Right, so remember when I watched “The Real L Word” because I downloaded the wrong episode “True Love.” Well, mischief managed! I managed to get my hands on the right copy (and for those still wanting to do the same, I believe you’ll find some help in the comments here). And now that my curiosity has finally been satisfied, let’s discuss our BIG LESBIAN FEELINGS about the episode.
First things first, a little background. “True Love” is a BBC five-part miniseries where each 30-minute episode is a snapshot of love in all of its highs and lows. The third episode, titled “Holly,” revolved around a school teacher (played by Billie Piper) who starts a relationship with one of her 16-year-old students (played by Kaya Scodelario). Yes, I know – it’s the student-teacher taboo again. Yes, I know – we also saw this in “Mädchen in Uniform” and “Loving Annabelle” and “Bloomington.” And, I know – it’s kinda icky.
What I will say about the episode is that Billie and Kaya are simply lovely. They say so much without saying hardly anything at all. Which is good, because the episode is sparse at best. It asks viewers to fill in football-field sized gaps in the storyline for themselves. The framework is simple. An unhappy is woman having an affair with a married man and finds comfort with a student. The details of what exactly made them fall in love are largely left to our imaginations. Art? Loneliness? Kaya’s ridiculously mesmerizing saucer-sized baby blues?
But the connection between the two, well, that actually works. Yes, sure, clearly – there is the ohmygodsheissixteenyuck factor. While the age of consent in England is actually 16, there is still the very troubling teacher-student dynamic at play. But that aside (which, granted, is a very big aside), what I liked about the episode was its hopefulness. Yes, these are two people who are probably not right for each other for a multitude of reasons. But they still get to have (spoiler alert) some sort of happy ending. Or, at the very least, hope of a happy ending. Because in the end that’s really what love is – hope. It’s a hope that someone else will understand you, accept your flaws, see your worth and love you for all of it.
And then there’s the shallow bit where I like seeing Billie and Kaya kiss. See it for yourself as long as YouTube will allow it.
Interestingly, while the age of consent is 16 over here, there were laws enacted that made it illegal for an adult to "exploit" a position of trust with anyone under 18. So, technically, this wouldn't just be a bit icky, actual laws would be broken here.
ReplyDeleteThis law was mainly brought in when the age of consent for gay men was equalised to stop older "predatory" men from taking advantage of 16 year old lads.
Dumb isn't it?
The episode may have felt a bit sparse because the whole thing was improvised. From what I understand, the actors were given locations and basic storylines and then filled out the rest.
ReplyDeleteA vimeo link: http://vimeo.com/44357937
ReplyDeleteIt looks better in full screen than the youtube version.
I wanted to like this more than I did. The student-teacher relationships always bother me and the plot holes in this story made it harder to embrace this relationship.
ReplyDeleteIt's Effy from Skins! Boy, do I love her.
ReplyDeleteOh, I adore Billie Piper.
ReplyDeleteage of consent is 16, but if you are over 18 and in a position of power/trust with someone who between 16-18 its illegal.
ReplyDeleteAnd this was kinda mentioned in the episode there were some major plot holes, maybe if it was an hour it would have had more chance, but as a snapshot of love, and society i thought it was well made
And well who wasnt looking forward to billie Piper and Kaya kissing?
Jazz
That was pretty cool. I liked it.
ReplyDeletethis is very nice and and to see Billy and Jenny as an older woman...not like she was in Walkabout was real treat...the fact they improvised made it nicer...well done and their naturalness was nice..thank you for posting! I have had a few teachers when I came in early..would cry about a friend dying or getting a divorce..and so, have a deeper bond with them than the usual student and it made all the difference in learning because of the extra compassion you have for the person.
ReplyDeletei want to say so much about this or so little, I'm not sure yet so bare with. interesting what the previous anonymous said about it being improvised. i was actually watching it and thinking that (especially when they were at the gallery) their conversation flowed more like a regular conversation with the ums and the i don't knows. the other thing i noticed was that Karen seemed more like the mature one in the relationship than Holly; Holly was just a mess. She was a horrible teacher unless she was just filling in for the English teacher and Art was her real class, i mean no teacher should ever let the students get away with doing what they did or breakdown like Karen did in front of the students. speaking of the 1 ass-hole student that started it all (who by the way had a face i wanted to punch) why did he have such a hate on for Holly amplified when he found out about her and Karen...i feel like that chunk of story (did he have a crush on Karen) was missing even though the story wasn't about him, it would've explained why he was being such an ass. the only part of the show that made me go ick she's 16 and you are an adult was the scene after Asshole asked Holly how long she's been sleeping with Karen and they showed them snuggled on the couch; to me it was a sweet little moment between the 2 but from a different perspective it also looked to me like Karen got picked on at school and ran home to mommy who was comforting her. In the end i am glad that the proverbially walk off into the sunset together but i would have liked to know what happened next; did they go away together? did Holly just go away? it didn't make sense because 2 episodes later was an episode about Karen's dad and Karen was in it on a minor level but she was friends with the girl still that ratted her and Holly out and she was there and she wasn't with Karen or mention her...so puzzling, oh well i guess that's what fan fiction is for.
ReplyDeleteWait wait wait. The best of Doctor Who and Skins alumni came together to make a lot of my ladygay dreams come true? Of course the teacher/student thing is a little icky but let's focus on what's really important. It's Effie and Rose Tyler. Melted.
ReplyDeleteFor once I didn't mind the student-teacher thing at all. Usually it annoys the hell out of me.. but there were so many things that made it right (apart from Billie and Kaya ofcourse)... The teacher who basically is the immature one, the fact that they both really fall in love for the first time, that the teacher wasn't predatory, the fact that it wasn't just a situation they easily got away with... I could go on. Yes, it's not healthy but these things DO happen and if they do, I imagine it goes like this. I thought it was very realistic (am I the only one who thought the plot holes were actually easily filled?) with stellar acting performances. A great snapshot of life and love.
ReplyDeleteNice to see my first girl crush Jenny Agutter from Logan's Run. Kaya reminds me of a young Natalie Woods.
ReplyDeleteLoved this. So much. The school scenes were so true to life, just the constant rumble of chatter and disturbance. Like everyone else, I was really hesistant about the teacher/pupil thing, but the way Holly was so down and obviously not the one in control of the relationship made me feel a little better. Twenty-five minutes of really calming, thoughtful television, with an ending that offers hope without a guarantee of a happy ever after. In my head, they have a relationship for a couple of years, maybe until Karen goes to uni, when they will split up, but both more ready to take control of their lives. Also, it has to be said, that Billie Piper was so so fit in this. The clothes, her hair, her face. She doesn't usually do it for me, but I was weak at the knees.
ReplyDelete