My daughter and I have been having a hard time finding anything to watch on Netflix. We gutted it out through Kajilionaire, tried Dirty John and endured The Watcher. All of the new shows or relatively new shows left us with a feeling of meh. Why not Girlboss, she asked? Whatever, I said.
To our surprise we enjoyed it and we are at the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the viewing audience. The central characters are fun to watch, great cameos by RuPaul, Norm Macdonald, Dean Norris and Melanie Lynskey. Some of the jokes sting a little bit, but I'm not one of those Boomers who believe Millennials are the end of civilization as we know it.
The opening scene sets the tone with Sophia sitting on a bench next to a woman in her 70s. The twenty-something offers her soliloquy on adulthood as a prison only to get slapped in the face by the older woman, who told her everything she just said was stupid. From that point on Sophia sets out to prove the lady wrong, determined to start her own business and not be under anyone's yoke, least of all that of her father.
You would think as a father I would side with Sophia's dad. I certainly could empathize with his concerns, and it was fun to see lovable Hank (Dean Norris) from Breaking Bad in a new role. We all want safety for our children and when we see our children struggle to keep a job, maintain any kind of a healthy lifestyle and seem to stick their middle finger at everyone around them, we worry. But, this is a true story and we know how it turns out. Sophia not only finds herself, but she establishes a multi-millionaire dollar business under the name Nasty Gal. We just have to be more patient.
What gets me is how Boomers have made up their mind that Millennials are brain dead, even if so many have gone onto become kajilionaires. The age range roughly encompasses anyone born between 1980 and 1994. I have two other children that fall within that range and both are doing quite well. They are joined by such tech heavyweights as Mark Zuckerberg, Alex Ohanian, Steve Huffman and of course Sophia Amoruso, on whose life this comedy is loosely based. Really loosely.
The show is set in the mid aughts in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco where Sophia got her start. The creators go out of their way to show us the city, as Armistead Maupin did in Tales of the City. It has a great soundtrack ranging from classic R&B to contemporary hits. What could go wrong?
Apparently everything according to Rachel Aroesti, who wrote this stinging critique for The Guardian. Hers was one of many nasty reviews that led to the show being cancelled after only one season. I admit it is tough to listen to Sophia at times, but the fact that she lets fly whatever off the top of her head is what makes her feel real, not some Netflix adult version of Nickelodeon teen shows like iCarly, which is the current staple of the network.
It's nice having a show my daughter and I can both watch. Not one that has one of us enduring it for the sake of the other person simply because there is nothing else to watch. I usually draw the short end of the stick. I sat through iCarly when she loved that show, and she somewhat patiently sits through the movies I manage to lure her to watch.
I personally don't see what's wrong with Millennials. Not only are they reshaping our future in a wide variety of ways, they are far more aware of what is going on around them than we ever were. We have retreated into our bubbles for the most part, lamenting about how much better life was in the 60s and 70s. Well, nothing is ever the same again and we should know that. After all, we broke free of the generation before us. Remember how it was to not trust anyone over 40? Now it seems we don't trust anyone under 40.
Had we not moved forward, we wouldn't have computers, much less the massive improvements in the communication industry that allows us to tune into virtually anything at anytime anywhere. The only drawback is that this brave new world all too easily allows us to withdraw into our bubbles when we can't cope with all the changes taking place. Well, I'm not that type. I like things moving forward even if I have my bouts of nostalgia.
Obviously, Girlboss isn't for everyone but if you open your mind a little you just might like it. I enjoyed the many ironies of this show like Sophia making her mark by upcycling vintage clothes. It's not like Millennials don't tune into our past. In fact, it seems that they rummage through our attics, basements and garage sales to see what cool things we left behind. Sophia is decidedly anti-Tech, right down to her vintage Apple iBook from the late 90s. It looks like a play toy, yet she quickly learns the ins and outs of eBay and soon has her own on-line business, flipping vintage clothes at eye-popping prices. Who wouldn't be proud of a girl like this?
Unfortunately, Daddy sees her at her low moments like when Sophia succumbs to an inguinal hernia and he takes her home from the hospital after surgery only to find the mess she lives in. Her gunny sack dresses hadn't been a big success and were strewn all over her apartment. It is precisely these highs and lows that make you feel for Sophia as she tries to navigate this ruthless consumerist world. Sophia had enough wits about her to take a full time job as an art school reception so that she would have health insurance to cover the surgery. Daddy may have been left with the deductible.
It's not like Sophia doesn't get her comeuppance. Her narcissism comes back to bite her multiple times. The price one pays for desecrating vintage clothes (a hilarious episode with Melanie Lysnkey), turning off her boyfriend Shane, dropping her best friend Annie from her Top Eight, only to recap how much these two mean to her. Britt Robertson gives a very captivating performance of what it is like to have growing pains both as a young woman and as a young entrepreneur. Ellie Reed is wonderful as her best friend Annie, bailing Sophia out emotionally.
So, why all the shit? Were reviewers simply not willing to look past the first three episodes they were allowed to screen? It takes a little time for this show to build but believe me by episode four you are hooked. Sophia moves past being a little play doll for the camera man and we begin to see what makes her tick. Give it a try. At 13 episodes you don't have anything to lose.
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