Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Girls -- seriously!

Karem Abdul-Jabbar (yes, that one) is quite the astute cultural critic . He's written a nice piece for The Huffington Post about the show's (now infamous) lack of diversity and the clumsy way they chose to handle it.

"Last season the show was criticized for being too white. Watching a full season could leave a viewer snow blind. This season that white ghetto was breached by a black character who is introduced as some jungle fever lover, with just enough screen time to have sex and mutter a couple of lines about wanting more of a relationship. A black dildo would have sufficed and cost less. 

I don't believe that people of color, sexual preference, or gender need to be shaken indiscriminately into every series like some sort of exotic seasoning. If the story calls for a black character, great. A story about a black neighborhood doesn't necessarily need white characters just to balance the racial profile. But this really seemed like an effort was made to add some color -- and it came across as forced."

I also liked what he said about Girls failing where it's supposed to be funny -- but not funny enough -- but also not providing the kind of social commentary to make the audience feel anything for its "flawed" characters. It kind of reminds me of what Melissa McEwan said about The Big Bang theory not liking its female characters anymore. I'm okay with Hannah and crew being unlikable, but there's little reason to root for them. That's why the best thing about this season is the Ray and Shoshanna's relationship: you want to root for those two. I just wish I could feel that way about the rest of the cast.