HBO Max’s new streaming comedy The Sex Lives of College Girls really wants us to know how woke and “virtuous” they are. They may have even hit a new record for the most liberal name-dropping by mentioning six different prominent liberals in just the two episodes that premiered on Thursday. To be fair, there was a mention of Melania Trump, but it was in a negative context. Because, of course.
Created by Mindy Kaling, the show is about the lives of four young freshman girls experiencing college for the first time together as they share a dorm at fictional Essex College in New England. Despite the title, the show manages to be less extreme and graphic than other HBO offerings about high schoolers.
Wasting no time, the first liberal name is dropped near the beginning of episode 1, “Welcome to Essex,” as the dorm’s supervisor asks the students to share something they’re afraid of. One student answers, “I'm scared of my stalker. I'm kind of a big deal on TikTok. Malia Obama follows me.” Of course, all the students gasp in surprise and awe.
Over lunch, the four main characters sit together and share why they chose Essex. Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) drops the second and third names as she explains her future plans:
Kimberly: I'm gonna graduate summa, and then I'm gonna go to a tier one law school, and then Max and I are gonna move to DC where we're gonna become a power couple like Kamala [Harris] and [husband] Doug [Emhoff].
Bela (Amrit Kaur) desperately wants a position on the school’s comedy magazine, but she doesn’t get very far with the male editor who complains that they have enough females working on the publication already. He attempts to hide his sexism as he drops the fourth name, claiming he wishes Elizabeth Warren were president.
Leighton (Renee Rapp) is the mean girl in the group. As Max and Kimberly take a walk, Max drops the fifth name, saying, “Well, Leighton is basically Melania, but the rest of them seem pretty nice.”
Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) is somewhat famous in the group because her mother is a high-powered senator. Whitney has been dating her soccer coach Dalton (James Morosini), but suddenly discovers he’s married when she runs into him and his wife Michelle (Kim Matula) while out for a run. Michelle adds to the show’s woke vibe by bashing the NRA:
