Did you watch the season six premiere of Girls on Sunday night?
If not, don’t worry.
Statistically speaking, virtually no one watched, as the series pulled in just over a half a million viewers and a scored a paltry .24 in the critical 18-49 demo.
It was actually a decently funny episode from a series that’s been notoriously uneven over the years, but the basement-dwelling ratings reaffirm our belief that show’s star and creator Lena Dunham jinxed herself with that “voice of a generation” line in the pilot (however tongue and cheek her intentions may have been).
Anyway, Dunham remains a B- talent with A+ name recognition, which means she often hobnobs with some of the most famous people on the planet, including singer and celebrated friend-collector Taylor Swift.
2016 was a decidedly “off” year for Swift, mainly due to her frequent feuds and rocky love life, but also due to her baffling unwillingness to express even half-hearted support for Hillary Clinton, despite the fact that Donald Trump was threatening to grab out nation by the pussy and hand it over to a shirt-averse despot.
Now, Dunham is defending her friend’s decision in ways that only further confuse the issue:
“When I was lesser known, I was like, ‘Who could not share their opinion?’” Dunham recently told Rolling Stone.
“Then I found out that when you talk about politics, people straight up tweet you the floor plan of your house and say they’re coming to your house. You have to f—ing watch it because people are nuts.”
We can almost understand the reasoning here – although the “you plebes will never understand the pressures of fame” reasoning is always irritating.
What keeps us from being able to fully support this logic, however, is the fact that any celebrity who takes a political stance is putting their neck out there.
Is Dunham saying that Swift is such mega-huge superstar that speaking out against Trump would present too great a safety risk?
If that’s the case, then why is it that Madonna, Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry and countless others spoke out against Trump with aplomb?
We believe there are numerous reasons that Swift chose to remain silent while Trump seized power with his Ken doll-sized hands, but the major ones have nothing to do with the fact that you can’t take down a drone with a scathing ballad.
As you may know, Taylor is best friends with Karlie Kloss, the Victoria’s Secret model who, for the past several years, has been dating Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner.
You see where we’re going with this?
Couple Taylor’s one degree of separation from the Trump klan clan with the fact that she’s embroiled in ongoing feuds with two of the biggest celebrity Clinton supporters (Perry and Kardashian), and it’s not hard to see why she wasn’t exactly campaiging hard for Hillary.
Do we think Taylor voted for Trump?
No, but there are many who do, and their theory is not without merit.
In times like these, silence is tantamount to endorsement, and Taylor’s refusal to speak out against Trump speaks volumes about her political leanings.
In the past, the singer has railed against accusations that she espouses feminist ideals only when it’s convenient for her, and after passing up the opportunity to in some small way help a known misogynist from seizing power, she’ll likely find it harder than ever to convince fans of the legitimacy of her beliefs.
