Women in Comedy

I don’t usually write about TV (unless it’s Alex Mack…) but Lena Dunham’s double win at the Golden Globes has prompted me to talk about women in comedy.  

For Best Performance by an actress in a TV series (comedy or musical), Lena was up against Julia Louis-Dreyfuss who apart from bringing us the Elaine dance in Seinfeld 

 

now leads the cast of Veep created by Armando Iannucci and Miss Bossy Pants herself, Tina Fey, who created and stars in 30 Rock as the secret snuggie wearing, night cheese eating Liz Lemon.

Fey added the phrase “I want to go to there” to my every increasing quoting vocabulary and wrote the screenplay for one of the best teen movies ever made, Mean Girls.  Lena was also up against  Zooey Deschanel for her role in New Girl and Amy Poehler for her role as Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation who opened the show with Tina Fey.

I’m glad Dunham won the awards and her voice is being recognised and celebrated. Even if you place no particular importance on awards ceremonies her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes lays thanks to all of the women in the category and “every woman who felt there wasn’t a space for her”.

On winning the best TV series (comedy or musical) she spoke of the cast who have shown her “the meaning of bravery and nakedness both emotional and physical” and it can only be a positive thing to have such a talented, humble woman being a massive part of not only the TV world but the filmmaking one too.

Dunham also spoke of the people who supported her and helped her find her voice and made her feel “not like a cartoon character but a person who could express emotions”. This made me think of the ever supportive LocoFilm Festival who are championing comedy. This year they have collaborated with Underwire Festival with a focus on women in comedy and will be celebrating with the event Working Women on 26th January. If you’re having trouble finding your voice this could be a positive and inspiring place to start looking for it.

Lena Dunham’s debut feature film Tiny Furniture is available to buy as part of The CriterionCollection  You can read my review here.
Further reading: An interview with Lena Dunham conducted by Miranda July www.interviewmagazine.com/film/lena-dunham-february-2013