Getting Personal: How We Relate to Fun Home

Post by Jaymee F

I relate to Fun Home in a number of ways I wasn’t expecting. I most resonate with the fact that I also grew up in an ‘un-nuclear’ family just like the Bechdel's. My parents got divorced when I was in fourth grade. Although I didn’t have to grow up in a house with constant fighting and resentment, my parents didn’t get along and had many of their own secrets. 

I have always been artistic which allows me to relate to Alison. I perform for a living but I also draw and write for fun. When I was little, I would journal, write short stories, and I couldn’t go anywhere without a book. I remember having this amazing workbook with story suggestions and writing lessons. I would get my mom to pick a topic for me and I would sit and write for hours. As a child, I was incredibly shy and awkward but as an adult and through performance, I have blossomed into a huge advocate for self-love and acceptance.

I can relate to Fun Home’s themes of mental illness as OCD tendencies and anxiety run in my family. I have also helped friends struggling with depression and suicide. In my family, we are all clean freaks. My grandpa had a bad back and would make me go on my hands and knees picking up fluff balls off of his white carpet that had been immaculately vacuumed in straight, visible lines. I used to count every step I took trying to land on an even number and had to battle out of these OCD tendencies with self-coaching. 

Today, I reflect on my upbringing with so much love and respect for all my parents did for me. However, I am able to differentiate myself as an adult and see where our opinions differ - what I do differently. When I try to help my mother with relationship problems and watch her make the same mistake over and over again, I find it hard to keep from judgement. 

On the note of sexuality, I have many homosexual/trans/non-binary/queer friends who are also prominent members of the arts community! I feel so lucky to have these friends in my life and am absolutely honoured that they feel comfortable sharing this part of themselves with me. Some of them cannot be 100% honest and open about their sexuality with their own families, so I do my best to remain a constant in their lives. Our friendship allows them to be exactly who they’re meant to be. If Bruce had grown up in another time, in another town, and with an alternative perspective on homosexuality, perhaps this feeling of acceptance could have prevented his tragic ending.

Post created by Jaymee

References

Bechdel, A. Fun Home. (2006). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.