My Mad Fat Diary
image credit supertgirl@tumblr
Oh my God THIS SHOW. This show kicks me in the fucking balls, over and over and over again. I love it so much. I highly recommend taking some time this weekend to check it out -- five episodes out of six in its first series have aired so far, with the sixth and final one airing Monday in the UK, on channel E4.
It's based on the real life diaries of a British radio personality named Rae Earl, from when she was an overweight teenager just released from a stint in a mental hospital. The show pulls no punches about those topics, so fair warning, but IMO it's all done with such an empathetic, painfully true-to-life perspective -- because it's Rae's diary and narrative voice telling the story, and she's sharp and intelligent and principled and funny as hell.
Rae lucks into a group of awesome friends who perceive and appreciate her awesomeness, so the show is mostly about her figuring out how to be "normal" and trust people again (recognizing that of course, no teenager really ever feels normal and the trouble with trusting teenagers is that they're teenagers). In the meantime she's drifting apart from her oldest friend Chloe, and the show understands deeply how that can happen when girls get older, and how competitive and petty they can be with each other -- especially when one is apparently the "winner" at femininity yet still has her own insecurities (note: I ANTI-REC the recent movie Bachelorette which also attempted to depict this kind of dynamic). Rae's also dealing with her mother, who is pretty troubled in her own way but keeps trying to communicate with her daughter with imperfect love. Also trying to help Rae navigate all of this is her therapist, a worn-down, lovely man played by Professor Quirrell from Harry Potter, heh.
It's got a Misfits sort of feel with irreverent and dark British teen humor (seriously, it's funny as hell), but it's totally grounded in reality and overall it's a much sweeter show. I still expect the last episode to break my heart, though. They will also find out on Monday whether they're renewed for a second series, but it's getting rave reviews so I'm feeling confident.
Anyway. How to watch? This amazing person has put all five episodes on Youtube, and even included English subtitles in the CC captions (sometimes the northern English accents are so thick that even my husband, born and raised in London, can't puzzle them out). She had to remove some music from the fourth and fifth episodes, but has provided alternate links to the complete episodes on Dailymotion.
You want to watch this. Don't wait. It's already all over Tumblr. It's about to be all over your friends lists. It's going to be Yuletided. Guarantee.
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