Girlboss is a Netflix comedy series created by Kay Cannon and starring Britt Robertson. It is loosely based on the best-selling memoir #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso. Set in San Francisco in 2006, the show follows aimless rebel Sophia Marlowe (a fictionalized version of Amoruso), who finds purpose when she discovers her talent for selling vintage clothes online.
The series was released on April 21st 2017 and was cancelled after one season.
No relation to the trope Girlboss Feminist, though the book and the series popularized the term.
Girlboss contains examples of the following tropes:
- 20 Minutes into the Past: The show aired in 2017 and is set in 2006, the year the Nasty Gal fashion company was founded (the series is a heavily fictionalized retelling of how this happened).
- Beta Couple: Dax and Annie, who are offhandedly established in the first episode and have considerably less drama than Sophia and Shane.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Sophia's very resourceful and talented, but she has serious issues with commitment, which is explored in the pilot episode.
- Deadpan Snarker: Sophia, though she's also a Large Ham. Charles, Sophia's neighbor, is also pretty snarky.
- The Fashionista: Sophia, obviously.
- Genki Girl: Annie, Sophia's best friend and partner in crime. She has an infectious positive energy and is constantly cheering Sophia on.
- Go-Getter Girl: Once Sophia finds her passion, she's single-minded in her pursuit.
- Goth: Sophia in flashbacks.
- Informed Flaw: Sophia's father Jay is painted as an unloving, controlling jerk, but most of the advice he offers her is concerned and reasonable, and he does his best to be supportive both emotionally and financially.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Perhaps due to her disdain for social norms, Sophia often ends up ranting about her sex life or other problems to people a lot older than her. Most notably, her neighbor Charles, and also Rosie. Though Rosie's a bit less patient with her.
- It's All About Me: Sophia, though it is deconstructed when this attitude damages her relationships with both Annie and Shane.
- Missing Mom: Sophia's mom. She left the family long ago to pursue a career in theater, and has an It's All About Me complex.
- Sad Clown: Sophia's theatrics are implied to be a mask for her loneliness and lack of purpose.
- Short-Runner: One season consisting of thirteen episodes was released before the show was cancelled.
- Turn of the Millennium: The show takes place in 2006, which is especially evident by some of the fashion choices (although Sophia herself is a bit of a hipster who favors vintage clothing), the technology (Sophia's chunky laptop is very early 2000s and she uses a digital camera rather than a cellphone to take pictures) and the fact Sophia uses MySpace to promote her business.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Sophia fears bridges, which is ironic considering that she lives in San Francisco. She's confronted with her fear when she has to deliver a dress in-person to an angry client who lives north of the city.
