First off I will say great cast, I have seen many of the main actors in other pieces so I can only blame the direction and script for the downfall of what I saw. I will also add that I am southern Itish, gay and that I went to secondary school in the 90s, though actually in a city school.
The critic review says based in northern Ireland, but this was based in southern Ireland in the 90s - 1995 to be exact and that is important as it would have been a different experience in northern Ireland especially as the 'troubles' were still quite rife then, as is properly depicted in Derry Girls! Instead you find out this is in Newbridge a town in Kildare just outside Dublin, which makes sense of the Dublin references throughout. The light touch to the influence of Catholic church and how the teenagers were able to behave at school was totally unrelatable. If it was meant to be funny it just failed on both accounts as it didn't reflect the time accurately and the humour was then distracted and not even the odd word like 'shift' made it feel of the time.
I think this is my main issue with it. Coming out in 90s Ireland was excruciatingly hard and the oppression for both men and women from society, religion and family was for the majority too much, to the point where many haven't and others waited to far later in life to do so, myself included (I didn't come out until my 30s - actually very common for those of that era I have learned). For those that did they faced the fear of being ostracised by family and community, plus treats of being beaten up. Given that one of these households was an army home and then that the other had suffered the loss of suicide (which was still viewed as a sin at the time with massive stigma and shame around) neither story felt real for not even capturing this, I don't think the army father's homophobia would have been anything near that passive if he was as emotionally repressed as they tried to imply.
The sentiment overall is well intentioned and that they protected each other and created this cloak for each other is definitely believable. The time setting and the surrounding storylines, environment and characters though we're not and distracted. What was worse and I also felt it had the potential to invalidate and does somewhat belittle the many 100s of 1000s of stories of Irish gay women and men who have spoken of how difficult it was to come then and still is to come out especially in rural situations.
It feels like it's time to show some of the real, more challenging, stories and stop with all.parents come round and are accepting. Yes many were and are, and I was one of the lucky ones who's parents came round with a lot of time. However there are still many for whom there is no acceptance and the pain and loneliness, of that rejection is what needs depicting to show the impact on those affected to those that reject them. That is the story that needs telling in Ireland and other nations in my eyes and would be the real step forward. If you could tie that up in a good comedy script, to offset the heavy moments, that would be golden.
The critic review says based in northern Ireland, but this was based in southern Ireland in the 90s - 1995 to be exact and that is important as it would have been a different experience in northern Ireland especially as the 'troubles' were still quite rife then, as is properly depicted in Derry Girls! Instead you find out this is in Newbridge a town in Kildare just outside Dublin, which makes sense of the Dublin references throughout. The light touch to the influence of Catholic church and how the teenagers were able to behave at school was totally unrelatable. If it was meant to be funny it just failed on both accounts as it didn't reflect the time accurately and the humour was then distracted and not even the odd word like 'shift' made it feel of the time.
I think this is my main issue with it. Coming out in 90s Ireland was excruciatingly hard and the oppression for both men and women from society, religion and family was for the majority too much, to the point where many haven't and others waited to far later in life to do so, myself included (I didn't come out until my 30s - actually very common for those of that era I have learned). For those that did they faced the fear of being ostracised by family and community, plus treats of being beaten up. Given that one of these households was an army home and then that the other had suffered the loss of suicide (which was still viewed as a sin at the time with massive stigma and shame around) neither story felt real for not even capturing this, I don't think the army father's homophobia would have been anything near that passive if he was as emotionally repressed as they tried to imply.
The sentiment overall is well intentioned and that they protected each other and created this cloak for each other is definitely believable. The time setting and the surrounding storylines, environment and characters though we're not and distracted. What was worse and I also felt it had the potential to invalidate and does somewhat belittle the many 100s of 1000s of stories of Irish gay women and men who have spoken of how difficult it was to come then and still is to come out especially in rural situations.
It feels like it's time to show some of the real, more challenging, stories and stop with all.parents come round and are accepting. Yes many were and are, and I was one of the lucky ones who's parents came round with a lot of time. However there are still many for whom there is no acceptance and the pain and loneliness, of that rejection is what needs depicting to show the impact on those affected to those that reject them. That is the story that needs telling in Ireland and other nations in my eyes and would be the real step forward. If you could tie that up in a good comedy script, to offset the heavy moments, that would be golden.