Character Study: Hannah Horvath

She's the voice of a generation.

The media is buzzing about Lena Dunham's Girls and the show is certainly deserving of the attention. It's a raw look at the lives of four twenty-somethings and Hannah Horvath, the main character (played by Lena Dunham herself), is at the show's core (and life's core too - if she could have a say in it).

Hannah is sort of a mess. Season one of Girls showed Hannah fall head over heels for a guy who was anything but deserving of her attention (although the tables may be turned now). She also suffered through a tumultuous friendship with her BFF, a relationship that was toxic for both of them even if they pretended to be unaware of it for the better part of the season.

Now that Girls is halfway through the second season, Hannah is starting to grow up. This doesn't mean she's getting any more mature or responsible. Instead, she's doing things that she thinks she should because it's what is expected. Hannah lives with her gay ex-boyfriend, calls her friends out when they're being (what she deems as) stupid, and does cocaine for the first time to prove she can be a good journalist.

She isn't a role model, but she's not supposed to be. Hannah is just going through the motions of living, experiencing all of those weird and often terrible moments that make up what we call life.