'Girlboss': Yet another show about an entitled millennial, blerg
Here's a confession: I love watching awful people on TV.
FX's You're the Worst, for example, is one of my favorites. I like Jimmy's snarkiness, Gretchen's instability, their overall messed up relationship, their Sunday Funday squad, etc. I even tolerated Netflix's Love (Season 1, at least), despite my actual hatred for the lead characters Gus and Mickey.
So Girlboss, loosely based on the best-selling book by Nasty Gal herself Sophia Amoruso, seemed up my alley. A Millennial who made a fortune despite not wanting to really do any work? Sign me up!
But 10 minutes into the first episode, I realized I was very wrong.
Sophia (played by Tomorrowland star Britt Robertson) is the epitome of everything people hate about millennials.
She's rude (even when she's at fault), she's lazy (she doesn't want the responsibility that comes with a real job and is constantly messing up at her job that pays her) and she's reckless (always!).
And as a millennial, watching her be so unabashedly millennial makes me cringe.
It's not that Robertson is a bad actress. It's actually probably because she's a great actress that I hate the show so much.
I don't want to root for Sophia ever: Not during Episode 1, not during Episode 13, not when I'm browsing through articles about Amoruso's rise or Nasty Gal's downfall.
The first time we see Sophia, she is having car troubles and inconveniently stuck on a San Francisco hill. She gets annoyed at the trolly behind her for telling her to move her car out of the way. Because of course it's the trolly's fault she's stuck on a hill. She eventually gets out of her car and pushes it up.
Later, we see Sophia sitting on a bench chatting with an old lady -- a recurring character -- about all her problems. Cue the older woman saying "your generation is so fucked up."
Well, yes -- that is pretty accurate. But I hate that Sophia is the one representing us.
The pilot doesn't get much better. She hooks up with a drummer (eventually her bf), is late to work, gets fired (she browses eBay her entire shift and eats her boss' sandwich) and then rips off a vintage shop owner by getting a jacket for $9 instead of $12.
There's a long montage -- with rock music playing in the background -- of Sophia walking through the streets of SF with the new jacket on. She steals a carpet, hunts through a dumpster for a bagel and goes to the park to lie on the carpet and eat the bagel. All in her nice, very hip vintage jacket.
The pilot ends with Sophia deciding that she can probably sell her jacket on eBay if she poses in it with the rug as her backdrop. It starts going for hundreds -- and she has an epiphany. This can be her job.
There you have it: The beginning of Nasty Gal in pilot form. It's anti-climactic and actually quite infuriating to watch. You don't want to root for her to sell the jacket because she just spent all day doing nothing worthy of being praised. She thrives on not having to work hard to get the rewards that most people do work hard for.
I spent the whole episode wondering if I'm supposed to like this show because I'm a millennial female, while also fearing that non-millennials who watch it will think that all millennials act this entitled all the time.
(Spoiler alert: We don't.)
It's only in the final episode that we see Sophia be somewhat of a tolerable human being. She thanks the people who supported her at Nasty Gal's launch party and confronts her boyfriend in an emotional conversation.
It should be noted that IRL, Amoruso -- now 32, aka the tail end of the millennial generation -- is not the most liked person. She did in fact start Nasty Gal after selling vintage clothes on eBay, developed a following with the #GirlBoss brand, and her book encouraging others to be a #GirlBoss was an instant hit. She's reportedly worth millions.
But the real Nasty Gal and the show both have their problems. Nasty Gal filed for bankruptcy in November, and many blamed Amoruso's poor management skills. The company went through two rounds of layoffs in a two-year period, and former employees sued the company alleging the site fired women when they became pregnant.
I do give Netflix credit for telling more stories about women; Charlize Theron serves as an executive producer and Pitch Perfect's Kay Cannon serves as the showrunner. Also, the soundtrack is pretty good. Remember Le Tigre?
It's just that the central character is aggressively unlikable -- even when she's attempting to be relatable.
If you get something out of watching yet another entitled millennial faking it 'til they're making it -- or if you love the #girlboss brand -- enjoy. Otherwise, shop elsewhere.
Girlboss premieres on Netflix on April 21.
Topics Netflix
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
