My Mad Fat Diary

My Mad Fat Diary is a British television show that premiered in 2013 on the channel E4. I stumbled upon it last year, watched the first series (only six episodes) in a few days and was really surprised by it. The reason for that is that after reading what the show was about I expected something completely different. Set in Stamford, Lincolnshire (UK) in the 1990s, it tells the story of 16-year-old Rae Earl that has just left a psychiatric hospital, because she has a mental illness. I know countless other TV-series that feature similar plotlines to give their characters a tragic background and make them seem more interesting. So I didn’t know what I should expect when I started watching. 

What I got was a surprisingly honest and charming story. Turns out the main character, Rae (played by Sharon Rooney) has not only a mental health problem, but is also overweight. I thought that was a welcoming change to all the usual TV-dramas that are aimed at teenage girls. What you normally get in teenage dramas are perfectly thin girls that often whine about their non-existent weight problems. And while Rae acknowledges that she has these problems, it doesn’t define her character and story. What often happens with characters that have certain issues is that their storylines tend to focus solely around these issues. A character that has a mental illness won’t get an episode where this illness isn’t mentioned or influences every single thing they do. And while I definitely believe that mental illnesses do influence big parts of the daily life of the people that suffer from them, I don’t think it defines them and controls everything they do or feel. 

The episodes are narrated from Rae’s point of view through her diary entries. And like I said, even though she does talk about mental health and body image, most of her entries are about the one topic the majority of 16-year-old girls care about most: boys. Her dry wit and sarcastic tone made me like her character immediately. She tells the events that happen in her daily life honestly and seems very credible. She has a great group of friends that she calls “the gang” and that include a boy named Finn who is apparently the “boy of her dreams”. Other members of the gang are Chloe, the popular, beautiful girl who has been friends with Rae for years and can be somewhat bitchy and fake, but is loyal in the end, Archie who Rae has a crush on initially, but eventually becomes her best friend and Chop and Izzy, who are bickering constantly. Besides this group of friends Rae also keeps in contact with two friends she met at the psychiatric hospital, Tix and Danny Two Hats. And then there is Rae’s mum, Linda, who can be a bit irritating and irrational from time to time and doesn’t listen enough and focuses more on her own problems, though she loves her daughter very much.

All in all the storylines aren’t that special, but the characters are very charming and I like how Rae is portrayed in contrast to other characters with similar issues. I also love that the series takes place in the 90s, because the soundtrack is awesome and I’m constantly reminded of how much different life for teenagers was during that time. No cellphones and no internet meant completely different communication habits and free time activities. Also fashion and style obviously differs from now as well. In the end I think it’s the mix of all these things – humor, honesty, real people and the music – that won me over.