Embracing Queerness in ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ (2021): A Journey of Self-Discovery

This one is a musical adaptation of a stage musical of the same name. It is a relatable movie to the younger members of our community, with a strong message. It tries to encourage us to follow our dreams, and teenage queer people will relate to the characters. They’ll find its themes to be relevant and the story to be inspiring.

Despite revolving around a drag queen, it thoroughly explains some gender concepts. As such, it’s an excellent movie to include in this series of articles. I’ll express how important it is and what we can learn from it, and give you my impressions about the film. If you’re curious, go ahead and read! But I recommend you watch it afterward. It’s worth your time.

1- Plot summary

Musicals tend to be lighthearted and have superficial storylines. Sometimes it’s hard to tell a good story with too much music. But the rule has several exceptions, such as this particular one. It takes place in England and tells the story of a young British boy named Jamie, who just turned 16. He’s gay and shows an affinity for some things that escapes the general norm of masculinity. Jamie already came out, and embracing these traces of femininity has been challenging. For example, he suffers from bullying at school, and his father leaves him because he is not a stereotypical male. But it doesn’t mean he doesn’t get any support.

On the contrary, his mother and friends are always there for him. During his 16th birthday, while at school, his teacher gives a discouraging speech about pursuing one’s dreams. It was a pessimistic point of view, but after being gifted a pair of red heels by his mother, Jamie confesses his dream to his best friend. He wants to perform as a drag queen!

He befriends Hugo, a former drag queen performer who runs a drag shop in Nottingham. Hugo tutors Jamie and arranges a presentation for him to debut as a drag queen in a pub. After being ridiculized at school, Jamie invites everyone to his performance. He performs and debuts as his drag persona, “Mimi Me.” Everyone at school is talking about it the next day, and Jamie arrives at class wearing makeup. His teacher, Mrs. Hedge, complains about it and tells him he won’t be allowed to wear a dress at prom. He suffers from discrimination from some bullies but seems to get over it with help from his best friend, Pritti.

Things get tense after he visits his father, Wayne. Jamie believed he had sent him flowers and a birthday card. But his mother made it up as she didn’t want him to be sad. He discovers that his father despises him and that his mother has lied. It makes him very upset, so he confronts his mother and gets drunk. Under the effects of alcohol, he invades a sports game Wayne was watching and reveals himself to his father in drag. Things don’t go as planned, as he’s assaulted and has a broken nose.

He later visits Hugo, who helps him regain confidence and convinces him to reconcile with his mother. He does that, and they apologize to each other. At Prom night, he talks to Pritti and wears a dress with no makeup for the event. Mrs. Hedge tries to prevent him from entering, but the other students stand up to her on Jamie’s behalf. She has no other choice but to let everyone in. In the end, he befriends Dean, the former bully, and they dance together.

2- Why is it impactful?

This movie has a strong message about how we should always be ourselves. It is based on a true story and serves as a lesson in self-love and identitarianism. But besides that, it shows us the reality of many queer individuals worldwide. Coming out greatly affected Jamie’s life, as he lost his father’s support and suffered from prejudice. But he found joy in being himself, something he could never achieve if he didn’t. He finds strength in his mother’s love and friendship with Pritti and Hugo. And speaking of Hugo, I love his characters. He’s used less as a plot device and more as a representation of the LGBTQ community. Our biggest strength is our unity and mutual support. We always help each other, and older members of our community serve as guides to newcomers.

Hugo teaches Jamie how to be a drag queen, as he’s more experienced. And this is something that happens daily among our sisters. It’s important to share our knowledge at every opportunity we have. It helps our community to grow and saves lives. Not everyone is so lucky as to have support from at least one of their parents. So they seek safe spaces and support from other members of our community. It happens because we have empathy since we see ourselves in the younger generations. They go to a lot of the same stuff we did at their age, so we can relate. And since Jamie’s struggles are so real, they’ll relate to him. The movie ends on a positive note rather than a tragic one. And that gives queer viewers some hope! This, along with its message, renders “Everybody’s talking about Jamie” a spot on this list.

3- Who should watch it?

This movie is somewhat family-friendly but not recommended for small children due to its emotional load. Parental guidance is advised because of that, but there’s no age limit for its message. It teaches us how to respect other people’s differences and that we should love ourselves. It is a timeless message. Teenagers may get the most out of it for several reasons. First, it’s a coming-of-age musical. The main characters are all teenagers, so the struggles are more relatable to them. It makes the movie more appealing and exciting to this audience. And as such, they absorb the message better.

But older audiences may also enjoy it, thanks to two key characters. The first one is Jamie’s mother, who always supports his son. She loves him for who he is and is an example of how parents should act toward their queer children. Then there’s Hugo, who mentored Jamie to be a Drag queen. He’s the reflection of the older members of our community, and these people may relate to the character. As such, this film is suited to a broad range of audiences. Those who didn’t have an opportunity to see the musical on stage should watch this adaptation.

Summary

This is a touching film, one that may inspire future generations of drag queens and queer people. It does an excellent job of portraying real-life issues and creating relatable characters. The positive message encourages us to be ourselves and never give up on our dreams. It sounds simple, but our sisters often need this kind of reassurance, no matter their age. The overall quality is excellent, so I recommend it to everyone. It’s worth it. Have you seen it already? Please, leave a review in the comments! If you didn’t, please tell us what you think of it based on this article.