The Bold Type TV Show – Fictitious, Frivolous and Fashionable: Another Sex and the City?

The Bold Type is an all new American TV series that is inspired by the life of former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, Joanna Coles.

By Aditya Gupta

There are times when a new TV show introduces us to a storyline that everyone is already familiar with. It’s a simple procedure of repacking the old stuff and putting up a new label. The same can be said for The Bold Type. The Bold Type is an all new American TV series that is inspired by the life of former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, Joanna Coles. Well, it’s almost impossible for the audience to not draw similarities between The Bold Type and shows like ‘Sex and the City’ and Lena Dunham’s ‘Girls’. The show feels familiar and even though it carries the word, ‘Bold’ in its title, it is nothing but a watered-down version of the TV shows, we have already have seen. Having said all that, the show might appeal to its audience at a different level.

The Bold Type begins with introducing us to three young women wearing fancy dresses, yelling at a train at a New York subway station. The show then travels three days back in time, where we see them working at one of the most beautiful office spaces ever seen. It is the headquarters of a fashion magazine named Scarlet. Scarlet is inspired by Cosmopolitan, confesses Joanna Coles, who is also the executive producer of the show.

As the show unravels further, we get to know about those three young women at the subway station.  Jane, Kat, and Sutton started as assistants at Scarlet. Kat (played by Aisha Dee) gets promoted within two years, Jane (Katie Stevens) gets promoted to be a writer after 4 year while poor Sutton (Meghann Fahy) is still stuck behind the desk attending phone calls. Besides these three, another very important character in the show is Jacqueline Carlyle (Melora Hardin), the editor-in-chief of Scarlet magazine. Her character is a fresh take on how bosses are portrayed on TV.

The show is a pretty light take on what it takes to be a woman journalist and how a fashion magazine may change their vision as they feel a sense of responsibility towards the reader.

Melora Hardin, who has previously acted in Amazon Original show, Transparent, has taken a very different approach on her role as the editor in Chief. Unlike the stereotypical boss character, that we have seen on TV; cranky, man eating, not-giving-fucks kind’a boss, this one is an angel in power clothes and high heels. She can even put Beyoncé Knowles on hold to mentor her minions. Both Katie Steven and Aisha Dee are well- known actors who have previously worked in Faking It and Chasing Life TV shows respectively. It was due time that they deserved to be the lead on a show of their own.

The show is a modern take on feminism. It is a show by the females and for females. The show, immediately, begins dealing with the potentially uncomfortable things orgasm, sexuality and yoni egg (and how it gets problematic, you must see the show for that) but its purpose remains to simply educate and inform people. Shout out to Old schoolers and conservative friends.. you must watch The Bold Type! There is Kat exploring her ‘interest’ for a Muslim lesbian photographer, and Sutton having a sexual relationship (that is unapologetic and bold) with a board member and in between we have Jane, a small-town girl with big dreams.

The show is in league with Comedy Central’s (India) Younger TV show that talks about sexual liberty, following your dream and being brave about it.  The show follows the idea that there is no one bad in this world and as far-fetched it may sound, the show tries to live by that line. The Bold Type’s music is on-par.  The little grey area of the show is the portrayal of their characters that seem flawless, unrealistic; cut straight-out-of-a-magazine. Having said that, the show does have something more than just fancy drapes, stylish couture and elaborate frames. The Bold Type can be seen on Freeform TV network.

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