February 28, 2014 - Written by: Poppy Gillian

Why ‘My Mad Fat Diary’ Is So Relatable

(Warning this post contains spoilers.)

I absolutely LOVE Channel Four’s ‘My Mad Fat Diary’.

What’s the show about? In a nutshell it’s about a teenager called Rae who is growing up in the nineties. Rae is overweight and suffering from mental health issues.

(Image via)

Series one focuses on Rae finding new friendships after time away in a psychiatric unit. Now, in Series two, Rae has found a group she fits in with: Archie, a guy that Rae originally fancied until he confessed his sexuality to her, but is trying to ‘stay under the radar’; cute couple Izzy and Chop; and then there is Chloe. I think most of the time Chloe has good intentions, she doesn’t always mean to be a bitch, but she can’t help it. It turns out that Queen bee Chloe also struggles to cope with college, but she’s better at managing it than Rae, albeit going about it by secretly distributing photos of herself in her underwear around the building.

At the end of the last series, Rae had bagged herself the hottest guy around – Finn. But Rae struggles to accept the fact that he likes her. ‘I’m a four and you’re an eleven.’ She tells him. Rae can’t help comparing herself to everyone else.

(Image via)

She is such a frustrating character because she is completely unaware of what a great person she is. She’s beautiful, funny, clever, and let’s not forget that she has a great taste in music. But the number of times I’ve wanted to shout at her through the screen is unreal. Watching Rae miss out on the happiness she deserves is so frustrating!

Why we can all relate to Rae.

There is a little bit of Rae in all of us. We all have insecurities that we don’t want to admit to. I’m sure most people have that one really attractive friend who they don’t feel they can compete with, and that cute guy they feel will never look their way. I remember once being in a club and a really good-looking guy came over. I sloped off to the bar assuming that he wanted to chat up my friend. My friend later informed me that he’d wanted to talk to me! Me? Really? Well, I cocked that one up good and proper!

It’s far easier to point out where others are going wrong rather than seeing it in ourselves. I’ve come to realise that everyone needs a bit of encouragement from time to time – even those people who you wouldn’t have expected to. We can help ourselves by being that support and positive influence for someone else. Like the awesome Kester supporting Rae in her therapy sessions.

(Image via)

It’s emotionally draining to watch. But I’m crossing my fingers that the lovely, hilarious Rae gets her happy ending and that My Mad Fat Diary will continue to shed light on how we see beauty and perceive ourselves in society.

Tags: body image confidence My Mad Fat Diary