# Is this offensive? Apatow and Dunham takes offense at question regarding nudity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460 "2014-01-10T19:34:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/21 "2014-01-11T02:14:14Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > A.) My first thought, when I read the thread title was: _Jeff_ Dunham? The ventriloquist with all the ugly-ass puppets? I always understood him to tend toward wholesome in his act. While he doesn’t use foul language, I wouldn’t say his material is entirely wholesome. And Achmed is nude. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/22 "2014-01-11T04:57:06Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I didn’t get that. He was saying (by my reading) that he gets the nudity in GoT because it’s obviously set up to be titillating. The nudity in Girls is (to my understanding) much more mundane which makes one wonder why it’s there. If Dunham’s nudity was set in a more overtly sexual context it would be more obvious what they were trying to accomplish. > > It seems a fair question and “Cause people get nude” seems a very weak answer when it’s largely restricted to a single member of the cast. Are the rest of the cast not people? One of the most talked about nude scenes of the show was Dunham sitting naked in a stall in the shitter eating an entire birthday cake on her lap. Yep, people get nude. That’s exactly how real people act. Why have questions about such a mundane act? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/23 "2014-01-11T05:15:06Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I suspect that if James Gandolfini had been nude in every other episode of \*\*\* The Sopranos\*\*\*, a LOT of people would be asking “What’s up with that?” If memory serves, we saw Dennis Franz’s rear all the time in NYPD Blue, and that was indeed the general reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/24 "2014-01-11T05:37:30Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > It seems a fair question and “Cause people get nude” seems a very weak answer when it’s largely restricted to a single member of the cast. Are the rest of the cast not people? To be fair in my experience _some_ people get nude regularly and wander around the house that way and many others just don’t much except when they’re taking a bath/shower. I could buy it if it was presented as an idiosyncratic quirk. But I have little experience with the show - I lost interest in it pretty rapidly and didn’t go past the first few episodes. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/25 "2014-01-11T05:39:37Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > To be fair in my experience _some_ people get nude regularly and wander around the house that way and many others just don’t much except when they’re taking a bath/shower. I could buy it if it was presented as an idiosyncratic quirk. > > But I have little experience with the show - I lost interest in it pretty rapidly and didn’t go past the first few episodes. Yeah, but they seem to be trying to make a point about women’s body image. If I tried that hard to make such a point and a TV critic asked me a question like that, I’d see it as an opportunity to go on about my point and why I’m doing it instead of getting huffy and puffy. But then again, I’m not on a juice cleanse. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/26 "2014-01-11T05:41:05Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > That’s exactly how real people act. Why have questions about such a mundane act? Because most people on the show don’t act that way making her actions exceptional within the context of the show. So they’re fair game to ask about. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/27 "2014-01-11T05:56:35Z")
She’s fucking sick to death of the ridiculous, sad, rude obsession with it. She’s talked about it and been asked about it incessently, and what a fucking incompetent journalist to bring it up AGAIN…what, they can’t google and find an endless supply of answers exactly the way I did? It’s fucking pathetic. January 2013: > **[Is it brave, even beneficial, for Lena Dunham to be nude on HBO's 'Girls?'](https://laist.com/shows/airtalk/is-it-brave-even-beneficial-for-lena-dunham-to-be-nude-on-hbos-girls)** > > Critics tell Dunham to put some clothes on, but fans of the show’s famously-awkward sexual scenarios have spoken up in defense of Dunham, her body, and the creative choice to focus on sex for the sake of sex, rather than what some have called “the... > [@](#): > > Dunham’s response to the critics who would rather not look at her naked on or off-screen is unsurprisingly reflective of the show’s mentality: “Get used to it because I am going to live to be 100, and I am going to show my thighs every day till I die." This really examines it: [http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2013/02/girls-nudity/62053/](http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2013/02/girls-nudity/62053/) and this: [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/girls-star-lena-dunham-her-410179?page=show](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/girls-star-lena-dunham-her-410179?page=show) > [@](#): > > Actually, Dunham frequently is naked in Girls’ often humiliating or awkward sexual encounters. The second episode of the season opens with a topless Hannah having sex with her new boyfriend — an African-American Republican played by Community star Donald Glover — her naked breasts bobbing up and down. “Yep, there are a lot of scenes that are pretty nude,” she says matter-of-factly. “They’re nude emotionally; they’re nude physically. They’re not always sexually nude, which can be even more awful because then they’re nude without context.” > Asked if she’s self-conscious about putting herself and her body on display for millions of strangers, she shrugs: “Um, no. My parents really valued expressing yourself and placed a premium on that for everyone’s reason for living.” Pressed further, Dunham admits that a certain amount of her naked abandon “does not come from a place of confidence and is a compulsion. And I’m sure I will be working that out in therapy for the rest of my life.” > **[Don’t Call Lena Dunham ‘Brave’](https://www.vulture.com/2013/02/dont-call-lena-dunham-brave.html)** > > Her acolytes toss out this term whenever her nudity comes under attack. But this isn't courage, it's savvy. > **[Lena Dunham has always loved her body](https://www.salon.com/2013/08/29/lena_dunham_has_always_loved_her_body/)** > > The actress, who has been criticized for her frequent nudity on "Girls," knew she was beautiful at age 10 Playboy interview, [COLOR=“Red”]March 2013: “If I could abolish one question, it would be ‘Why are you naked on TV so much?’[/COLOR] I don’t know. Use your imagination,” she tells Playboy. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/28 "2014-01-11T10:51:53Z")
I looked her up on Google (for science) and I don’t regret it. She’s a bit overweight but she’s still attractive in my eyes. She’s still a dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/29 "2014-01-11T11:02:46Z")
Looked up some images. She’s actually quite presentable. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/30 "2014-01-11T14:17:37Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > She’s fucking sick to death of the ridiculous, sad, rude obsession with it. She’s talked about it and been asked about it incessently, and what a fucking incompetent journalist to bring it up AGAIN…what, they can’t google and find an endless supply of answers exactly the way I did? None of those quotes even remotely answer the question, if they even actually show them asking her, rather than just the journalist making up their own reasons. Any actual quotes seem to all be them getting upset that someone is asking instead of answering the question. And as long as that is their reaction, they are going to keep on being asked. First off, them getting upset at an innocuous question is a tabloid story in and of itself. Second, the first person who does get an answer will have a very newsworthy story indeed. And, even if they had answered the question, it’s still going to get asked over and over. That’s why you come up with prepared answers to common questions. Getting offended by what you assume the person must mean is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/31 "2014-01-11T14:32:52Z")
I don’t get it, frankly. Lena Dunham is a far more attractive person in real life, than her character from Girls (Hannah?) She’s also a far more likeable and interesting person in real life. But from what I’ve seen on Girls (seen maybe 35% of the episodes) her character is miserable, unreliable, sloppy and unattractive (beyond physical appearance.) I don’t know how that kind of character could establish and maintain friendships, male or female. So I don’t get it. Her nudity, on the show, only serves to reinforce the perception that she’s unattractive, whereas, they easily could make her look better, while nude, to at least explain why guys look past her “muddle” and fight over her. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/32 "2014-01-11T15:16:40Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Because most people on the show don’t act that way making her actions exceptional within the context of the show. So they’re fair game to ask about. Sorry I didn’t use the sarcasm smilie. > [@Stoid](#): > > She’s fucking sick to death of the ridiculous, sad, rude obsession with it. She’s talked about it and been asked about it incessently, and what a fucking incompetent journalist to bring it up AGAIN…what, they can’t google and find an endless supply of answers exactly the way I did? > > It’s fucking pathetic. > > January 2013: > [Is it brave, even beneficial, for Lena Dunham to be nude on HBO's 'Girls?'](http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2013/01/16/30119/are-lena-dunhams-girls-sex-scenes-too-realistic-to) > > This really examines it: > [http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2013/02/girls-nudity/62053/](http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2013/02/girls-nudity/62053/) > > and this: > [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/girls-star-lena-dunham-her-410179?page=show](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/girls-star-lena-dunham-her-410179?page=show) > > [Don’t Call Lena Dunham ‘Brave’](http://www.vulture.com/2013/02/dont-call-lena-dunham-brave.html) > [http://www.salon.com/2013/08/29/lena\_dunham\_has\_always\_loved\_her\_body/](http://www.salon.com/2013/08/29/lena_dunham_has_always_loved_her_body/) > > Playboy interview, [COLOR=“Red”]March 2013: > “If I could abolish one question, it would be ‘Why are you naked on TV so much?’[/COLOR] I don’t know. Use your imagination,” she tells Playboy. See my answer above. Writers and interviewers are not asking idle questions to satisfy their curiosity. They are writing for their audience. When doing press for your show you want them to write about it. Otherwise don’t do press. If it’s a common obvious question about the show it will be asked over and over because the writer wants to write it in his own way for his audience. A writer isn’t going to put in his article “You want the answer just google it.” Dunham is obviously trying to make a point. The question is going to come up over and over again. Explain what you are trying to do. Even if all you are doing is proving that no one looks attractive eating cake on a toilet. If it sounds trite the 50th time you say it so be it. Or don’t do press. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/33 "2014-01-11T15:39:28Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > One of the most talked about nude scenes of the show was Dunham sitting naked in a stall in the shitter eating an entire birthday cake on her lap. Yep, people get nude. That’s exactly how real people act. Why have questions about such a mundane act? That was an actual scene from the show? I thought that was just a gag they did for some awards show. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/34 "2014-01-11T15:44:30Z")
I can see that --Just saying “it’s what I do, get used to it” may not be enough for the audience/readership even if you think it should, one could append to that “the point is, one, some people just are like that, two, maybe it should make you rethink your own self-consciousness about it and get used to encountering nudity in this context to the point it becomes unremarkable”. But the response as is seems more along the lines of: “We don’t owe you the Remedial Course explanation if you don’t get it, you should not ask for one, and damn are you dense for insisting.” > [@](#): > > sitting naked in a stall in the shitter eating an entire birthday cake on her lap. … That’s exactly how real people act. Now this is why a whole bunch of people are giving up real life for just living on the Internet…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/35 "2014-01-11T15:52:05Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > She’s fucking sick to death of the ridiculous, sad, rude obsession with it. She’s talked about it and been asked about it incessently, and what a fucking incompetent journalist to bring it up AGAIN…what, they can’t google and find an endless supply of answers exactly the way I did? Tough shit, don’t do media then. There’s nothing “rude” about asking about an aspect of the show. If she’s asked about it all the time, she should be smart enough to have a brief pat answer down instead of her and the other producers flipping out when she’s asked the question. I bet it takes less time to give an intelligent stock answer (“Duh, she’s human” doesn’t count) than it does to start throwing a fit during an interview because – Lord forbid – some interviewer dared ask a question those three idiots are sick of answering. If the consumers in the interviewer’s market are still asking the question among themselves, then it remains a perfectly legitimate question for the interviewer to ask. And it sounds as though people are still saying “what’s up with all the naked?” so get ready for more questions. > [@Loach](#): > > Sorry I didn’t use the sarcasm smilie. No problem. As you can see, there’s enough people who’d say your remark in all sincerity that it didn’t occur to me that you might be less than serious. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/36 "2014-01-11T16:08:44Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > That was an actual scene from the show? I thought that was just a gag they did for some awards show. I won’t link to it but you can easily find it on a google image search. I’m starting to come around a little in my opinion. I’m starting to think that maybe it’s a piece of theater Apatow came up with. The nudity question will come up. Let’s flip out on the guy that asks it. It will get press coverage. No one asks the question again. Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/37 "2014-01-11T16:31:26Z")
Admittedly, I didn’t hear the tone, but on its face it is not offensive at all and pretty much what should be asked during TCA press tour. If the answer was “to be titillating,” then she should/could have answered that. That’s why a lot of shows go straight to nudity. Gratuitously losing actors clothes is on brand (Starz) and/or gets a few extra insta-rating points for those shows. Of course, that’s the same as saying “my show is really shallow,” but if that’s her reason, she (or someone on the panel) should say so. OTOH, if she’s trying to make an artistic point, then she should be able to explain what that point was or at the very least talk about the point without bursting into tears or blowing up. It’s a TCA panel. Discussing the artistic side of television happens there and shows that want to be thought of with any depth at all should be able to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/38 "2014-01-11T16:46:50Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > One of the most talked about nude scenes of the show was Dunham sitting naked in a stall in the shitter eating an entire birthday cake on her lap. Yep, people get nude. That’s exactly how real people act. Why have questions about such a mundane act? > [@Loach](#): > > > [@joebuck20](#): > > > > That was an actual scene from the show? I thought that was just a gag they did for some awards show. > > I won’t link to it but you can easily find it on a google image search. …from the opening skit to the 2012 Emmy Awards. I don’t remember a scene like that actually being in the show, and searching Google, every reference to that scene is regarding the Emmy Awards video. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/39 "2014-01-11T18:03:44Z")
I can see both sides on this. It’s really a matter of perspective. Malloy was asking a legitimate question from the outside. Essentially he was asking, “Characters usually do nude scenes to arouse the audience. You’re not seeking that reaction so why do you do so many nude scenes?” He undoubtedly felt he was asking an artist to discuss her work. But Dunham is the not only the subject of the question, she’s also the character being referred to. So she’s not going to be as objective as a reporter is. She reacted not as the artist who chose to put nude scenes in the show but as the actress who performed those scenes. And from that perspective, she felt she was being told she wasn’t good looking enough to do nude scenes. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460/40 "2014-01-11T18:11:17Z")
All this talk of nudity has piqued my interest in “Girls”. Having never seen the show, what is the demographic? Is it geared mainly towards women like “Sex in the City”, or does it have a broader appeal? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-offensive-apatow-and-dunham-takes-offense-at-question-regarding-nudity/678460.md?page=3)