Girlboss - General Discussion

[Lisin]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from Girlboss.

[Noirprncess]

She just seems to be an overall jerk.  I'm not getting the feminist stuff.

[zxy556575]

Damn that was a lot of musical montages -- like two per episode. It's enough, already.

I'm not the target demographic but it kept my interest enough to watch the whole thing. A lot of reviewers seem to dislike Sophia but neurotic or not, she didn't really bother me. I'd never heard about the real life company and didn't have any preconceptions going in. The fictional cute boyfriend who immediately falls in love and happily overlooks his girlfriend's many flaws did make me roll my eyes a bit.

The illustrated group chat sessions were my favorite scenes -- sound of doors closing, caps shouting, private messages, sig files, thread lock, being off topic, etc.

I didn't even realize until maybe episode 3 that this wasn't present day. I just thought Sophie could only afford an ancient clamshell iBook!

Edited April 24, 2017 by Lord Donia

[MerBearStare]

I thought I was going to HATE this show based on the trailer (and the fact that I don't much care for the real Sofia Amoruso), but I ended up loving it. The first few episodes are kind of shallow and superficial (but still entertaining) but after that the show really had a lot of heart. I loved Sofia and Annie's friendship and thought their relationship was particularly well-written. And I thought the addition of Norm McDonald's character and the art student and his mom humanized Sofia more. 

I didn't mind all the music, but I'm a total sucker for a musical montage. 

The show also inspired me to better organize my clothes and accessories, so thanks for that Girlboss. 

Edited April 25, 2017 by MerBearStare

[Cigale]

8 hours ago, Noirprncess said:

She just seems to be an overall jerk.  I'm not getting the feminist stuff.

I totally agree.  She's rude and selfish.  Barf!  Don't wanna know her.  

[hatchetgirl]

She is so unlikeable! What a complete jerk. Who steals a carpet, takes someone's lunch, unapologetic?

The only thing I liked was Rupaul's appearance.

[hatchetgirl]

Is Rupaul in any other episodes? I can't watch anymore. What a horrible person.

[AllyB]

Both Sophia the character and the person seem like people I wouldn't want to be friends with or root for but Britt Robertson managed to make the character charismatic enough to keep me watching and quite enjoy it. Though until the penultimate episode I could have been president of the Free Shane club, because I just couldn't understand what would make him want to put up with her drama and selfishness. Best thing I'll take from the series was the introduction to A Giant Dog, I've been singing I'll Come Crashing all morning.

[zxy556575]

@hatchetgirl, RuPaul is in six episodes as Stereotypical Snarky Gay Neighbor.

The character never seemed like a Sophia to me. That threw me off for some reason. As did the name Nasty Gal; ugh. Why would that draw me into a clothing store!?

I did like Annie a lot.

I'd be up for Free Shane even though he took care of that himself. It says something that I didn't feel sad for Sophia when he cheated on her.

[Maya]

She is horrible and seems dirty all the time. 

I liked Rupaul and the guy in the thrift store, can't remember that actor's name. 

[BetterButter]

4 hours ago, Maya said:

can't remember that actor's name. 

Jim Rash

[hatchetgirl]

I have finished this series because the writing, I feel is strong with some great character actors. Unfortunately, the main character, Sophia is not likable in any way and I can't imagine anyone wanting to be friends with her. Shame the writing and acting is strong. 

[Anela]

I've just finished episode 12, and I felt bad for her. He knew who she was, and what she was like. He cheated, because she was too exhausted to have sex, because she's building her business? That sucks. 

[SeanC]

The scene where they're watching The O.C. was my favourite moment of the series to date.

[rlc]

That actress is completely unlikable in every role I've ever seen her in.

[nameless slob]

On 26/04/2017 at 0:20 AM, Anela said:

I've just finished episode 12, and I felt bad for her. He knew who she was, and what she was like. He cheated, because she was too exhausted to have sex, because she's building her business? That sucks. 

I kinda pretty much expected he would cheat on her eventually, since in episode 3 he told a story of how his last relationship ended because of him wandering around.

[hkit]

On 4/24/2017 at 3:49 PM, Noirprncess said:

She just seems to be an overall jerk.  I'm not getting the feminist stuff.

I found her entertaining as an anti-hero type. I wouldn't want to be friends with her IRL, but I was amused during a binge watch session on a business trip. But yeah, lets cool it on the feminist label. Just because a female does something new/risky/innovative, that doesn't mean it is feminism. And there is nothing wrong with her doing things for her own selfish purposes. I only know a bit about the true story, but there is nothing I've heard that would meet the loosest of criteria for feminism. 

[hkit]

This was my favorite episode of the series. Very clever way to handle an online forum conversation. Melanie Lynskey is always a treat. 

[Shaynaa]

So I am not the only one who finds Sophia horrid and not at all amusing? Good to know.  This show is just realllly bad.  What was the purpose of stealing the carpet?  She hadn't had her epiphany yet.  Just because it was there?

[Shaynaa]

I hated the first episode but decided to give the second one a shot.  Ugh, she actually got worse.  She's a damn klepto and just so nasty to everyone she runs into.  She also could have outrun loss prevention dude.  I give up on this show.

[heatherchandler]

On 4/25/2017 at 0:31 AM, hatchetgirl said:

She is so unlikeable! What a complete jerk. Who steals a carpet, takes someone's lunch, unapologetic?

The only thing I liked was Rupaul's appearance.

She is not just unlikeable (Tony Soprano was unlikeable, yet I still very much enjoyed watching a show about him), she is not interesting at all.  I am not sure why I am even still watching the show; maybe I am hoping something will happen?  

The actress is terrible, and her dancing around is annoying.  She makes these faces, like she is trying to be adorable... I am not finding her adorable.  The writing is beyond awful, which is surprising since I thought Kay Cannon wrote it (loved 30 Rock).  

I love Ru.

 

On 4/25/2017 at 7:11 AM, Maya said:

She is horrible and seems dirty all the time. 

I liked Rupaul and the guy in the thrift store, can't remember that actor's name. 

YES - I was thinking the same thing!!  She seemed very dirty, and it took me out of the story.  After her night out and makeout/sleepover at the guy's place, she wears that same outfit to work the next day?  

[gik910]

"I got insurance"

"Oh- good now you can get your teeth fixed"  

My friend and I are binging this show right now and he was saying how he missed the neighbor - in comes RuPaul with that line. Spit his drink back into the glass.

Sophia is still the worst - but I adore the secondary characters.

[FozzyBear]

What was up with her ID at dinner with her dad? Is she not 23 like she told the old lady? Did she just lose it and is that supposed to show what a mess she is? Never mind, I don't care. She's not an interesting asshole, just a young one.

[heatherchandler]

I have a feeling the actress playing Annie would have made a much better Sophia.  She resembles the "real" Sophia way more than Britt Robertson.  

Edited May 11, 2017 by heatherchandler

[millennium]

Can't stand that annoying, entitled bitch.  

[wayne67]

On 4/25/2017 at 5:49 AM, Noirprncess said:

She just seems to be an overall jerk.  I'm not getting the feminist stuff.

In my experience, feminists are rude, annoying and with an unearned sense of entitlement so seems quite accurate to me. 

I disliked the character about a minute into the first episode. Instead of getting help from a couple of people from the tram to help get it off the street she flips off the conductor as if he's in the wrong. 

Ugh I'm out.. 

[bilgistic]

I liked it. The talk of her being "dirty" and "unlikable" seems like an excuse to me. I mean, so what? There are eleventy-billion shows with men being "dirty and unlikeable" all over the place, and they have inexplicable wealth and women hanging off of them. The shows win awards and/or are magically on the air for years (The Sopranos, The Affair, Californication, Game of Thrones, Goliath, Two and a Half Men, any Tim Allen show...to name a drop in the ocean). It's unfair and reductive that just because Sophia is female, she must act and look a "pleasing" way.

We need more shows from female producers telling women's stories. I'm glad this one was made.

Edited May 14, 2017 by bilgistic

[wayne67]

3 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I liked it. The talk of her being "dirty" and "unlikable" seems like an excuse to me. 

An excuse for disliking a character ? We don't need an excuse. Lots of people have lots of different reasons for disliking or liking lots of characters. 

Someone can be a terrible person and amusing. Like the "B*tch in Apartment 23" she was mostly a terrible person but an interesting character with depth. Or Arya is serial killer with a hit list but she is somehow beloved by fandom. It's all a matter of personal preference and perspective.

She just seemed annoying and boring and I didn't care what her deal was. 

What we need is interesting stories told by interesting people. Not more gender quotas. 

[Lady Calypso]

Hey everyone! 

Just a note that this show does deal with a few social issues. It's ok to discuss them, but just a reminder to do so in a healthy manner. Everyone has different opinions, so just remember to be civil with each other.

Thanks!

@Lady Calypso

[bilgistic]

I'm happy to discuss the show with anyone who watched it all the way through.

[FozzyBear]

So it's not that Sophia is unlikable that left me less then impressed, it's that the show does so much more telling then showing. I feel like I'm told that she's this diamond in the rough marketing genius, but very little time is spent showing us that. Take the launch for instance. What do we see her do? Pick out one jumpsuit, kind of? It seemed like Annie did the majority of the staging and they hired a website designer and I guess Sophia picks out the clothes but we don't really see that. We don't really see her do much at all. It's hard for me to buy into her as an anti-hero when I still don't really understand what special thing it is she's doing.

[yourmomiseasy]

I think were also supposed to think that people were treating her a certain way because she's young and a female, like with the lease situation.  But I think the way she presented herself didn't help.  She came in yelling and pulled a wad of cash out of her shoe.  

[FozzyBear]

8 minutes ago, yourmomiseasy said:

I think were also supposed to think that people were treating her a certain way because she's young and a female, like with the lease situation.  But I think the way she presented herself didn't help.  She came in yelling and pulled a wad of cash out of her shoe.  

Right. She came across like a college drop out turned drug dealer. AND SHE STILL DIDN'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM! Annie found the warehouse and pointed out the potential. So far most of her great ideas have been a combination of luck and a pretty fucking fantastic support system, all things considered. That could be an interesting story to tell, but I'm not sure that's what the show is going for. I'm sure the real Sophia is a very interesting person, but I feel like Girlboss lacks a significant point of view.

[yourmomiseasy]

Well, she's the one that threw the immature tantrum and kicked the door in :)

 

ETA:   Maybe Annie is actually the titular Girlboss.

Edited May 15, 2017 by yourmomiseasy

[Maya]

On 5/13/2017 at 11:56 PM, bilgistic said:

I liked it. The talk of her being "dirty" and "unlikable" seems like an excuse to me. I mean, so what? There are eleventy-billion shows with men being "dirty and unlikeable" all over the place, and they have inexplicable wealth and women hanging off of them. 

I would dislike a dirty, rude and unlikeable male character as well. 

Edited May 17, 2017 by Maya

[hkit]

On 5/17/2017 at 8:42 AM, Maya said:

I would dislike a dirty, rude and unlikeable male character as well. 

The male anti-hero has been a long established TV trope. Was there anything remotely likable about Tony Soprano? Don Draper? Walter White? 

My problem is I don't think we were meant to view her as an anti-hero. We're supposed to see her as an inspiration and a feminist for the new generation. You can slap the feminist label on any random thing a woman does just because she's female.

[bilgistic]

21 minutes ago, hkit said:

The male anti-hero has been a long established TV trope. Was there anything remotely likable about Tony Soprano? Don Draper? Walter White? 

My problem is I don't think we were meant to view her as an anti-hero. We're supposed to see her as an inspiration and a feminist for the new generation. You can slap the feminist label on any random thing a woman does just because she's female.

My point is that those shows with male anti-heros are showered with awards versus the utter disdain and disgust for the main character in this show. That's evidence of systemic and cultural misogyny in America. Putting it extremely simply, we're conditioned to think that it's OK for men to be gross, but women can't be.

Going against that is a feminist message--that women can do whatever a man traditionally does, whether it's being unwashed or starting a business or having no-strings-attached sex. True feminism is about equality, not putting anyone down.

[rho]

I would put Weeds' Nancy Botwin in the grimy, selfish anti-hero group. She had fatal flaws and made horrible mistakes but she kept the story moving and always made sacrifices to protect her family. Sophia is not that person, not even close. I don't know what the writers were going for with her and I'm not sure they even know. 

For me, she was her own antagonist which is an almost impossible character to pull off, much less carry the show. She comes off as a "no" person, building unnecessary roadblocks in her path simply because she doesn't want to conform. Every obstacle thrown at her is the direct result of her own stupidity and lack of responsibility. It wasn't unfair that she got evicted, or fired, or kicked off ebay, or her dad won't cosign, or her url was taken, or whatever. In the end, it's not about her triumphing over adversity. If anything, this is Annie's success story, catapulting Nasty Gal out of obscurity despite Sophia sabotaging every good thing in her life.

Except for Shane. That was a dick move.

[wayne67]

20 hours ago, bilgistic said:

My point is that those shows with male anti-heros are showered with awards versus the utter disdain and disgust for the main character in this show. That's evidence of systemic and cultural misogyny in America. Putting it extremely simply, we're conditioned to think that it's OK for men to be gross, but women can't be.

Going against that is a feminist message--that women can do whatever a man traditionally does, whether it's being unwashed or starting a business or having no-strings-attached sex. True feminism is about equality, not putting anyone down.

I'm guessing you haven't watched Alias, Weeds, Scandal, Dark Angel, House of Cards, Unreal, Homeland, The Americans, who all have questionably moral women as either main characters or the main character. 

Sophia isn't the only problem of this show. The secondary characters weren't particularly interesting either. The only interesting person I saw was the old woman mocking her for her navel gazing diatribe to a complete stranger. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ellie Reed discusses Girlboss on Build:

[twoods]

I tried watching the first episode but I couldn't last through it. I disliked the lead so much. She wasn't quirky or cute- she was rude and selfish. I thought her saying she was an asshole would change that, but then she stole a carpet and dragged it to her dad's dinner. I am all for strong female characters, but this one didn't work at all. I would rather binge on badass Nikita or the Gilmore Girls (quirky characters and selfish at times, but the acting and secondary characters made it work).

[Lady Calypso]

Girlboss cancelled; no season 2.

[RedMal]

I began to watch the show for Britt. I never heard Nastygal/Sophia and the trailer didn't convince me. But I've been a huge fan of Britt for years.

And I loved, loved, loved this. Writing and acting is amazing. With a worse actress, Sophia could've come across just annoying and shallow, but I think Britt brought some depth to her, especially in the latter episodes.

I watched the first two episodes a while back and binged the rest yesterday. Maybe after I think about it more, I could find some negative points, but right now I don't have a bad word to say. The episodes were entertaining and fast paced, there wasn't single dull moment that I can think of.

Click here for TimesAndTreasures

[RedMal]

Well fuck. Sure, the show did get a somewhat of an ending, but I would've gladly watched more.

[Bellalisa]

I had the same business on ebay for 8 years from 2000-2008 but not vintage clothes, men's suits.  I am only on episode 2, but this is HARD work. I mean she says I'll sit around on my bed all day and it will be really easy. Maybe the show deals with how hard it is but she is an idiot. Stealing EBay for Dummies? HA! that book was outdated the second it was published. Ebay changes rules, fee structures and how it works weekly. She'd be better off reading all the ebay fee schedules, shipping choices, photo choices,  the 100 seller form decision ON ebay instead of an outdated book, because that is the only place to get the updated info.  ALL books on eBay are outdated because ebay constantly changes how it works. 

As the second episode deals with, finding inventory is really really hard. You do get lucky but it takes a lot of looking in smelly thrift stores full of junk. Ironic moment: She says to the owner of the store where she lucked into that jacket: I'm going to be reselling vintage clothing online, and  I have common sense! If you did have common sense, you would not have told him about your business and kept shopping there in case he mispriced something else.

The other thing is that jacket--  you have to measure the arms, the sleeves, the length, the chest, the waist, it takes time to measure with clothing. You also need more than one photo! You need the back, a close up. You need 6 photos and all the measurements if you are doing unique items. Then the people buy it and they complain if your measurements are off. One guy said he always wore 38 pants and my pants didn't fit so it was my fault. I never looked at what the label said but measured the actual waist.  He just gained weight and blamed me, lol.

And to make a profit, you need to subtract the HUGE ebay fee and the HUGE paypal fee.  Also you need to figure in that on ebay the buyer wants a bargain. They have to add $10 to their bid for shipping so it may not be worth it for them. If you buy something for $20 and it is worth $60 the ebayer wants it for $40 they have to pay $10 shipping. And the shipping prices keep going up and that also cuts into your profits because the buyers will bid less when they need to figure in their shipping cost.  Then you have to pay ebay/paypal fees so there isn't a whole lot left.

Then you have to deal with the annoying buyers you can't list an item "in perfect condition". If this jacket has a tiny spot on it or a thread loose, the buyer could want to return it or make a huge stink out of it and if it is the sellers fault you have to pay for them to ship it back and lose more money. I finally quit doing it because with ebay fees going up and up and USPS fees going up up up I was making squat. I did luck out on some things I bought for $7 and sold for $200 but this was not an every day occurrence. 

I'm interested to see how this pans out if they show what it is really like. She seems like an unpleasant stupid person looking for an easy way out. I once had a woman in a thrift store giving me hell for reselling the smelly suits. I bought their stuff- it was a charity store so I was helping them! The stuff that isn't sold gets thrown away so I was helping the environment. I was helping my clients find suits at a cheaper price that a store. I was paying taxes on my profits to the US government. I was working an honest business and sometimes store owners were acting like I was getting away with something. If it were so easy lady, you do it!

[andipandi]

I finished season 1 and was hoping for more. fast-paced witty dialog, early web design... and the chat room was inspired.

Quote

Click here for TimesAndTreasures

Sorry I'm late, my parrot was eating the curtains!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Britt Robertson discusses her new show For the People