My Mad Fat Diary: Seasons 1 & 2
A few weeks ago, I spent a whole weekend literally binge watching the hell out of My Mad Fat Diary. I heard about this show through the blogosphere and was able to find Season 1 on YouTube and then I spent probably a few hours with my sister trying to figure out how to get a damn Channel E4 account, we had to create a fake UK address and finally we were able to stream. Seriously, I was like a lunatic I had to see Season 2 that very second and was driving everyone around me insane. I didn’t see sunlight for 2 days and it was so worth it!
(Must watch all 13 episodes at once!)
After it was all said and done, I digested it and I have to say I loved it. I wanted to put this up on my blog because I am sure there are people out there who haven’t heard of it either, so here I am to tell you why you should totally catch this if you can.
My Mad Fat Diary is about the life of a teenage British girl, Rae Earl (Sharon Rooney), who spends her time in therapy for her “madness.” She has fits of rage and episodes of anxiety mixed with cutting and almost killing herself and we also deal with her daily life as a teenage chick in the 90s.
Some episodes she works with her therapist, Dr. Kester (Ian Hart) and the kids who are stuck in the mental institution, like Danny Two Hats (Darren Evans) and Tix (Sophie Wright). At the institution, she feels comforted and like she belongs and honestly those kids are way worse off than she is with their mental issues, which is probably what makes her feel better.
In high school or college as they call it, she feels awkward, like she doesn’t fit in and she is always trying to figure out in her head who she should or shouldn’t have a major crush on. She also has a chaotic home life with her mother, Linda (Claire Rushbrook) who is sometimes out there and is dating a much younger man than she is and at times acts like a teenager herself.
Rae uses her diary as an outlet to write all of this craziness down and to purge her emotions on paper. When she writes, she lets it all hang out and that makes the show really fun to watch and hear her thoughts and doodles come to life on-screen.
This show really hit a chord with me because I could relate to a lot of the things that Rae went through and I am sure tons of people could as well. Some of these issues are having a best friend that is hotter than you, a friend that may be gay, bullies, peer pressure, the decision whether to have or not to have sex, drugs, dealing with rejection and even with juggling two guys at once. Yes, these are all trivial matters now, but when you are a teenager these feel like the biggest issues in your life at the time. MMFD describes those sentiments in an honest and truthful light.
The best part of the whole show is her relationship with her buddies, they have all interesting and unique personalities and together the craziness that ensues is fun to watch. There is Chloe (Jodie Comer), her sexy BFF, Finn (Nico Mirallegro) the totally crush worthy bad boy, Archie (Dan Cohen) the glasses-wearing cutie pie gay friend, Chop (Jordan Murphy) the party animal, and Izzy (Ciara Baxendale) the airheadish friend who dates Chop. Some of my favorite episodes were the parts with just the gang sitting around the pub, laughing and cracking jokes, seriously this made me jealous. Do you know how hard it is to get into a bar when you are in high school in the US? Damn near impossible, those lucky Brits!
Rae was literally in high school in the late 90s at the exact same time I was, so I could relate to everything that was going on from the fashion trends to the music to the movie references. Hello, does anyone remember when bomber jackets, crop tops, jean skirts and flannels around your waist were cool?!
(So 90s)
Her obsession with Oasis reminds me of people in high school who loved that stuff and wore the shirts and put the patches on their backpacks lol. Being a teenager is hard dammit and this show doesn’t sugar coat those experiences and at times even the viewer feels awkward watching. The combination of all these factors is what makes this such a cool and interesting show.
(Totally Hottie McHotterson)
In the end I have to say I loved Finn the most and wished I knew someone like that in high school… sigh. He is almost the equivalent of Jordan Catalano, but a nice version. Did I just say that?! Now I am super excited like a teenage girl at the thought of Jordan Catalano and Finn Nelson as the perfect guy. If you haven’t seen this show and you have a chance, do check it out! I think the girls around here would definitely like it more than the boys, but regardless it is a good and original watch.
(That look just gets me!)
I am not sure when Season 3 starts up, but if anyone out there knows please let me know! Is anyone else out there a fan of this show? Do tell!
}}Melissa
