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I'm Nora Ephron, Bitch!

October 10, 2017
"When are you just gonna admit you wanna work in fashion?" "Everybody wants to work in fashion. It requires this little magical thing called talent."

For those of you who don't know, I've been struggling to decide what I want to do with my life, and, after making some semblance of a decision, struggling to figure out how to achieve my dreams given my circumstances. Long story short, I am on track to graduate early as a math major, which...doesn't exactly align with my goals. However, switching majors would mean transferring and not graduating early, two things I'm not particularly fond of for multiple reasons. So, how can I make this work in spite of my major? And am I even good enough to do what I want to do?

Sutton Brady says yes. Sutton is one of three leading ladies on The Bold Type. At the beginning of the series, Jane and Kat, her best friends and coworkers at Scarlet magazine, find themselves moving up in their careers, whereas ever-dependable Sutton has been in the same assistant job for years. I would venture to compare her to Jane from 27 Dresses, except Sutton isn't staying in her job because she has a crush on her boss. She decides to make a change, which leads her to interview for a job in advertisement sales. As a business/economics major, she feels like this job is a good fit for her, even though she's not particularly thrilled about it. Her boss commends her for being practical and realistic, which convinces her even further that she should seriously considering working on the business side of the magazine. She receives a job offer, but she doesn't take it. Instead, she decides to go after an assistant job in the fashion department, which rather conveniently opens up right after she rejects the other job offer. She works her ass off for her potential new boss, Oliver, but she also lies to him in the process by letting him wrongly assume she went to FIT. In the end, he figures it out, and, in a last-ditch effort to redeem herself, she gives him this speech:

“I didn’t go to FIT. I’m sorry. I should have told you. I went to Penn State, and I lived at home, ‘cause it was the only thing I could afford. I have no fashion background at all. I never even worked in a mall. But I’ve devoured fashion magazines since I was a kid, and I have impeccable taste. I want this more than I’ve wanted anything in my entire life, and I would work my ass off for you.”

She bags the job, but the salary he offers her is much lower than she expects it to be. She tries to negotiate with him, but he says he can't offer her any more money. Her friends tell her she needs to try again and tell him that she's prepared to walk away if he can't give her a better offer. However, while she cannot afford to live on the wage he's offering her, she also cannot afford to lose this job. This leads to one of my favorite moments in the series - Kat and Jane telling Sutton that they are her safety net. Kat says that if Oliver does not give Sutton what she deserves, Sutton can move in with her, rent-free, until she finds a new job. Of course, though, he does, and Sutton takes the job at Scarlet. At the end of the fifth episode, she shows Jane her signed contract and says, "I'm Nora Ephron, bitch," a reference to an earlier conversation they had about Nora Ephron demanding due credit at Newsweek.

Obviously, life never works out as perfectly as it does on TV, but what I love about television is that when it's done right, it provides us with some level of hope when we have none. It reminds us of the fundamental truths we often forget when we're busying worrying about the practicality of it all. It influences us to be the best versions of ourselves. So, I'm going to try to be a little more like Sutton Brady today, and I hope you will all watch The Bold Type - it just got renewed for two more seasons!

Photo credit: Sarah Murray

Outfit details: Forever 21 blouse, Alice + Olivia shorts, Unique Vintage hat, Laurel Black Over the Knee Heeled Boots