I live in a constant state of fear that I will somehow betray aspects of Ja’mie King buried deep within my subconscious. Every time I watch her, I feel as if a mirror is being held up to my entire school life and I cringe at the realisation that…I too have orchestrated a fashion parade to raise money for the school formal. Okay, I’m kidding, but seriously – Chris Lilley’s alter ego Ja’mie is one of the most intelligent and nuanced characters I have ever had the enjoyment of watching. As well as being hilarious, she is absolutely genius – the kind of character that could only have been moulded from a close observation of the total self-obsession found in the majority of teenage girls. This month, she returned to our screens in all of her bitchy, conceited, over-indulged glory in a new series that centres solely around her – ‘Private School Girl’ – and I couldn’t be happier.
As a committed fan of Chris Lilley I’ve watched Ja’mie’s complete and utter lack of development with a mixture of glee and dread. Everything about her is so frighteningly accurate that I’m terrified she may be the private school girl trapped inside me, screaming to get out and tell everyone that her boobs would have been bigger if she hadn’t had an eating disorder in Year 8. From the way she interacts with her classmates, to her world-view and her self-perceptions, Ja’mie is your typical private school girl and that’s why she’s so enjoyable to watch – she isn’t a caricature that’s been exaggerated and invented to create humour where there is none. Instead, Chris Lilley has expertly observed all of the nuances of life at somewhere like Hillford and offered it to you in the frighteningly accurate archetype of Ja’mie King (she added the apostrophe in Year 8).
I love Ja’mie in spite of myself – I want to hate her with everything in me, but she’s just so unintentionally endearing. Admittedly, this is an odd adjective to use to describe someone who, in the first episode of the series, asked her father to, “tell your bitch wife to stop talking to me” – but it’s true. I find Ja’mie irritatingly loveable, despite my better judgment and I’m not sure whether this comes from her complete and utter lack of social awareness (“No offence, but it’s much less povo here than I thought it would be”) or the fact that she shows me the shameful parts of myself that I try to deny exist, but which sometimes slip out despite my best efforts…watching her learning to drive and simultaneously texting and verbally abusing her long-suffering mother brought back some all too familiar memories for me.
Ja’mie King is everything I spent my school life resenting, and everything I fear of becoming – she’s spoiled, manipulative and utterly socially unaware… but she’s fabulous – “build a bridge and get over it”.
Emilia Bona