Goodbye,
housewives! I’ve found a new guilty pleasure! It’s called Ja’mie: Private
School Girl and it’s on HBO.
You may recall
star, writer and director Chris Lilley from his last HBO show, Summer Heights
High, which also featured the eponymous
Ja’mie (pronounced Ja-MAY, and played by Mr. Lilley).
Now, I’ve never
been to private school (nor have I ever been a teenage girl), but I have to say
that Mr. Lilley has captured this world with all the detail of an
anthropologist! One of the things that makes the show so simultaneously
entertaining and horrifying, is the way it demonstrates the degree to which
Valley Girl-isms have saturated the conversation not just of teenage girls (and
many adults of both sexes) in the United States, but apparently Australia, as
well.
Part of me wants
to feel above getting caught up in the exploits of Ja’mie and her ability to
turn every minor event in her life into an existential crisis and part of me
wants to totally give in to it and jump up and down on her bed with her.
To say that
Ja’mie is fond of hyperbole would be an understatement. After a while, you too
may find yourself overusing such words/phrases as “seriously,” “literally,” “I'm literally freaking out right now” and “I seriously can't even deal.”
I must give kudos
as well to the supporting cast for being able to maintain a straight face
through all this. The other “private school girls” are played by actual
biological girls who seem to be in or near their teens and ground the show in
something approaching reality. Also on hand are Ja’mie’s tirelessly patient
parents and school principal, her gay best friend, her hot new boyfriend, and
an African boy that Ja’mie’s family “adopts” (and has yet to utter
a word of dialogue).
The show is also
educational. For example, up until now, I didn’t realize that being called gay
was the worst thing that could happen to a teenage girl. (Homophobia: it’s not just for boys anymore!)
In his earlier
show, Mr. Lilley also played a somewhat effeminate drama teacher and a teenage
thug in addition to Ja’mie, but it’s in Ja’mie that he has found his true
calling. (His talents also extend to interpretive dance and singing, as he
demonstrates in some of the show’s other running motifs.)
I look
forward—with unrestrained teenage longing—to watching Jai’mie’s travails unfold
the rest of this season.
