Do I even have to say The Bold Type spoilers ahead?
Freeform’s The Bold Type is a fairly newer show, especially compared to some of the other shows and movies I’ve talked about and are planning to talk about. It premiered in 2017 and from the first episode I was hooked. Watching three close friends (Jane, Kat and Sutton) navigate New York City and work for Scarlet Magazine (based on Cosmo) while dealing with personal and professional struggles.
So of course, as I had just started my internship at Hoosier Park and was getting ready to graduate that upcoming December, the show grabbed me faster than most shows had. I wanted to work at Scarlet! I wanted to be friends with Jane, Kat and Sutton! I wanted a boss like Jacqueline! Where’s my Richard? This show is amazing!
My first go-around watching the show, I identified with Jane, but even then, the connection was lukewarm. Jane’s a writer and feels strongly about what she believes in, but she still felt too lost (and sometimes, whiny—so not a knock on Katie Stevens, all the love to you!!) for me as this was the time of my life I was really starting to discover my drive. While my career path was taking me to harness racing rather than Scarlet and my Jacqueline went by the name of Emily, I had my sights set on my own greatness.
I rewatched the first season just before season two came out and realized that not only did I identify Sutton more this time around, but I felt this strong desire to become as much like her as I could while still keeping, you know, me.
Sutton had to pretty much build herself and while I’ve had help from some key people in the way of support and advice, that’s something I had to do with my career. Sutton’s life looked like getting out of her hometown, paying her way through school, creating the job that would get her what she wanted (which was intimidating but wow) and taking different career leaps throughout the show. Mine was getting out of my hometown, taking an internship I knew nothing about, starting a career in an industry I had only recently learned about and learning to be assertive with my career. Each new season has premiered while new things have happened at work, so I feel like Sutton and I have grown together.
With a previous point, Sutton did indeed create a job for herself. When we’re treated to the flashback episode in season 3, she’s working as a temp and we learn that she only starts as Lauren’s assistant because she approaches Lauren, who is one of the more intimidating people in the office, and tells her that she needs an assistant since all of her male counterparts have one and she doesn’t. Sutton works her butt off there and then spends the first season exploring other career options,like the safe ad buyer position and the fashion assistant position that she ends up taking. She isn’t afraid to take career risks to get what she wants.
While her relationship with Richard isn’t one of the reasons I admire her (though I’ve always had a sentimental fondness for Sam Page, even when he played a dirtbag in Mad Men and Gossip Girl) I admire the voice she uses in their relationship. Yes, I’m pretty vocal about how I think Sutton and Richard are relationship goals, especially in season three, but as someone who’s historically had trouble speaking up in relationships, the way Sutton says what she wants in her relationship is something I know I can do more of. Right off the bat, in the first episode, she tells him what I think is one of the most iconic quotes in the series:
“I want to go out on dates. I want to be asked out on dates, and if that’s not what you want, I understand. But I need you to know I want to be that girl you can’t stop thinking about. I deserve to be that girl.”
But she not only sets her own boundaries, she also believes in true love and she isn’t afraid to take risks for love too. When she’s in Paris for Fashion Week, she’s ready to drop everything and fly back to New York to tell Richard that she still loves him, even though being at Fashion Week is all she’s ever wanted. Unbeknownst to her until she’s getting ready to get in the car, Richard was already on his way to Paris to meet her (they are so my favorite TV couple) and they have the cutest moment ever. Sutton believes in love, which I adore.
This has already been my longest admiration blog, but like I said, I sometimes have felt like my growth has run parallel with Sutton’s. The Bold Type is an amazing show with a kick-ass cast that I believe is one of the better-written shows for women that’s come out lately. So whether my admiration of Sutton is shown by me slyly imitating outfits of hers or trying to pick up on Meghann Fahy’s aesthetic through Instagram, Sutton is absolutely the character I’ve felt most connected to in a long time.
From the Vanity Desk 