Jen's Secret Diary
29/05/23 (UNSECRET EDITION)
Jen’s Secret Diary - 29/05/23
This ‘secret diary’ entry is free for all to read, but usually I only send these to paid subscribers. If you’d like to subscribe (either paid or free) to my Substack, you can do so here:
I turned 33 a few days ago, and I feel pretty ambivalent about it. As I get older, birthdays just become less and less exciting to me. I hate saying that, because of course they’re just a nice excuse to gather friends and celebrate a loved one’s existence - and I like going to them for other people. I just don’t get much out of it anymore, personally. When I was a kid, I never imagined that I’d even make it this far. I was that loner weirdo who would tell people I was going to kill myself by 30 (which might explain the loner thing - who wants to talk to that kid, honestly?) But, all things considered, I did actually have a nice day. I had some cake, and I got some cool earrings shaped like cowboy hats. That’s all you can ask for really.
Last night I watched the series finale of Succession. I’ve been a big Succ-Head since the show started, and although I was initially sad to hear it was only getting 4 series, I think it turned out to be a saving grace, because ending on such a high-note isn’t something a lot of modern TV shows get to do. There is a tendency now to go on and on and on until a show gets worse and worse - and the finale of Succession was absolutely not that. Obviously, I’m not going to spoil it in case you’ve not caught up yet, but I was up till 4am last night watching the hour and a half send-off, and it really felt special. In my opinion, every character got exactly what was coming to them - as outlined by their past actions and trajectory. It was tense, funny and dramatically shocking. And above all, satisfying. I love Succession, and I don’t care who knows it. I can’t wait to re-watch it all with someone who’s not seen it, just so I can look over at them and raise my eyebrows at every shocking revelation.
On the other end of the spectrum, I watched Ricky Gervais’ new BBC Comedy short film ‘7 Minutes’ and it was legitimately one of the worst pieces of shit I’ve ever seen. Full disclosure - I don’t like Ricky Gervais. But I can concede that The Office was a good program. But aside from the obvious mean-spirited transphobia and ableism of his ‘free speech’ obsession, I think he’s actually a pretty shitty writer who seems to be surrounded by yes-people. Everything he’s made for the past 10 years has been mawkish, saccharine, mastabatory cack - centered around crafting a persona of the misunderstood, grief stricken man (Afterlife). I also think the subtext is that he wants to fuck that dog. One thing that’s become really evident for me is just how pivotal Stephen Merchant was as his writing partner, because flipping hell is his stuff these days missing something. Anyway, it’s mind-boggling to me that the BBC included him in a scheme that is intended to showcase up and coming comedy talent. Here’s a summary of the film if you can’t be bothered to watch it… Two people arrive independently at the same railway tracks to kill themselves. The train is due to arrive in 7 minutes. During that period they become friends and walk off having found each other. It’s boring as fuck.
Something I am looking forward to watching tomorrow though is the new Channel 4 documentary ‘GENDER WARS’ which stars Kathleen Stock as a SILENCED WOMAN fighting against the TRANS AGENDA. I might get some popcorn in to enjoy the shitshow properly. I was invited to a Channel 4 ‘Inclusivity Panel’ last year and asked how Channel 4 could do better in its trans representation. All of us there basically said that not making exploitative, misleading, trashy documentaries about us would be a good start. Anyway, they went ahead and did it anyway.
I’ll give my full review of GENDER WARS after I’ve watched it though, obviously.
Jen x
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