“Girlboss,” a Netflix Original, is a comedy series loosely based on Sophia Amoruso, the woman behind the Nasty Gal empire. Amoruso’s life and how she began her booming fashion career is an interesting tale that deserves its own screen adaption, but unfortunately, this retelling falls flat.
STARS: 2/5
Amoruso is a twenty-something living in San Francisco who just got fired and is trying to find a way to evade the eviction notice on her door. One day, she stumbles across a metallic vintage jacket and resells it on eBay for $590 more than the original price, making the lightbulb go off inside of her head.
She realizes she can make a business of selling fashionable vintage pieces online for much more than she bought it for and as they say, the rest is history.
Robertson does a good job at attempting to capture the sharp tongue and enviable style of Amoruso, but honestly comes off as slightly awkward and like she’s trying too hard. However, the show does an excellent job of capturing Amoruso’s essence in the clothes the characters wear and the trendy California backdrop where all of the events take place.
Amoruso’s character has one main friend, Annie, who fits her role as sidekick, but is generally uncomfortable to watch in scenes. Everything she says is just badly written dialogue and corny jokes.
Amoruso’s love interest, Shane, is a nice guy but their chemistry isn’t the best to watch progress on screen. One relationship that is interesting to see however is the one between Amoruso and her father, played by Dean Norris. Her father seems to think that she can’t handle living on her own but Amoruso is desperate to prove she can make it in the world.
Personally, the only reason why I continued to watch all 13 episodes was because Amoruso is a completely self-made business and fashion mogul. Her autobiography, which the show is based on, is not only an interesting read, but an inspiring one.
Amoruso went from stealing and taking food out of dumpsters to having millionaire status, all because of her keen eye and technical savviness. Her trials and tribulations of are what the show revolves around and is the series’s most interesting aspect — one of the only things keeping viewers hooked. I found myself binge watching episode after episode just to see her gradual rise to the top.
Fortunately, not every episode is riddled with poor quality dialogue and awkwardly scripted situations; there are some memorable, enjoyable scenes that manage to bring the audience closer to the static characters.
One of my favorite scenes from the series was when Amoruso sang intensely with performers on stage to Betty Davis’s “Nasty Gal,” which then turned out to be the perfect name for her eBay business.
I am not sure if or how “Girlboss” can continue on with another season, but I am happy to see Amoruso’s story come to life, even if it was done in a cheesy and semi-dissatisfying way.