2013 is coming to an end and before it does, we have some pretty compelling reasons for you to start watching My Mad Fat Diary before its second season airs next year.
My Mad Fat Diary is a British drama that airs on E4, the same network as Misfits, and it’s absolutely fantastic! Never heard about it? Don’t worry, we’ll educate you so that by the end of reading this post you’ll be off looking for where you can watch!
My Mad Fat Diary is set in Stamford, Lincolnshire in the year 1996 and based off the actual diaries of Rae Earl, who’s just been released from a psychiatric hospital where she stayed for four months because she self-harmed. (Check out the book on Good Reads)
The show follows the story of the 16-year-old, 231 pound girl. Rae begins to reconnect with her childhood best friend, Chloe, who’s completely unaware of Rae’s body image problems and was told that Rae had spent the past four months in France, not a hospital. My Mad Fat Diary shows Rae as she attempts to keep this information from her best friend while trying to impress a new group of friends, Izzy, Archie, Chop and Finn.
Now that you know what the show is, here’s why you should watch.
Rae is hysterical
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One of the best things about Rae Earl is that she’s a girl that knows how to laugh, and this is shown clearly throughout the entire series. From the moment she’s narrating the series, we know that we’re going to grow to love her. Yes, she’s having body-image problems, and she doesn’t really like herself, but she copes with it all through comedy, and it’s great. Plus, she narrates the entire show with drawings and her inner thoughts about what’s going on and often times it’s the most hysterical part.
It’s meaningful
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The overall message of My Mad Fat Diary is something that we can all agree on: Your size doesn’t matter. What matters is how you live your life. And while this show really brings a powerful message about body image, it also brings attention to people living with mental illnesses, and how those people live and interact with others. Rae’s made some friends at the hospital in the four months she’s been there, and we get to see them and how they live. By the end we’ve empathized with every single one, and you’ll want to know way more about her friends as we come to know about Rae.
It’s only 6 episodes
And at an average of 46 minutes per episode, you can speed through the entire first season in just one day, easily! This writer heard about My Mad Fat Diary while traveling the tube in London, where a stranger was trying to convince their friend to give it a go. Little did they know they’ve managed to convince someone else, and we’re glad they did! Even if you don’t want to marathon, if you watch one episode per day (which is what we did) you’ll be done before the end of the week!
A great set of characters
Source: TYF
The group of friends that Rae tries to befriend are all unique, quirky and fun individuals that you’ll learn to love almost as much as you love Rae herself. You can’t go wrong with a good set of characters who are all best friends, as proven by Friends, Misfits and countless other shows. My Mad Fat Diary brings together a bunch of unique individuals who make the episodes come to life, and without them the show simply would not be the same. Plus, there’s a couple of gorgeous boys in this show, so that’s another reason!
It’s just good television
Even if you’re not someone who watches a lot of TV, My Mad Fat Diary should be an exception. It’s not another show about teenage shenanigans and sex and drugs, but about Rae Earl and her struggle to get a normal life back and how she goes about it. We’ve shared this with our friends, and even those without huge television addictions said that they were glad they gave it a chance.
So that’s why we think you should watch My Mad Fat Diary! Seriously, just give it a chance because once you do you’ll be glad we convinced you to.
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