“Pressure,” an Early Short Film by Lena Dunham

A lot has been written, both here and other places, about writer and Girls‘ creator Lena Dunham and her unique brand of self-deprecating, semi-autobiographical narratives about women, friendship, and sex. But despite her polarizing nature, her tendency to tell stories that are realistic and slice-of-life is what keeps her interesting–and she’s been doing it since she was 19.

Pressure is a short four-minute film recorded at Oberlin College. Shot in a library with a very shaky camera, the film obviously lacks a certain professional touch. However, the story is typical Dunham. In the film, a girl and her two friends talk about experiencing orgasm for the first time, which prompts Dunham’s character to feel curious and, thus, “pressured” to experience her own orgasm as well (or at least something similar to it). Not the greatest story in the world, but hey, all writers start somewhere.