Blue Jean Is An Effective, If Not Typically Told Tale of Sexuality
Being gay in 1988 is no easy thing to live with. In Georgia Oakley's Blue Jean, we follow the tale of Jean (Rosy McEwen. During the day, Jean teaches physical education at an all-girls school; at night, she goes to a local lesbian bar with her girlfriend, Viv (Kerrie Hayes). The relationship Jean shares with Viv is healthy yet frayed. Jean's closeted nature keeps her from being herself, whereas Viv dresses in a more butch style, freely expressing herself.
During a small exchange, Jean asks Viv not to call her at work for fear of exposure. Viv tells Jean she's being too uptight, yet Jean won't understand what Viv really means until much later in the picture. Jean's life as a lesbian is a secret to her job, which could get her fired. Over the radio, we hear about Clause 28, a legislative designation for a series of laws prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality across Britain. The news reports of the legislation play as a backdrop to Jean's fear of coming out.
At the beginning of the film, everything goes swimmingly in Jean's life. But it turns upside down completely when Lois (Lucy Halliday) enters Jean's class. One night, Lois stumbles upon Jean in her local gay pub. When running into her, Jean demands Lois to leave and not tell anyone at the school where she's seen her. Jean fears that Lucy will expose where her Gym teacher has been to her superiors in the school.
Blue Jean is symbolic of its time. 1988 was an era where LGTBQ citizens were still referred to commonly by derogatory terms. To be out was/still is a terrifying thing to do. It wasn't as okay to be gay as it is today. In late eighties England, there is a community for Jean to blend into with her friends and be herself, even if a small one that is seemingly in one bar.
Most of the world can't accept Jean for who she is. If not for her friends and her club, she'd have nothing. Soon Jean begins to lose everything unthreading her insistence on being closeted.
Jean's self-protection gets her into trouble more than it helps her. During a fateful day, both characters come to a head where Jean's forced to make a decision. In most films, she'd pick the honorable decision, yet Jean chooses a cowardly one to protect her skin. The writing of the characters of the film is well-grounded. Jean isn't a saint; she overreacts, makes mistakes, and does what most people would, unfortunately, do when under pressure. Where Jean could choose not to confront Lois at the nightclub, she instead chose to make something out of what could be nothing.
The other girls pick on Lois at school, accusing her of being a lesbian. Although they're right, their words and actions couldn't be more inappropriate. Rather than standing up for Lois and helping her, Jean pushes her away. As a time capsule, Blue Jean is a true representation of 1988. It wasn't all fun games and cheesy hairstyles. It was deeply bigoted. Not that it isn't today, but more prominently then.
Although a good film, Blue Jean didn't feel searing or incredible, just a straightforward narrative that plays like most indie films, which ends on an ambiguous note. It's a standard film more than a standout. An average tale of identity and sexuality wrapped around a xenophobic period that's more standard than exceptional. Although Blue Jean's themes are alarmingly relevant, they're nothing new. Accept yourself for who you are, and damn the rest of the world for not loving you back.
That's a beautiful theme commonly carried and more effectively in other films like Moonlight. When Jean has her small moment of victory, it's sublimely gratifying, yet nothing I haven't seen before. Cinematically average and thematically resonant, Blue Jean is an effective albeit forgettable character piece on sexual identity.
