Blue Jean tells the dramatic inner world of a woman who has to hide her sexual orientation in conservative 1980s England. It’s a 2022 British production.
The film takes place in the shadow of the homophobic “Section 28” law implemented during the Margaret Thatcher era. States and administrators have always targeted LGBT individuals, whom they see as “easy prey,” for political interests and to get votes from conservatives and traditionalists. The film explains the atmosphere, mentality, and corrupted politics of that period very well.
Getting back to the movie: This film is a powerful reflection of a silent resistance and invisible pains. It’s one of the good works of LGBTQ+ cinema. The period atmosphere and character depth are also quite good. If the film wasn’t good, I definitely wouldn’t have felt the need to write something about it.
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Blue Jean Plot and Summary
My goal, as always, isn’t to draw up a summary but simply to convey my experiences regarding the film. Since it also falls into the historical and period category, the film explains very well the complexities people experienced in the past. Actually, unless humanity makes progress, as long as it gets stuck in the mentality of an era, it will certainly never truly advance. Especially the oppressive Thatcher era in the film actually had absolutely no institutional benefit to either the state or society; I got this impression from the movie too. Anyway, aren’t our impressions what matter? Perhaps we can bring the deep philosophical debate into play right here: the knowledge in our minds and our entire reality perhaps depend solely on our impressions. When impressions change, life changes too.
A Short Plot Summary
Physical education teacher Jean works at a high school quite far from her location to hide her lesbian sexual identity. Even though she occasionally has problems with her girlfriend, she generally has a happy life. She also gets along well with her sister and niece. Meanwhile, a new female student will come to the school. Jean, who coaches the school basketball team, will want her student to join the team too.
In 1988, the far-right and conservatives submit a bill wanting to ban homosexuality. According to them, being lesbian or gay destroys the family structure and sets a bad example for children. Homosexuals are quite bad individuals; they must especially be kept away from education. These politically ridiculous fights continue. But homosexuality is not as conservatives fictionalize it in their memories. This is typical homophobia.
While the political fights continue, Jean sees that the new student coming to the school makes wrong moves regarding revealing her own identity. Her young homosexual student puts Jean in a difficult situation. Breaking up and fighting with her girlfriend too, Jean is completely alone with the homosexual hatred surrounding her.
Blue Jean Movie Review and Commentary
The homosexual hunt during the Margaret Thatcher era and the struggles of a lesbian physical education teacher
The homosexual hunt during the Margaret Thatcher era and the struggles of a lesbian physical education teacher
In modern countries that have completely reversed their thoughts today, even homosexual marriage has become law. Because the concept we call freedom means individuals’ lifestyles not being suppressed at all. Otherwise, a freedom in the sense of doing whatever we want that harms society cannot be accepted. In this context, homosexual individuals can freely live as the people they are. This should not be seen as a threat.
Conservative views of the time, primarily in England, argued that the freedom of LGBT individuals would cause the collapse of society and immorality. Do you know what the most interesting part is? None of the things said 40-50 years ago in these countries happened. Homosexuality didn’t bring the end of the family or society, nor did (hetero) youths become homosexual. People just started living freely and happily. Eastern societies, on the contrary, continue to put people through hell in the social order they have fictionalized. As a matter of fact, while watching the film, this also came to my mind: history is like a massive, constantly self-improving simulation. Actually, what is good and what is bad has long been clear. As we see in the film too, the sole reason for all the oppressions in the world is actually a political or religious power struggle, nothing else.
The film is generally understandable, full of political and social messages. With the homosexual law enacted during the Margaret Thatcher era, homophobia is now moved to the institutional sphere. The film, whose drama and historical themes are also sufficient, might progress a bit slowly. The film isn’t very boring. It flows quite smoothly. You know that state of loneliness the teacher falls into? The film truly makes you feel that marginalization, that polarization.
The internal dilemmas Jean experiences are the representation of the universal emotions not only of her, but of many people living in similar conditions in the past and today. This film takes place in the 1980s; as I said above, when we come from the past to the present, all rational countries have now turned back from these mistakes. I can say that the countries continuing these mistakes sustain a war of existence through complexities and political intrigues.
The film progresses a bit calmly but softly whispers what it wants to tell us. Its political subtext is especially very good. Rosy McEwen plays the role of Jean very well.
The only goal of politicians who make life difficult is just getting votes and having more power and control. For this, they need the most fiercely conservative factions. While Jean is a teacher minding her own business, all her success and humanistic side fall victim to her homosexual identity.
Leading a silent life at work and a suppressed one in her private life, Jean reflects internal dilemmas, social pressure, and the British politics of the period very well. The film takes place in 1988. You can check IMDb for technical info. That’s it from me.
LGBT Rights – Why Are Homosexuals Targeted?
Watching quality productions instead of garbage is always my goal. And I enjoy productions like this that harbor a broad mentality beneath the text. You don’t necessarily have to be lesbian or gay to watch the film either. Films do a good job of helping us understand the violence people suffer just for their sexual orientations. Everything in life is the patterns of electro-chemical processes occurring in the human brain. All our beliefs, our dogmatic thoughts, the truths we strictly cling to in our own way form only in our brains. Let alone being an absolute truth, they are not even real.
Pointing out LGBT individuals as the other and saying they deserve the most inconceivable violence and discrimination is also from those dogmatic patterns of the human brain. We must change and develop our brains and our lives according to the artificial intelligence age. Old beliefs and old concepts of judgment have now been leveled to the ground. Science has changed not only technology but also the meaning of being human.
Those who resort to violence, on the other hand, continue to march in place. Every thought like homosexuals destroying the family or setting a bad example consists merely of the same distorted, corrupted patterns in the human brain. All the slanders and attributions regarding homosexuality are thrown out there merely to see one’s own life as the most supreme and to crush and defeat another. This is the real “perversion,” the “perversion” resulting from this mental and intellectual corruption; and that brings along legitimizing seeing violence and ruthlessness towards another as a right. Everything said about LGBT individuals consists of “urban legend,” nonsensical fabrications.
