Girlboss Revisited: Did Netflix's Highly Panned Show Really Deserve To Be Canceled?
Starting a business is quite the undertaking, and it's a journey that was at the center of the short-lived Netflix series "Girlboss," which finds Sophia Marlowe (Britt Robertson) unexpectedly stepping into the role of her own CEO as she creates an empire based on flipping vintage clothes online. The show is inspired by the journey of Sophia Amoruso, who chronicled the founding of her fashion company Nasty Gal in her 2014 memoir "#Girlboss." The show started streaming on Netflix in April 2017 before being canceled after its first season in June 2017 (via Variety). But did this show really deserve the cancellation it received?
While the show has an average Tomatometer score of 35% among critics, it seems like it had more appeal among viewers, with the average audience score landing at 74% on Rotten Tomatoes. So it may be a Netflix original that critics were totally wrong about. But for Netflix, the decision seemed to come down to viewership. While talking about a wave of cancellations during the PGA's Produced By conference, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos explained to Deadline: "Relative to what you spent, are people watching it? When I say that, a big expensive show for a huge audience is great. A big, expensive show for a tiny audience is hard even in our model to make that work very long."
Some reviews highlight many of Sophia Marlowe's flaws, but Robertson is defending her character.
Robertson says her character is supposed to be unlikable
The show is centered on a young woman's professional and personal growth as she works to make her passion for fashion a viable source of income. The Hollywood Reporter praised Britt Robertson's performance, but other reviews, such as one from Vanity Fair, point out that Sophia Marlowe may not come off as a likable character. Robertson told Bustle, "I think that's sort of the point of the show, to be honest with you. Because she is [unlikable], it's a part of what the story is."
Right before the show's launch, Nasty Gal was facing some uncertain times during 2016 and 2017. According to Forbes, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2016. It was then sold to retailer Boohoo for $20 million in February 2017, according to The Wall Street Journal Pro Bankruptcy.
When reflecting on the timing of the show, Sophia Amoruso told the HuffPost at Build Series, "It was really funny when the show came out people were like, 'Ooh, can't wait for Season 2 when she goes bankrupt!'" As for what the show could have been, Amoruso said that she doesn't believe that Season 2 would have made a 10-year time jump in order to cover the company's bankruptcy. "At the end of the first season she had just launched her eBay store ... and I think [Season 2] would have been [about] having a small team, and maybe talking to investors for the first time ..." she shared.