I constantly struggle with my love of television and my utter dislike for the perfect world it can sometimes present. Cynically I blame TV when my high expectations are disappointed and say that TV provides bad examples for "the youth" of how to keep healthy friendships and relationships. Basically, I sound like a grumpy 70-year-old who is worried that TV will rot her grandchildren's brains. But, in reality, as annoying as I find the whole industry, I adore watching tv.
So when I come across a show like Freeforms "The Bold Type," I feel like I have to share it with everyone.
"The Bold Type" follows three young women who work together at "Scarlett Magazine", a magazine something like a hybrid of Vogue and Cosmo. On the surface, it seems like another reiteration of the same old "women's" show that inevitable provide examples of dramatic love, easy friendship and oddly carefree lives (until the next eventful finally that is). But "The Bold Type offers something new: It feels like it was actually written to reflect what young woman want to see portrayed. The show is fun, dramatic and cliche in the best ways, while also showing positive, and accurate examples of interpersonal relationships and day to day problems which most people can identify with.
The Bold Type, unlike other shows, allows its characters to be happy for more than one episode at a time.
Instead of constantly escalating hardship and trauma their lives run at a similar pace to anyone else's where major hardship is rare but not unavoidable, and the day to day problems of life are the focus. So far there have been no long lost sisters, no surprise pregnancies, and no near-fatal accidents. Instead, the characters face serious issues with post-Trump immigration laws, inequality in women's and men's healthcare, and simple disagreements over issues like gun rights and white privilege. Even the illicit office romance is handled in a mature thoughtful way that explores the difficulty of having to choose between a growing career and someone they are highly committed to, a very real concern for many people in their early 20s.
My favorite part of watching "The Bold Type" is seeing female friendship portrayed in such an amazing way.
The writing and acting are incredible. The nuance in the way the three women show their character's love for each other is unparalleled. I can see my own friendships reflected in theirs while still being entertained by their own unique dynamic. Female friendship is so often portrayed in a flat or downright negative way on tv. Writers play into the "backstabbing bitch" stereotypes to cause drama and then inexplicably make the characters forgive and forget. Best friends lie to each other, don't talk for days and ignore their friend's needs and it never seems to reduce the quality of their friendships.
"The Bold Type" is different. They show the conversations, self-awareness, and generosity it takes to build and maintain relationships that are actually supportive and positive. When they fight and makeup they actually discuss what went wrong and how they can fix it. They call each other out when they are doing something unhealthy or wrong, but offer supportive advice. They are always, always there for each other but understand when someone needs to focus on their own thing for a moment.
Seeing all this portrayed on a major tv provider, in the form of a crowd-pleasing show about women working at a fashion magazine gives me hope for television. I'm glad that young girls like my sister who's just entering high school, will have access to entertainment that actually provides good examples of what friendship should be like.
