Red carpet appearances are pretty much a non-negotiable item on the long list of celebrity responsibilities. But Lena Dunham is here to remind you that of her many, many jobs, trying to be a perfect fashion plate all the time isn’t one of them.
Dunham fired back “with love” at Perez Hilton after he posted two photos of her over the weekend. “Nice to see her trying!” he wrote on one. He asked readers to caption another themselves.
Hilton isn’t known for keeping his opinions to himself, but then, neither is Dunham. She was quick to leave a thoughtful comment in response.
“I try at a lot of things,” she wrote. “Mostly I try at being a writer, director, actor, activist, friend, sibling, partner, Godmother.... Fashion is fun but sometimes I’d rather not spend 3 hours and lots of cash I could give to charity or spend on books and food to get ready to go out. [There are a lot of] different ways to be a public figure and I think there’s room for us to occasionally show up in public like normal people do. When I look at that picture you subjected to ‘caption this’ criticism, I see a day well-spent writing, reading, having tea with a friend. It’s unfortunate that the days you approve of most are the ones where I’m spending the least time on what really matters. With love, Lena.”
Hilton wrote in his comments that her response was “well said,” claiming neither of the two photos was meant as criticism. He then shared Dunham’s comment as its own photo, to which she replied, “thanks for sharing xx.”
So, no harm no foul? Not quite.
The sentiment that anyone, famous or otherwise, should be valued for how hard they “try” or how good they look on the red carpet is ridiculous, and not specific to Dunham. And while great style should be celebrated, we’re also pretty adamant that things like a fancy dress or a person’s weight, which Dunham also recently addressed, doesn’t enhance or diminish a person’s worth.
We could all stand to keep this notion in mind when it comes to celebrities, the red carpet, and the way we talk about them both.
