100,000 reasons why The Bold Type finale was beautiful, and why you should think so too.
So I’m a couple hours late but, I just finished watching The Bold Type season finale. To say that it was great is an understatement. It was undoubtedly exceptional in every sense of the world. Everything flowed wonderfully, from the subplots to the main. It was amazing to see these characters I’ve really come to love and appreciate as real women and role models, grow as people. My initial thought on Jane’s story this episode was that after deciding on the job at Incite she would recoil and eventually decide to stay at Scarlet. I’m so glad they proved me wrong. Scarlet is what Jane knows and had been her complete and ultimate life goal up until this point, it’s somewhere where she feels safe. She’s surrounded by her friends and supportive co-workers and not to mention an A+ boss as well as finally being in the workspace she desperately wanted. Everything she’s craved is at her fingertips, and she let it go. Seeing that was incredibly liberating, there’s so much pressure especially now to stay where we feel safe, to not branch out in fear of faliure. Seeing Jane being confident in her choice and knowing that she truly had to do this for herself was so important. Not only that but the fact that Kat and Sutton were so supportive and didn’t for one second hold Jane back is amazing. In so many shows we see the girl going back after making a “wild decision” trope and quiet frankly I’m over it. Let us see more girls fighting for what they want, taking risk and accepting the consequences. Not only is that powerful it is what is right. Taking risk shouldn’t even be a phrase in this day and age really. The fact that you’re making a decision shouldn’t be defined into such an elaborate term it should be normal because what your doing isn’t supposed to be thought of ending in a mistake, it should be taken as a positive thing.
Now let’s address the elephant in the room although in reality, it was anything but that. Sexual assault is often seen as a taboo topic in today’s media, it’s something that people don’t want to address. To see that tonight in this show was incredibly powerful Mia’s story is the story of so many others. To have something taken from you that is so precious, to take what is meant to be an act of love and turn it into something so vile, disgusting and inhumane is beyond me. There is no excuse for rape and no person should be allowed to walk free from it, they deserve to pay for what they did. They deserve to be locked up in a cell for doing just that to their victims mentally. For making these women and men feel as if they are prisoners in their own body, screaming for help to no avail. Although I have not personally experienced anything close to sexual assault in my life I do have some advice. I encourage you if you know it to say their name, say it until it’s a blur in your mind, scream it. Let them know that they cannot weaken you, that they do not get to own you in such a way. That you will fight back as hard as you can always. But allow someone every once in a while to hold the weights too.
Jacqueline Carlye is the reason why for the first time in my 17 years of life, I burst into tears while watching a television show.
On the outside Jacqueline seems to be this powerhouse of a woman, strong, graceful, and poised. Which is why it is so unfathomable to me that underneath it all there is a part of her that was taken advantage of in the most obscene of ways. To watch Jacqueline take the weights from Mia and own a part of her she kept hidden so long was powerful and is something that will resonate with me forever. She did not let what happened define her, instead she took it and used it to fuel herself to a position of power, but one that was rightfully earned. It was a beautiful scene.
Let’s talk about Kadena, my two beautiful qwoc and hopeless romantic ladies taking on the patriarchy one plane ticket at a time. LGBTQ+ representation is becoming more pronounced in mainstream media, which is insanely progressive. But the lack of qwoc representation is bar none. To see Kat and Adena be such strong and confident women and be willing to move mountains for each other is so so so important their not afraid to speaking their minds or stand their ground. The very idea of Kadena existing in this atmosphere is riveting and a step on the right path for so many reasons. They are the mouthpiece for women out their who aren’t able to let their voices be heard, to be who they are openly, so (pardon my French) they’re a huge fucking deal. Seeing Kat taking time away to focus on both Adena and herself is amazing, and much needed. Both Adena El- Amin and Kat Edison are two whirlwinds of women and I’m so grateful for their existence.
Sutton’s a badass ray of sunshine, watching Sutton become a true fixture in the fashion department is joyful. Her confidence in her decisions are incredible whether it’s figuring out who her heart belongs to, or choosing between the red or black Gucci bag you’re confident she’ll make the right choice in the end.
I’m so thankful that these women exist, in all the ways that truly matter, as a female looking to plop herself in the journalism field in the next year; these women show me it’s okay to make mistakes, to get your heart broken, to fall in love with the wrong person, with the right person, and to unleash holy hell on anyone who tries to get in your way. These are the women of The Bold Type, and so are you and I.
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