HBO’s ‘Girls’ Writer: Defecating is ‘Taking Obama to the White House’

HBO has high hopes for their new series that premiered Sunday, but one writer is stealing the spotlight. Jorge Rivas looks at the controversy.

By Jorge Rivas Apr 19, 2012

I’ve been avoiding writing about the lack of diversity in HBO’s new series "Girls" because it’s not really news. But the time has come, thanks to the show’s story editor Lesley Arfin.

I really didn’t care much about the "Girls" pilot episode being all white because most TV is all white. In fact, initially I thought it was unfair the show was getting the backlash considering all the white dudes on the most popular sitcom of the decade "Two and a Half Men" never got called out for putting on such a white show.

But on Monday Arfin responded to critics that said "Girls" was too white by tweeting "What really bothered me most about Precious was that there was no representation of ME." The tweet disappeared Wednesday after some controversy.

That’s not the least bit controversial if you consider some of the other things she’s written.

In an August 2010 post on her blog titled ‘When the shit hits the fan," Arfin referred to defecating as "dropping off the kids" or "taking Obama to the White House."

Arfin, a former Vice Magazine columnist, started out as a writer for "Girls" and is now a story editor on the show. "For every season in TV writing (usually) you go up a title, but I’m still pretty low-level so my responsibilities aren’t that concentrated," Arfin told Vice.

But now that she’s been fanning her own controversies she’s perhaps the most recognized writer after the show’s creator and star Lena Dunham.

Dunham, 24, developed the show that’s centered around her character Hannah and a group of girls in New York City navigating love and careers. The NY Times called it "Sex and the City without Manolos," a young Carrie Bradshaw in the recession years, if you will.

The show has received a lot of criticism for being all white when it takes place in one of the most diverse places in the world.