In 2019, Candice Carty-Williams’ vastly standard debut novel, Queenie, had readers attempting to grapple with the advanced heroine, the novel’s titular protagonist. Some have been perplexed, some enamoured, some deeply uncomfortable. Now, with Channel 4 and Hulu’s TV adaptation, Queenie Jenkins is reaching new audiences desirous to unpack her, in all her wonderful messiness.
Queenie tells the story of a 25-year-old Black British Jamaican lady from south London attempting to navigate a quarter-life disaster. Like many ladies, Queenie (Dionne Brown) finds her twenties difficult. She’s estranged from her mom, working in an unsatisfying journalism job the place she’s unable to inform the tales she desires about her group, and has simply suffered a miscarriage. To make issues worse, her long-term boyfriend Tom (Jon Pointing) requests a break, so she strikes out of their shared residence right into a less-than-ideal flat share. Right here, Queenie searches for solace in alcohol and informal hookups that finally depart her feeling disempowered.
Queenie’s story tackles themes of self-worth, home abuse, childhood trauma, and misogyny. Each the e book and the collection encourage empathy in direction of these experiences, a request for reflection that may change into uncomfortable for viewers. Nevertheless it’s the collection finale that proves how helpful such illustration could be.
What occurs on the finish of Queenie?
Llewella Gideon and Dionne Brown.
Credit score: Lionsgate / Latoya Okuneye
In direction of the top of the present, we see Queenie’s unresolved childhood trauma meet up with her — in addition to latest occasions since her breakup. In a brief span of time, she discovers that Man (Joseph Ollman), one of many males she was hooking up with, was additionally courting her pal, Cassandra (Elisha Applebaum). She’s confronted on the street by the spouse of Adi (Mim Shaikh), an area man from Brixon who had been vocal about his crush on Queenie and whom she attached with behind his automobile. Her co-worker Ted (Tom Forbes), who she attached with within the workplace bathrooms, additionally seems to be married with a toddler on the best way. When Ted’s spouse suspects his affair (of which there appears to have been a number of), he studies Queenie to HR for inappropriate advances, leading to her suspension. The ultimate blow comes when Queenie has a breakdown, after which she lastly decides to inform her ex about her miscarriage — solely to seek out out he has moved on with another person.
Within the remaining episode, Queenie has transitioned to a brand new area, bodily, professionally, and personally. She’s going to remedy, residing in a brand new house, and she or he posted a video on-line interviewing her grandmother Veronica (Llewella Gideon) about making a house within the UK, starting a brand new collection exploring underrepresented voices within the Black group. By the finale, Queenie has realised her self-worth to the purpose that she will be able to forgive Cassandra, acknowledging how “men made [them] both move mad”, however not welcome her again into her life. Queenie is ready to agree along with her boss, Gina (Sally Phillips), that she deserves higher than her present job and quits, emphasising how Queenie is exorcising negativity from her life.
Why Queenie‘s energy lies in its relatability and discomfort
Queenie’s grandmother tells her, “You’re not strong because you’re tough or because you don’t feel pain. You’re strong because you’re not afraid to say that you are delicate.”
Credit score: Lionsgate / Latoya Okuneye
For a lot of the collection, Queenie’s default transfer is to inform everybody she’s high-quality. However in British tradition, “I’m fine” has many meanings. It might probably imply I’m OK, I’m not OK, or my life is falling aside however I’m nonetheless going to stay to custom, be stoic, and maintain silent till I attain breaking level — which is what it means for Queenie.
In a number of methods, Queenie actively undercuts the emotional repression deeply ingrained in British society. British folks’s emotional restraint is usually hooked up to the stereotype that England is a powerful and courageous nation, by which feelings don’t have any place. A 2007 examine by the Social Points Analysis Centre (SIRC) revealed that fewer than 20 p.c of Brits claimed to have “let it all out” previously 24 hours, regardless that 72 p.c believed that bottling feelings up is dangerous to your well being. The burden of repressed emotion stays ingrained in Britain’s historical past. This stoicism is mirrored in standard phrases just like the World Struggle II motivational message “keep calm and carry on” and the way we should “muddle through” in occasions of adversity as echoed by Queen Elizabeth II throughout the coronavirus pandemic as she advised the nation “that the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country,” even in occasions of grief and difficulties.
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When you’re Gen Z or a Millennial, you are usually inspired to deal with your trauma in remedy. A 2023 survey from the American Enterprise Institute discovered that 27 p.c of Gen Z adults had gone to remedy of their teenage years compared to 4 p.c of Boomers, 10 p.c of Era X and 20 p.c of millennials. Nevertheless, as Queenie’s story illustrates, psychological well being points are nonetheless thought of very taboo not solely in British tradition but additionally in Caribbean and African households. That is compounded by the societal expectation for Black ladies to be “strong Black women” — a stereotype that’s usually strengthened within the “strong Black friend” trope in popular culture. Emigrants and their descendants additionally face stress to be reserved, which we see when Queenie’s household reiterates that remedy is just not for them. A 2015 ballot by psychological well being charity Thoughts discovered {that a} quarter of 18 to 34 yr olds really feel that exhibiting their feelings is an indication of weak spot. This highlights a disconnect in society that has created a barrier the place people can voice their opinions however not really feel comfy sufficient to confess that they could want skilled assist.
The present instantly addresses the stereotype of Black folks avoiding remedy, depicting the older technology studying from the youthful. Regardless of a vow of generational silence being embedded in Queenie’s household, they’re finally those who assist her transfer ahead. Within the remaining episode, Queenie’s grandmother tells her, “You’re not strong because you’re tough or because you don’t feel pain. You’re strong because you’re not afraid to say that you are delicate.” The message is: vulnerability takes energy. There are clear parallels between Queenie and her mom Sylvie (Ayesha Antoine), as her grandfather Wilfred (Joseph Marcell) reveals that Sylvie additionally used to say she was high-quality regardless of enduring home abuse, illustrating a generational cycle of trauma. It’s what makes Queenie’s remaining dialog with Wilfred within the finale so impactful as she deviates from her common response to confess, “It’s been hard but good.”
Joseph Marcell and Llewella Gideon in “Queenie”.
Credit score: Lionsgate / Latoya Okuneye
Queenie’s energy lies in its lack of constructive however relatable illustration. Throughout remedy, Queenie experiences a panic assault whereas telling her therapist, “I can’t not be a strong Black woman, Janet. OK? I can’t walk into any place and not be a Black woman.” We’ve seen on TV and in actuality that there at all times feels the necessity to tone down Black ladies’s experiences, whether or not it’s their errors or their potential to really feel weak spot. Nevertheless, Queenie shatters that social requirement and rebuilds her life from all-time low.
Lately, there was an increase of Black ladies being allowed to be a multitude on display screen, together with characters like Zendaya’s Rue in Euphoria managing drug habit and Kerry Washington’s Paige Alexander in UnPrisoned, who realises having an absent father via childhood can produce unhealthy behaviours as an grownup. However not like Rue or Paige, Queenie hides no a part of herself.
Queenie unabashedly shows the darkest, most unfiltered sides of her being, which hits so near residence that it forces us to reckon with the issues round us — and for a few of us, inside ourselves. Queenie’s uncooked sense of vulnerability is realistically portrayed, as unresolved trauma has the flexibility to have an effect on decision-making, one thing many people expertise however are hesitant to confess.
Why we earn the ending of Queenie
Dionne Brown and Bellah.
Credit score: Lionsgate / Latoya Okuneye
On the finish of the collection, Queenie’s journey culminates in a cathartic second when she provides her mom the area to apologise. “I’m sorry if anything I ever did made you feel like you weren’t enough. The world does that already. I should have put you first,” Sylvie says within the finale. Sylvie’s reflection on how the world perceives Black ladies is critical. Many individuals of color develop up in predominantly white communities, resulting in emotions of insecurity and isolation, in addition to a fractious relationship with their id.
The present doesn’t cover the truth that Queenie’s battle along with her id is rooted in her mom’s abandonment and fixed instruction to make herself smaller. Sylvie tells Queenie to change into invisible to her stepfather, she’s instructed to toe the road at work, and her ex, Tom, tells her she’s “too much.” It is what makes the present’s remaining scene so highly effective, by which we see Queenie and Sylvie expressing love for one another — and Queenie lastly with the ability to say, “I love me too.” These traces within the collection emphasise the significance of extracting your self from areas that do not worth you. It is a defining second when Queenie lastly acknowledges she’s worthy of affection and that every one that is occurred to her is not all on her.
The journey in direction of the ending additionally solutions an enormous query about why Queenie dated sure males. We study that her choice thus far white males was by no means to do with the truth that she didn’t like Black males, but it surely stemmed from the truth that Black males had traditionally traumatised her. In Queenie, interracial relationships change into considerably of a cautionary story that it may very well be argued some folks want to listen to. It makes Queenie’s journey in direction of Frank (Samuel Adewunmi) much more poignant as he units out to interrupt the cycle for her. Frank brazenly reassures her: “I need you to know I’m never ever even nearly gonna treat you like the way that guy treated your mum. Just know that.” These scenes are a reminder that girls can concurrently not have all of the solutions and expertise love; we simply want time and endurance to work on ourselves first.
Queenie is a practical illustration of a younger lady simply attempting to determine issues out. She makes viewers query how totally different from her we actually are. Sure, she is a multitude and could be annoying, however she’s additionally sensible, humorous, and all of the issues in between, and is not that one thing we will all be? Queenie stresses the significance of portraying Black ladies of their full complexity, together with their messy sides. The collection reminds us that we’d like extra characters like her, whom we’re compelled to take a look at with nuance and join on a deeper stage — even when that comes with discomfort.
The right way to watch: Queenie is now streaming on All4 within the UK and Hulu within the U.S.
