Girlboss

Netflix (2017) show "Girlboss" is inspired by the best-selling book #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso, founder of the fashion brand Nasty Gal. It has built a realistic mid-twenties character who still struggling with morality, sense of purpose, keeping up with technology and balancing a bank account. So, there are a lot of funny moments. Soundtrack is rock solid. The script is consistent. For a comedy, the cinematography was impressive. Cast wise, Britt Robertson as 23-year-old Sophie is amazing. While her character has many flaws - given her tendency to often be selfish, brash, inconsiderate and mindless of other people's feelings - Robertson is never insufferable and we are still able to support her even when she acts in a less than positive way. Obviously, Robertson has fun in the role. Despite some flaws, this comedy makes for a brisk binge. At the end, your enjoyment of "Girlboss" will come down to your ability to tolerate its protagonist's demeanor, but Sophie is on a learning curve because no one in her life had ever had faith in her. And that is why I really liked the show.

Rating: 7+/8-

I all fairness, this could have been a very good inspirational show. But it fails due to its connection to reality...

The big problem is that main character Sophia is a deeply troubled, "nasty" (this doesn't come from nowhere), and foremost very narcissistic character, which in my eyes makes her extremely unlikeable. This alone would not make the series bad, but it is the fact that obviously there isn't much psychological insight. (If you want to know how to do this: "My crazy ex-girlfriend" manages far better to present a questionable character then deconstructing her by means of real psychology, or a little more earnest Judd Apatow's "Love".). Instead, we get to see behavior that if it really inspired young girls would lead to hell on earth. If this girl were a young man, the whole series would be branded "glorifying a sociopathic entrepreneur".

Apart from that, I really liked everything else, the pacing, the music, the cinematography, so that's where some stars are earned. If you can abstract from the horrible personality of Sophia, you might enjoy it as one would enjoy watching "Scarface".

And as a side note: Reality caught up to the real "Sophia" - she went bankrupt due to her own hybris. So please don't try this at home.

Adulthood is where dreams go to die, bankruptcy is where companies go to die. It's unfortunate that whilst this series fanatically praises Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amuroso (here, she is called Sophia Marlowe)as a business success, in life Amuroso has stepped down as CEO and the company is bankrupt.

Sass alone does not make success but fictional Sophia seems to get by simply on being a sassy millenial. She starts the series as a twenty-three year old shoplifting drifter, who is stuck in teenager mood (where she basically remains throughout the whole series)and ends up a girlboss (the kind of patronising term you might use on marketing a Barbie doll).

Though the first three or four episodes are unbearably smug, Britt Robertson does a good job as little-girl-lost Sophia, seller of vintage fashion. Ellie Reed is fine enough as Sophia's hanger-on/best buddy Annie.

It's not so much the acting that's the problem as the whole concept being flawed. It's free publicity for the Nasty Gal business and no amount of dramatic license will disguise the fact that this is a six and a half hour commercial.

The reality is sanitised in the show. For starters, there is whitewashing (Sophia Amuroso is of Greek, Italian and Portuguese descent). Secondly, in this version Sophia is still in contact with her dad, with a relationship no more strained than any young daughter. When we know that he can bail her out financially, her decision to shoplift is bratty rebellion rather than financial problems.

The material was pretty thin anyway so unsurprisingly it did not get a second season.

It improved some as episodes went on,but still overly entitled to her way of life.

Casting was ok,as was cinematography too.

Nothing special or unique,just something to watch.. That's about it!

I almost gave up on this after the first 2-3 episodes. It didn't seem to have any direction or purpose but I figured since they are only 30 minutes each I would play em in the background while I do other things just to see how she does. They've turned out to be entertaining and funny. If you stick around I think you'll like it.