What I Love About "The Bold Type"
Freeform's show "The Bold Type" aired in 2016 and has just wrapped up its third season, which I just finished binge watching. While I wait, rather impatiently, for the fourth season to come out, I thought I should open a conversation on all of the reasons why I love "The Bold Type" so much. As a general warning, this post will contain moderate spoilers. If you are not yet caught up with Season 3, read at your own risk.
In case you did not just heed my warning and have no idea what "The Bold Type" is about, let me fill you in. "The Bold Type" is about the lives of three BFFs navigating their jobs at Scarlet magazine, as well as love, relationships, and whole list of other struggles that many of us face on a daily basis. "The Bold Type" is about the courage of three strong, brave women who know their strength and resilience, and about the power of friendship. Jane, Sutton, and Kat can hold their own and can take care of themselves, and with the support of each other, they can take on anything.
That's ultimately what is so impactful to me about "The Bold Type." It's not just a TV show. It's a platform that can tackle anything. Throughout its three seasons, "The Bold Type" has tackled breast cancer and the BRCA gene, abuse, open relationships, gun control, slut shaming, race and ethnic identification, bisexuality, and so much more. It's getting more and more common nowadays to find shows that tackle race, or even sexuality, but it is still pretty rare to find shows that take on these topics from an inclusive point of view. For example, as Kat came from a mixed race background, when she was promoted to the head of the social media department, she had to do some serious soul searching on whether or not she wanted to include her race as a part of her bio. "First black female department head" sounds a lot more prestigious than just "department head," but she was afraid that it didn't really represent what she stands for. She never tried to make a big deal about race. She didn't want anyone to make a big deal of it for her, so she pretended that it didn't exist herself. She was also afraid of washing out her mother's culture and influence in her life by labeling herself as black. It was a conversation she had to open up with her family, and with herself.
In season one, Kat also began developing feelings for another woman, after having believed for all of her life prior to this that she was straight. This plot twist launched a whole series of discussions around sexuality as she explored her first relationship with a woman. She had to learn so much about herself, and how sexual behavior can change in a same sex relationship, as well as what it might mean to explore other women while maintaining a committed relationship. I expect that she will continue to learn even more about herself and her sexuality in season four, as she just broke off both of the relationships she had been in to spend more time with herself.
Jane was also a conversation starter herself. For the first two seasons, she wrote only for the Scarlet publication, and then in season three she also began writing for the dotcom. While she wrote quizzes and lighter articles on sex positions, her real passion was journalism. One of the conversations she started with this platform was on how healthcare wouldn't cover for her to freeze her eggs. This wasn't a lifestyle choice for her. For her, it was a medical one. She had tested positive for the BRCA gene, which greatly increased her likelihood of getting breast cancer in the future. That on top of her mom passing away from breast cancer was a scary statistic to look at, and if she wanted to even have the chance of having her own children some day, and the ability to raise them herself, she needed to freeze her eggs. However, this procedure is not something that most insurance plans cover, as generally it is not considered medically necessary. Writing an article about it actually encouraged Safford to change their insurance policies to include egg freezing.
On another note, Sutton works as an assistant for the head of the fashion department, and she is damn good at it. Like most people do when you're really good at you're job, you're trusted with more responsibilities. This is exactly what happened to Sutton. However, she is also really beautiful and is a huge flirt. There's nothing wrong with it; it's just her personality. However, a rumor started to spread about her sleeping her way to the top. God forbid that she's actually good at what she does. Naturally, she didn't want to feed these rumors, so she really started to watch the way she acted. She felt like she had to stifle her personallity to fit in. That didn't last long. Ultimately she stood up for herself, and put her colleagues that were spreading these rumors in their place.
All of this is to say that the writers and producers of "The Bold Type" aren't afraid to have difficult conversations, and they aren't afraid of starting them either. Sure, "The Bold Type" is a show. There's drama, and rage, and all of the moments that make you invested in a show. It's funny, relatable, and it sets the perfect atmosphere to have the conversations that we shy away from in real life. It makes you think about your place in the world, and how you can make it a better one. Furthermore, it provides a very necessary example of what a strong, independent woman should look like. The women of "The Bold Type" kick ass, and they make me stand up a little straighter when I'm walking down the street.
Sure, the setting may not be 100% realistic. Critics have pointed out that the setting of a magazine work place is not that perfect. Even those that have worked for a magazine will point out that it's not as glamorous as the show makes it look. However, it's still just a show. If it was 100% realistic, it would be nonfiction. So, to the critics, here's something you need to understand. "The Bold Type" is not about the setting, or even about the magazine. It's about how to be a woman, how to be a best friend, how to be a partner, and, most importantly, how we can all be better people in this modern world.
In case you did not just heed my warning and have no idea what "The Bold Type" is about, let me fill you in. "The Bold Type" is about the lives of three BFFs navigating their jobs at Scarlet magazine, as well as love, relationships, and whole list of other struggles that many of us face on a daily basis. "The Bold Type" is about the courage of three strong, brave women who know their strength and resilience, and about the power of friendship. Jane, Sutton, and Kat can hold their own and can take care of themselves, and with the support of each other, they can take on anything.
That's ultimately what is so impactful to me about "The Bold Type." It's not just a TV show. It's a platform that can tackle anything. Throughout its three seasons, "The Bold Type" has tackled breast cancer and the BRCA gene, abuse, open relationships, gun control, slut shaming, race and ethnic identification, bisexuality, and so much more. It's getting more and more common nowadays to find shows that tackle race, or even sexuality, but it is still pretty rare to find shows that take on these topics from an inclusive point of view. For example, as Kat came from a mixed race background, when she was promoted to the head of the social media department, she had to do some serious soul searching on whether or not she wanted to include her race as a part of her bio. "First black female department head" sounds a lot more prestigious than just "department head," but she was afraid that it didn't really represent what she stands for. She never tried to make a big deal about race. She didn't want anyone to make a big deal of it for her, so she pretended that it didn't exist herself. She was also afraid of washing out her mother's culture and influence in her life by labeling herself as black. It was a conversation she had to open up with her family, and with herself.
In season one, Kat also began developing feelings for another woman, after having believed for all of her life prior to this that she was straight. This plot twist launched a whole series of discussions around sexuality as she explored her first relationship with a woman. She had to learn so much about herself, and how sexual behavior can change in a same sex relationship, as well as what it might mean to explore other women while maintaining a committed relationship. I expect that she will continue to learn even more about herself and her sexuality in season four, as she just broke off both of the relationships she had been in to spend more time with herself.
Jane was also a conversation starter herself. For the first two seasons, she wrote only for the Scarlet publication, and then in season three she also began writing for the dotcom. While she wrote quizzes and lighter articles on sex positions, her real passion was journalism. One of the conversations she started with this platform was on how healthcare wouldn't cover for her to freeze her eggs. This wasn't a lifestyle choice for her. For her, it was a medical one. She had tested positive for the BRCA gene, which greatly increased her likelihood of getting breast cancer in the future. That on top of her mom passing away from breast cancer was a scary statistic to look at, and if she wanted to even have the chance of having her own children some day, and the ability to raise them herself, she needed to freeze her eggs. However, this procedure is not something that most insurance plans cover, as generally it is not considered medically necessary. Writing an article about it actually encouraged Safford to change their insurance policies to include egg freezing.
On another note, Sutton works as an assistant for the head of the fashion department, and she is damn good at it. Like most people do when you're really good at you're job, you're trusted with more responsibilities. This is exactly what happened to Sutton. However, she is also really beautiful and is a huge flirt. There's nothing wrong with it; it's just her personality. However, a rumor started to spread about her sleeping her way to the top. God forbid that she's actually good at what she does. Naturally, she didn't want to feed these rumors, so she really started to watch the way she acted. She felt like she had to stifle her personallity to fit in. That didn't last long. Ultimately she stood up for herself, and put her colleagues that were spreading these rumors in their place.
All of this is to say that the writers and producers of "The Bold Type" aren't afraid to have difficult conversations, and they aren't afraid of starting them either. Sure, "The Bold Type" is a show. There's drama, and rage, and all of the moments that make you invested in a show. It's funny, relatable, and it sets the perfect atmosphere to have the conversations that we shy away from in real life. It makes you think about your place in the world, and how you can make it a better one. Furthermore, it provides a very necessary example of what a strong, independent woman should look like. The women of "The Bold Type" kick ass, and they make me stand up a little straighter when I'm walking down the street.
Sure, the setting may not be 100% realistic. Critics have pointed out that the setting of a magazine work place is not that perfect. Even those that have worked for a magazine will point out that it's not as glamorous as the show makes it look. However, it's still just a show. If it was 100% realistic, it would be nonfiction. So, to the critics, here's something you need to understand. "The Bold Type" is not about the setting, or even about the magazine. It's about how to be a woman, how to be a best friend, how to be a partner, and, most importantly, how we can all be better people in this modern world.
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