do is sound sensitive and not say anything that will horrify anyone or make them feel more isolated, but I did write something that was super-specific to my experience, and I always want to avoid rendering an experience I can’t speak to accurately.”

But most importantly, she is under contract with HBO, and their executives, producers, and leaders. Why do we care what she does, when she outright says that she would do a terrible job at portraying people of color (and as we’ve seen, it’s become true!). Shouldn’t we be asking HBO and their producers why they didn’t sign on a writer/director of color? Isn’t that the real question here, if we’re concerned about getting someone who would be more likely to have an experience worthy of being written into television?

Shouldn’t we ask HBO why their recruitment process isn’t as open as we would like for up-and-coming actors of color? What about all the people behind that scenes, that HBO had a hand in selecting (or didn’t select, when they signed Lena Dunham)?

When it comes to media criticism, we need to be careful about not picking the easy target, and going straight to the people with the money and the power – the network decision-makers.

However, if they really-and-truly were grouped with all the other browns, then yeah, shit is real racist.

And this is where I feel sorry for her. Not understanding white supremacy is dangerous for a POC.