You can understand why controversial media tsar Lena Dunham went a little batty as she waited for a flight out of JFK in New York earlier today/last night American time.
We have all been Lena Dunham deliriously tweeting while trapped in an airport: whether because our flight had been delayed four hours like hers, or because we decided to book the cheapest flight to Europe, which included a casual eight-hour stopover in Singapore. Look, it’s a thing that happens.
Real Housewives of JFK airport
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 3, 2017
If you wanna know somebody’s truth, watch them reckon with a flight that’s been delayed 4 hours.
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 3, 2017
My airport behavior, I must concede, has been outwardly polite but extremely self-destructive (food wise)
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 3, 2017
What we have not all done is use our time, celebrity and platform (that we totally have, shut up) to call out transphobic bullshit where we hear it, which is what Dunham did when she overheard two American Airlines employees calling trans kids a “trend“.
Not gonna call out the airline who delayed cuz shit happens BUT I did just overhear 2 @AmericanAir attendants having a transphobic talk.
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 3, 2017
At this moment in history we should be teaching our employees about love and inclusivity @AmericanAir. That was worst part of this night.
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 3, 2017
I sure will!
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 3, 2017
Dunham slid into their Twitter DMs to explain exactly what she overheard, and to ask an important question: “What if a trans teen was walking behind them?”
Well this night just keeps evolving pic.twitter.com/gYfXadYBUH
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 3, 2017
#acrossfromthewinebar pic.twitter.com/53kvyInQyZ
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 3, 2017
It’s a small thing, but something any of us can do when we overhear people saying awful things on the job about an already vulnerable group.
Because she is Lena Dunham, a woman who is both vocal on the internet and also sometimes -gasp- wrong, her tweets were met with the requisite level of unadulterated vitriol. But also some messages of support:
Thank you for taking the time to talk about this & to pass on feedback so directly. Not enough people do, so I just wanted to say thank you.
— GLENNCELLO THE SHELLO WITH SHOES ON (@GlennDeLaCreme) August 3, 2017
https://twitter.com/simoncurtis/status/893004000274006017
— the blonde cuban (@theblondecuban) August 3, 2017
Doing the right thing also helped Dunham fill time, as her phone began to dramatically run out of battery.
Over the course of her airport stint, she even decided to open up her Twitter to questioning as “airportainment“, probably because she’d already tried out every available Chanel lipstick on her hand already.
Over the course of five minutes she mostly answered innocuous questions about her favourite things including vegetables, poems and pop stars, either because it was late in the US, or because she simply chose not to engage with her critics, founded and unfounded. She also said let slip that she’d have another book out next year.
Oh and she took pained selfies:
Time has stopped at airport. Man is viciously gnawing fruits snacks after calling the gate attendant a bitch. Lord of the FLIGHTS get it!? pic.twitter.com/9nXAuiqdsR
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 3, 2017
We can only hope that Dunham has finally made it to her destination.
https://twitter.com/lenadunham/status/892973401933053953
