JAMIE: DRAG QUEEN AT 16 + EXTRAORDINARY TEENS: MY GAY LIFE
JAMIE: DRAG QUEEN AT 16: Wednesday, BBC One
EXTRAORDINARY TEENS: MY GAY LIFE: Tuesday, Channel 4
First shown on BBC Three in 2011, JAMIE: DRAG QUEEN AT 16 received its belated terrestrial premiere last week. Why now? Well, the bittersweet story of Jamie Campbell was recently turned into a critically-acclaimed West End musical based on this documentary.
Jamie is an openly gay teenager from a small ex-mining town in Country Durham. He’d been insulted and bullied for most of his life. As an act of defiance, he decided to come out again at his school prom, only this time as a fabulous drag queen.
When asked why he couldn’t postpone his sequined dreams until after leaving school, he replied: “Why let them win?”
Jamie’s determination was admirable, although it troubled his supportive friends and family. His kindly mother loved her only child unconditionally. She bought him dresses, wigs and make-up, encouraging him every teetering step of the way. But she knew how cruel the world can be.
Jamie knew that too, of course. Even his own father, who left the family home years ago, had basically disowned him. More than anything else, Jamie wanted his dad to be proud. Would standing up for himself at the prom do the trick?
Sadly, as Jamie’s older drag queen mentor gently warned him, life isn’t like the movies.
Once the news of his prom plans leaked, outraged parents contacted the school to register their disgust. His auntie’s hilarious reaction to this news was, alas, too profane to repeat in a family newspaper.
The school discouraged Jamie from dragging up, their official line being that they wanted to ensure that each student received equal attention at the prom.
Nevertheless, after gaining confidence from a successful drag debut at a local club, he attended in a dress anyway. That’s when the programme clicked into uplifting musical mode.
When Jamie was refused entry to the prom, a large group of friends laid down an ultimatum: if he wasn’t allowed in, they’d all go home. The school capitulated. Tears of happiness flowed. So far, so touching.
The next morning, Jamie’s dad – who didn’t attend the prom – texted to register his anger. Jamie tried to rise above it, but he was obviously crushed. Happy endings are never perfect.
There was, however, a thoughtful postscript to this poignant study of vulnerable adolescence.
Jamie learned that stereotyping often cuts both ways. Despite his assumptions, his friends and neighbours generally embraced the unveiling of his fabulous alter ego, Fifi La True. He even got a hit musical out of it. He deserves his success.
In EXTRAORDINARY TEENS: MY GAY LIFE, we met the similarly courageous Billy, who came out as gay to his parents when he was seven. Now 17, this devout Lady Gaga fan has been filming his life for the last six years.
Like Jamie, he has a supportive Mum and a small-minded Dad. Their contrasting attitudes towards Billy’s sexuality caused friction between them. To make matters worse, his Mum became worryingly ill. This mounting agony caused Billy to self-harm.
Mother and child eventually moved out. Thankfully, her brain tumours proved benign. Billy met a boy, basked in acceptance from his close friends and family, and discovered the empowering joy of attending his prom in stack-heels. Did Billy and Jamie watch each other’s programmes? I hope so.
For all their surface positivity, here were two fundamentally tragic accounts of irresponsible fathers refusing to accept their children for who they are. The human race has a long way to go.
TV HIGHLIGHTS of THE WEEK
BANCROFT
Monday to Thursday, STV, 9pm
Sarah Parish stars in this new thriller as a troubled detective with – you guessed it – an explosive secret. The dubious methods she uses to bring down a violent gang gradually threaten to expose the truth. I’m not making this up.
WHITE RIGHT: MEETING THE ENEMY – EXPOSURE
Monday, STV, 11:05pm
Award-winning filmmaker Deeyah Khan has received death threats for advocating multiculturalism. That hasn’t stopped her from making this brave documentary, in which she meets violent US neo-Nazis.
ROY ORBISON: LOVE HURTS
Wednesday, BBC Four, 9pm
Possessed of one of the greatest voices in popular music, Roy Orbison poured unimaginable personal anguish into his towering works of art. This moving profile is told through the eyes of his three surviving sons.
THE GALAXY THAT BRITAIN BUILT
Friday, BBC Four, 9pm
The original Star Wars trilogy was brought to life by an unsung team of British technicians and costume designers, without whom it would never have succeeded. This affectionate documentary tracks some of them down to share their stories.
FILM of THE WEEK
BULLET TO THE HEAD
Tuesday, Film4, 9pm
Hollywood thriller veterans Sylvester Stallone and director Walter Hill (The Warriors; 48 Hours) team up for this proudly old-school action movie from 2012, in which Stallone plays a hitman reluctantly paired with a by-the-book Asian cop. The plot, for what it’s worth, involves them tracking down a larger-than-life sadistic killer, but that’s just an excuse for some endearing odd couple chemistry and exciting action set-pieces. It’s an entertaining, knowingly generic film without any pretensions whatsoever, helmed by two old masters who know how to deliver the goods.
