By Drew Grant 2/27 9:30am

Boys of Girls

65th Annual Writers Guild East Coast Awards - Arrivals

About a Boy: Alex Karpovsky Doesn’t Just Think About Girls

Out of all the actors on Girls, that HBO show that has attracted the same kind of specific, rabid New Yorker-type fan base as Sex and the City [ed. note: see our front-page story], Alex Karpovsky is the most visible. That’s not to say he’s more famous than Lena Dunham. But unlike the show’s creator, he gets around quite a bit. The National Book Awards, N+1 parties, Cinema Society premieres–the man who plays the caustic, anti-social Ray on premium cable is in real life quite the butterfly of the New York literary and film scene.

And his fans aren’t always those you might expect. Read More

By Drew Grant, Noam Cohen and Alex Bedder 2/03 9:00am

Girls Recap

By Alex Bedder

Five Essay Prompts for Girls 2×4: ‘It’s a Shame About Ray’


1. The philosopher Rene Girard developed the concept of “mimetic desire,” the theory that all of our desires are really borrowed from other people–we see someone else in the bath and then we want to get in–and that denying this very normal and natural fact will only lead to conflict and pain. Discuss at least two of the characters in this episode who embody Girard’s theory, and how it might have helped them navigate the sticky social situations they find themselves in. Read More

By Rebecca Webb 10/12/12 10:22am

Tender is the Night

Boardman. (Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan)

Paper Celebrates Nightlife—and Cat Marnell Enters the Presidential Race

“I wish there were more neocon blondes involved … Otherwise I’m not registered to vote—because if Andy Warhol didn’t, why do I have to?” Cat Marnell cozied up to The Observer Wednesday night at Paper magazine’s eighth annual nightlife awards, offering us her views on the 2012 presidential race.

Removing a tragic fur coat, Ms. Marnell, a Best Nightlife Social Media Star nominee, revealed the now slightly smudged words “Chinese Democracy” written across her forearms in what we can only assume was black eyeliner.

“My political stance is Chinese Democracy.”

Uncertain, we asked her what this meant.

“I don’t know exactly. I was going to go with ‘manifest destiny’—I don’t know what that means either,” she said, flipping her head of blond hair to the side as she spoke. “I support Guns N’ Roses and I hope they get back together.” (Chinese Democracy is the title of a less-than-successful Guns N’ Roses album, which came out in 2008.)

What did she plan to do with award, should she be so fortunate?

“I’d really like to speak out about [getting the band back together], and I really don’t think young children shouldn’t be prescribed Adderall—so that’s my platform.” Read More