Blue Jean was released in the UK a day before my birthday in 2023. It was recommended around that time by @lifememeswithtom (Thanks Tom!)
I watched the movie this afternoon and it was really strange to actually like something that was so British. The cultural references, the colour palette, the music, everything was so perfect. I think so much of these things may be lost on a non-British viewer. I never watched British soaps, but there was an essence of familiarity with the setup of the film, which made it feel very authentic.
This film hit hard in ways that I could never have anticipated. I recently had a conversation with my brother, in which he clearly expressed his concern about queer people and how they would affect his children growing up. This comes up in the film because of the political conversations present based on Margaret Thatcher's ideologies. 'Blue Jean' really allowed me to reflect on the privilege of being a teacher at a language school, which is so diverse by nature but also, I've never worked in a more diverse environment. I see visibly queer people every day at work, and I have been in places in my life, where I was made to feel like I was the only queer person there. So it's so wonderful to see people as young as 16 be so sure of themselves, or even witness older students coming out for the first time.
One of my favourite parts of my job, and why I am able to do it so well, is because I can be vulnerable and in doing so, I create a safe space for my students to also be vulnerable. I find this enhances the teaching environment. Learning is so much more than academia, a school is where lives are built and minds are developed. Going back to the film, Blue Jean is a soft and vulnerable story, brilliantly performed and beautifully told. It shows the true power of teaching, what it is to be a role model, but most of all, how important it is to be living authentically.
I absolutely adored this film and it really was a privilege to watch.
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