the Jackson story in Emmerdale
The Jackson story in Emmerdale has moved on a lot in the last 2 weeks and it's taking a bit of chewing over. I think I'll start this post and keep coming back to it until I'm done.
Jackson went with his mother Hazel and his boyfriend Aaron for a seaside holiday in Whitby and had a great time. They went out on a boat, fishing, and Jackson went skydiving. Then he told Hazel and Aaron that it isn't enough: he wants to die because he's tetraplegic.
Hazel has agreed to help him die. Aaron has tried to phone Social Services to report Hazel's plan to do this but he couldn't go through with it.
Lots of stuff I'd like to write about this. Do please chip in if you want to comment.
Now here's something I wrote about the story. I get a bit off-topic but hey, here's some of what this story has got me thinking about.
One theme I notice is fear and courage. Is Jackson brave to choose suicide? That hasn't been addressed and we're left to make our own judgement. You can say that suicide is the coward's way out. You can say that facing death is brave. What we do see addressed in the story is the fear and courage of the people who love Jackson and know what he's decided to do: Aaron and Hazel.
Aaron is 18. During the last few months we've seen him grow up a lot. In fact I sometimes think Jackson is in the story more as Aaron's love interest than as a character in his own right. Aaron was a teenage thug who, as he once put it 'sorts everything out with me fists.' But he's well scripted and well acted (Danny Miller, who plays him, won an award for this portrayal). Realising that he's gay frightened Aaron so much that he beat up Paddy, his stepdad in whose house Aaron lives. Going to find the gay scene frightened Aaron but he did find Bar West (that's a real gay pub in Leeds) and there he met Jackson who, at that time, was still able-bodied. When Jackson turned up in the village of Emmerdale and sat with Aaron in the pub there (the Woolpack) it frightened Aaron so much that he punched Jackson and got arrested. It was in the courtroom that he came out properly, telling the world that he's gay.
Since then he's been less violent but he's attacked Jackson twice more. One time when Jackson, by now tetraplegic, didn't want to leave the house Aaron lost his temper and started forcibly putting on Jackson's coat. Now in Whitby, after Jackson said he wanted death and Hazel admitted that she's never been able to change Jackson's mind about anything, Aaron lifted him from his wheelchair by the neck and yelled 'I'll throw you out of the window then, eh? I'll dangle you by the ankles while you make sure this is what you want!' But he didn't do it. He dropped Jackson and flounced off, staying in Whitby by himself for a few days while Jackson and Hazel returned home.
When he did come back, and found that Hazel had agreed to kill Jackson, Aaron tried to phone Social Services but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He's not a very brave person, really. His thuggish behaviour is shown as a front for his real self, a frightened and very young person. Now he's decided to move in with Jackson and Hazel to keep an eye on them, to make sure Hazel doesn't go ahead with the killing. As if that could work! Aaron can't physically keep them undersurveillance 24-7. But to Aaron, it seems as though the only way to get what he wants is to force people.
There was another anecdote about Aaron's courage, or lack of it, in Whitby. He'd booked the skydive for Jackson and somehow found himself signed up to do it too, but he was too frightened. He 'bottled it' as Jackson and Hazel said. Now with the assisted-suicide plan, he's frightened and angry and he doesn't know how to stop it from happening.
Jackson went with his mother Hazel and his boyfriend Aaron for a seaside holiday in Whitby and had a great time. They went out on a boat, fishing, and Jackson went skydiving. Then he told Hazel and Aaron that it isn't enough: he wants to die because he's tetraplegic.
Hazel has agreed to help him die. Aaron has tried to phone Social Services to report Hazel's plan to do this but he couldn't go through with it.
Lots of stuff I'd like to write about this. Do please chip in if you want to comment.
Now here's something I wrote about the story. I get a bit off-topic but hey, here's some of what this story has got me thinking about.
One theme I notice is fear and courage. Is Jackson brave to choose suicide? That hasn't been addressed and we're left to make our own judgement. You can say that suicide is the coward's way out. You can say that facing death is brave. What we do see addressed in the story is the fear and courage of the people who love Jackson and know what he's decided to do: Aaron and Hazel.
Aaron is 18. During the last few months we've seen him grow up a lot. In fact I sometimes think Jackson is in the story more as Aaron's love interest than as a character in his own right. Aaron was a teenage thug who, as he once put it 'sorts everything out with me fists.' But he's well scripted and well acted (Danny Miller, who plays him, won an award for this portrayal). Realising that he's gay frightened Aaron so much that he beat up Paddy, his stepdad in whose house Aaron lives. Going to find the gay scene frightened Aaron but he did find Bar West (that's a real gay pub in Leeds) and there he met Jackson who, at that time, was still able-bodied. When Jackson turned up in the village of Emmerdale and sat with Aaron in the pub there (the Woolpack) it frightened Aaron so much that he punched Jackson and got arrested. It was in the courtroom that he came out properly, telling the world that he's gay.
Since then he's been less violent but he's attacked Jackson twice more. One time when Jackson, by now tetraplegic, didn't want to leave the house Aaron lost his temper and started forcibly putting on Jackson's coat. Now in Whitby, after Jackson said he wanted death and Hazel admitted that she's never been able to change Jackson's mind about anything, Aaron lifted him from his wheelchair by the neck and yelled 'I'll throw you out of the window then, eh? I'll dangle you by the ankles while you make sure this is what you want!' But he didn't do it. He dropped Jackson and flounced off, staying in Whitby by himself for a few days while Jackson and Hazel returned home.
When he did come back, and found that Hazel had agreed to kill Jackson, Aaron tried to phone Social Services but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He's not a very brave person, really. His thuggish behaviour is shown as a front for his real self, a frightened and very young person. Now he's decided to move in with Jackson and Hazel to keep an eye on them, to make sure Hazel doesn't go ahead with the killing. As if that could work! Aaron can't physically keep them undersurveillance 24-7. But to Aaron, it seems as though the only way to get what he wants is to force people.
There was another anecdote about Aaron's courage, or lack of it, in Whitby. He'd booked the skydive for Jackson and somehow found himself signed up to do it too, but he was too frightened. He 'bottled it' as Jackson and Hazel said. Now with the assisted-suicide plan, he's frightened and angry and he doesn't know how to stop it from happening.