Oh good, another over-the-top BPD character in the media

I like HBO's series "Girls". As a financially-challenged woman in her early 20's, I find the show wonderfully relatable and refreshingly real. That is, until the last two episodes they aired.
Season three introduces a character named Caroline who is depicted as an over-the-top BPD. She almost rivals Glenn Close's performance in Fatal Attraction for insultingly extreme as she breaks a glass in her bare hand, injuring herself in front of her brother and his girlfriend. Not to mention she attempted to euthanize her own grandmother.
Ugh... I just needed to rant here. This character has pretty much ruined the show for me. So many other aspects of this show are realistic and not glamorized or overdone, so WHY did they have to overdo the BPD character?? Seriously, I thought the media's perpetuation of BPD stigma was finally slowing down.. I guess not.

Here's how I look at it. Everyone is an individual, whether they have a PD or not. It isn't unrealistic to have an over-the-top BPD character just as it's not unrealistic to have a sociopath as a serial killer on a crime drama. And most over-the-top characters in fiction are actually nons.

My point is that all of these individuals exist, and it doesn't reflect on any one of us. It's only a problem if it sends the message that everyone with BPD is the same.

Harkness wrote:Here's how I look at it. Everyone is an individual, whether they have a PD or not. It isn't unrealistic to have an over-the-top BPD character just as it's not unrealistic to have a sociopath as a serial killer on a crime drama. And most over-the-top characters in fiction are actually nons.

My point is that all of these individuals exist, and it doesn't reflect on any one of us. It's only a problem if it sends the message that everyone with BPD is the same.

Yea, I can see that... However, she is one of the only over the top characters on the show (the others characters are over the top in some ways, but not as much as most tv shows)... Perhaps the issue is more so that the extroverted and dramatic traits of BPD tend to be overrepresented in the media. For sure, there is certainly that side of BPD.. However, it is not the ONLY side. And yet it is the only side portrayed in shows and films...

littlearcher wrote:i haven't seen the episodes you've spoken of but i can understand why that would be very frustrating and stigmatizing.

personally, i can't watch the show as i find it inaccurate and inaccessible in terms of racial and cultural representation.

i guess ultimately it is the dramatization of one person's (lena dunham's) experience and point of view however, seeing as it's so widely viewed, that can be problematic when the point of view reinforces certain stereotypes.

how did you feel about her depiction of ocd?

I absolutely agree with you about the racial and cultural representation. The show isn't as accurate or "real" as I initially stated in my first post. But regardless of its accuracy, their portrayal of BPD is still frustrating.

I'm not sure how I feel about their depiction of OCD. Partly because it's been a while since I watched those episodes, and partly because I have not experienced OCD myself, and so I dont feel I can speak to the accuracy of their portrayal.
I have heard from other people, however, that they were turned off the show due to the way she represented OCD.
What are your thoughts on it?

Yes, I too almost immediately realized they were trying to portray that character as a pwBPD.

I also found it interesting that they touched on Hannah's lack of empathy in the most recent episode. I have been wondering if she is meant to have NPD.

Jenna seems to have HPD or perhaps mild AsPD.

This sounds like a very interesting series. And it's HBO. I'm gonna give it a go!

I love that series!!
I guess you are talking about the new episodes. Haven't seen them.

But hey, not everyone is meant to have a PD.

Kiskiskis wrote:But hey, not everyone is meant to have a PD.

Of course not! (although on television, many characters do seem to.. simply because they need to over-exaggerate personalities to make them interesting to viewers).

However, this character definitely was meant to... I think they even said so in an interview somewhere..

BUT I just watched the next episode with her in it... and I'm actually starting to love her character!


[EDIT]
yes, i do realize what i just did there... i went from hating the character to loving her in one episode.. oh bpd...

I watched it. I could understand how you feel. I wish her character was more nuanced. I don't think
most of us are like that.

The show is starting to bug me. I'm tired of most Indie films and their portrayal of the main character
as a struggling self-absorbed writer. I can't always relate to that entitled NY culture and I'm older so
struggles of twenty something folks I don't relate to much anymore.

But I do like Lena Dunham's revealing of her body. There has been criticism but me with body image
problems, views this as freeing. It really does help me feel more comfortable with my body. There are
too many skinny perfect women on tv.

I also think what's her name can be HPD. Her struggles are interesting to me. Her portrayal of her feels
complex to me. Maybe she reminds me of me a bit. I don't know. But I think she is interesting.

hey they are just de for good tv/entertainment

i just saw that episode, it was a bit obnoxious....i agree.