Back in 2012, Marnie Marie Michaels was quite the polarizing character on Girls. On the one hand, she was self-centered; on the other hand, she was a songwriter, so what could we really expect. Allison Williams, who played Marnie, recently reunited with her on-screen husband, The Bear‘s Ebon Moss-Bachrach, for a Vanity Fair interview, where Williams reveals that Marnie is finding an unlikely fan base in the Gen Z viewers. It’s been long enough now that her songs can be considered a novelty, right?
“The whole show got a lot of flack when it was airing for everyone being too selfish and self-centered and blah, blah, blah,” Williams admitted. Marnie was surely not a fan favorite, but she did cause quite a stir!
Williams believes that the current generation of young adults are more understanding of Marnie. “My theory is what was coded as selfishness among Millennials is now coded as self-care and just being aware of what you need, and advocating for your needs and standing up for yourself,” she explained “And so Gen Z is like, ‘No, we get her. She makes sense to us.’” It’s nice that she makes sense to someone, considering her past.
On the other hand, Moss-Bachrach attributes Marnie’s popularity to her narcissistic tendencies that have become the “baseline” in a social media-obsessed world. “It was massive narcissism. It’s insane self-involvement,” he shared.
But Williams won’t ever give up defending Marnie. “I actually think that it’s a bunch of girls trying to create the best environment for each of them to survive and thrive and being wrong, but like still trying and caring,” she replied. “I think that’s a pursuit that is resonant in a new way, whereas before it just looked like we didn’t know that any other countries existed or that anyone had lives that were less fortunate than ours. But that was sort of the point — it just got missed a little bit.”
As to where Marnie would be today, Williams is sure she didn’t give up on her singing dreams. “I think Marnie’s still trying to have a singing career, in addition to other jobs,” Williams said. Maybe she became a toy maker!!?!?
You can watch the reunion below.
