"Beautiful People" Recap and Video-Post (2.4): "How I Got Camp"

This week, Simon explores exactly when he became “camp” – when it was clear he was, um, different from other boys. Apparently, there were clues very early on – especially the fact that he was a showtune-singing infant with big hair: 

But the pivotal moment came, naturally, during Simon’s fourteenth year (which is a good thing, because Luke Ward-Wilkinson, the actor who plays Simon, isn’t getting any younger!). At first, Andy announces that the whole Doonan family is going abroad on holiday.

But when Kylie's mother Reba accuses Andy of being a sexual pervert and costs him his income, they have to cancel their trip. Why can’t Debbie make up the difference at her job? “I’m personia non-grassy-ass,” she says, hilariously – meaning “persona non-grata,” I think!

Eventually, they decide that rather than take an actual holiday, they can pretend to go away, telling their friends they’re gone while they dress the house up like a beach resort and act out a fake vacation. The thing is, as crazy as this show is, I could actually see these characters doing this. The one thing that has never been in doubt about Simon's parents is how much they love him and each other.

But it's a different situation across the street with Kylie and his mother. The very interesting thing about this episode is that it strikes an extremely serious, extremely dark tone in one of its subplots: Kylie’s own retreat into camp came about as a result of an abusive situation with his mother, which mirrors her own abusive relationship with her ex-husband.

The whole experience leads Simon to understand what "camp" is: doing something "as if" it's real, even when it's not. Because sometimes reality sucks.

But when Reba's abusive ex-husband shows up unexpectedly and begins to hurl insults at Kylie, Kylie lashes out, um, killing him.

Not your typical sitcom material, is it? Reba then gets a chance to show her true love for Kylie by covering up his murder of his father.

I appreciate that this show took a "week off" — its own holiday of sorts — and dealt with a reason why some people might retreat into worlds of sparkle and glitter, and the price that is sometimes to be paid when someone is too "different" from everyone else.

"Life's too short to hide your life," Simon tells the audience at the end, and he's absolutely right.

Watch the full episode here: