Blue Jean

Jean (Rosy McEwen) is an attractive 20-something frosty haired gym teacher. She's asked by one of her colleagues at the school to go out for drinks with some of their fellow teachers - might even be a guy or two with an eye out for her. Jean, who has a female partner, demurs not by replying directly, but coming up with a a lame excuse. It's just one of the times that Jean is confronted with telling the truth, but "lies" instead.

England. Late 80s. Margaret Thatcher's conservative Britain to be precise. The nation is in full moral panic mode and the very suspicion that a teacher might be gay is grounds for removal. The law was called Section 28. To Writer-Director Georgia Oakley's credit, BLUE JEAN never becomes a polemic. It simply presents the reality of what people like Jean were going through at the time. Oakley's screenplay unfolds at a natural pace and the audience is given the details of Jean's background at an unhurried pace.

Jean's girlfriend is Viv (Kerrie Hayes) who, by contrast, is very much 'out'. She flaunts her sexuality and makes no apologies. Also complicating things for Jean is a new student, Lois (Lucy Halliday), who happens to hang out in the same local gay bar. Jean's family is little help, even her sister Sasha (Aoife Kennan) who outwardly supports her sibling, but is nonetheless concerned about protecting her young son when she is around.

The performances here all very good, with McEwen embodying her character's ambivalence, while also demonstrating fortitude. It's a tricky balance which Oakley's filmmaking ably abets. Oakley also creates a vivid depiction of the era with details of the LGBTQ community at the time. Songs by New Order, Letta Mbulu and Colourbox and others grace the soundtrack and the screenplay is filled with precise and distinctive terminology. There are not great revelations or epiphanies for Jean, but, Oakley imbues her main character with an inner strength that is palpable.

Section 28 was repealed in 2003.

This film had a plot line that was like a documentary piece of 1980s Britain, in particular the whole 'Section 28' legislation using a PE teacher, Jean and her experiences in the period. How times (although the 1980s still seems relatively recent to me!) have moved on with the repealing of the said legislation in 2003. The whole intricacies of the said legislation is freely available to study elsewhere, this is strictly a review of the film I watched.

The film was shot on 16mm film and like other films using this medium it gives it a documentary type feel to proceedings or so I think.

It compares favourably with the 1980s timeframe of the story and other films of that period such as Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987). The film also demonstrates the 1980s sound of synthesizers and beats from pop music of the time.

The cast put in excellent performances in conveying the bleakness of the whole story and can only be commended for their work on such a low budget film, which the U. K. seems to excel at producing.

"Jean" (Rosy McEwan) is a physical education teacher at a school in Northern Engand. Privately, she is having a relationship with the out and proud "Viv" (Kerrie Hayes) but the emphasis here is very much on the "privately" - something that her confident girlfriend struggles to comprehend. When "Lois" (Lucy Halliday) joins her netball class, then runs into her in a bar later, things become complicated for "Jean" and the remainder of the film illustrates just a short segment of her troubled life as her pupils start to put two and two together and mischief and malevolence rears their very ugly heads. As a gay lad who lived at the time I am actually a little tired of films that make out that "Thatcher" was some alien space invader sent by God to cleanse society. The views of her government represented massive numbers of people in Britain - across the political spectrum - who were terrified about the perceived adverse influences on children of what they saw as "permissive" practices. Rather than acknowledge these concerns as legitimate (at the time) and put some national context into this story, this film really only takes a couple of people whose relationship never comes across as especially strong anyway, and try to make a greater political point. To have been successful there, balance is essential. The underlying plot issues are potent, but they are not developed anywhere near enough to create substantial characters and instead offer us a rather undercooked swipe at a system that was as broadly representative then as it is not (thankfully) now. The production is all a bit basic and though McEwan offers us a considered performance and the film is certainly worth watching, I had really hoped for something just a bit deeper and stronger.

Blue Jean presents to us the struggles of a woman who is trying to blend into the heteronormative world during a time where homosexuals were politically vilified and othered, whilst trying to protect her position and integrity as a teacher.

It deals with more than just the base subject matter of what could be seen as a run-of-the-mill exploration of what it was/is like to live in a world like this where the politicalisation of a person's nature is used against them in order to misdirect the general public from actual issues of the times.

It delicately portrays the effects that it has on Jean, and by proxy, others, who internalises the prejudices which they experience, and how this behaviour affects how she not only treats herself - by isolating herself from the world at large, but also how she treats those closest to her while she sees that others within the community accepts themselves and lives openly without shame, albeit by not having, what could be seen as, white collared jobs.

Caught within the crossfire of Jean struggling to accept her nature is Lois, a student of Jean's, who is being bullied for reasons which you can surmise... Leading Jean to abandon Lois in a time of need.

The movie, for me, falls just short of having a cathartic release, but it highlights the relief that a person can have by coming to terms with their own nature, and righting the wrongs that they have caused, even if in part. As well as the importance of having a close and supportive community.

Solid performances from the entire cast makes this movie feel real. It reflects the life that people lived and continues to live. A worthwhile watch, as it is also a reflection of the time that we live in now.

As someone who knew gay/lesbian teachers at the time of section 28, this hits home. Anyone who tells you that the relationships/visuals/attitudes or experience of these lesbians isn't real/true/believable might need to find a few lesbians who would be happy to educate them. Some reviewers get to hide their prejudice under a film review on a website & don't take in the lesson the film is trying to teach them. Times were bad, they still aren't great but it's essential that stories like this (representing ppl like this) are told and ppl get a chance to try to understand a story about ppl they previously only saw as a torrent of negative newspaper headlines. The film feels real, likewise the characters & acting are all spot on. No cast member is misplaced. Proper good.