Just Charlie is a film that premiered on Sky Cinema yesterday.
“A teen football star who is being
courted by a top club is torn between wanting to live up to his father's
expectations or shedding his ill-fitting skin”
"A heartwarming story of a fun-loving teenager Charlie, who unveils a secret that takes him on a road paved with obstacles, prejudices and confusion"
"A heartwarming story of a fun-loving teenager Charlie, who unveils a secret that takes him on a road paved with obstacles, prejudices and confusion"
We found out
about this film from the Trans Radio UK interview that Lucy did with Kellie Maloney last week.
We did some research about the film, watched the trailer and eagerly awaited
the premiere day, 16th April 2018.
We didn’t get
to watch it until last night, it premiered at 9.40am so recorded it as we were both working, and had
seen that already a few people that had watched it were giving it great
reviews. So we settled down to watch it together last night.
Virtually from
the beginning I was in tears. Watching Charlie struggle with her identity, the hidden
secrets, the discovery, the football coach trying to find the right words to
show his support of what he had accidentally discovered, the best friend rejecting her, the fathers brutal denial
of what was clearly obvious, the mother supporting Charlie whilst trying to
address her husbands issues and the unquestionable, unwavering support from her
sister Eve.
At the
beginning I made a few comments to Lucy as I could see so many parallels to
what she has told me and the psychologists about her younger life especially as
football had featured so strongly for her too but I felt she didn’t want to
engage with me. Too much was too close to home, except I don’t think she would
have received any support at all.
We watched
the rest of the film in silence, holding hands, squeezing in uncomfortable but
realistic moments and mostly I had quiet tears streaming down my face. Crying for
Charlie, crying for Lucy and crying for everyone in our life who would connect
with this, crying for the people I don’t know and angry at the transphobic and
ignorant characters that I know exist in real life. It is one thing having the person you love tell you about
these things but totally different seeing it being acted out in front of you
and to think Lucy had experienced this on her own before we met just breaks my
heart.
The film really
covers the struggle for transgendered youth and their families but also shows
what society is like. Even though it is more empathetic nowadays there is still
a very long way to go but it was great to see Mermaids being featured when the
mum, the friend, the sister, the father were researching to find out more
information.
Having had 5
children of my own, I can only hope that I would have been a supportive parent
should any of them been transgendered. I cannot say for certain as I have not
had to face this challenge but feel in my heart of hearts I would have been.
Maybe because I did have a transgendered friend in my teenage years when it was
mostly hidden away and not as open as it is now so it wouldn’t have been
something new for me. There is a Nescafé Gold coffee advert that says that we meet
roughly 80,000 people in our lifetime. I use this figure when talking to people
about how low the incidence of being transgender is and ask them how many
transgender people they have knowingly met. Apart from community friends, most
other people say Lucy is the first for them which just proves my point. By
comparison in my non-community life, Lucy was the 3rd transgendered
person I had knowingly known along with lots of other eclectic and colourful
friends. I wonder if my easy acceptance of Lucy’s situation is down to this
plus I think my parents were very open minded about life as I was growing up
bringing up myself and my siblings in a non-prejudice environment. I can only
hope that I would have been a supportive trans parent and will certainly be a
supportive grandparent if the situation were to arise.
Anyway I
seemed to have digressed…….
After the
film had finished we were discussing whether it was harder coming out as
transgender as a child/youth or as an adult. I’m not sure we came up with an
answer as both have their different challenges but certainly the sooner you can
transition before puberty the better chance you have as being accepted as an
adult as the ravages of either hormone has not had a chance to make its mark.
All in all it
was a great film, it wasn’t sensationalist and dealt with the Charlie character
in an empathetic way showing the internal struggles that are real for everyone
no matter what age you are.
When Lucy
interviewed the director Rebekah Fortune for Trans Radio UK she said that
selecting the right actor to play Charlie was key. It wasn’t about having a cis
or a trans actor for the role but was about finding the right child. Sadly many
trans children wouldn’t have been able to do it as they would have been too
vulnerable which I am sure we all understand.
Looking at
their Facebook and Twitter feeds today the response has been amazing:
‘Just Charlie’ is the most eye
opening film I’ve probably ever watched
Wow
this is such a powerful film. Spencer Coile said "With an influx of trans
representation in television and film, Just
Charlie is a touching reminder that these stories need to be
told. And perhaps it is our job to listen."
Just
watched Just Charlie
& have to say it is a great film would highly recommend you check it out
taking a current topic & engaging you into the topic & the ending was
superbly done
Just
Charlie:
a phenomenal lgbt film about a closet trans teen, this depicts how hard it is
as a trans person, please watch it
Sobbed
all the way through #justcharlie set in #Tamworth and #Lichfield #netherstowe
At
last a decent film on @sky - #JustCharlie. Highly recommend watching.
thank you for sharing
ReplyDeleteobat kuat jakarta
obat kuat viagra
jual obat kuat
viagra asli jakarta
viagra usa