Light Up is an intimate documentary that focuses on the lives of five people in Atlanta—four Black gay men and one Black transgender woman. It’s a really personal look at their backstories and how they’ve dealt with prejudice and mental health struggles because they felt they had to hide who they truly were. The big thing they all share is that every person interviewed has found a way to push through those hard times. Now, they're all at a place where they feel totally comfortable being themselves and speaking their truth. The five people sharing their journeys are Simone Tisci, Derek Jae, Octavius Terry, Obio Jones, and Benjamin Carlton. Derek Jae is already pretty well-known from reality TV, while Simone Tisci is a successful makeup artist who is now working on breaking into acting. Then there’s Octavius Terry, who used to be a record-breaking track and field star. He actually cut his athletic career short because he was so scared his coaches and teammates would find out he was ...
Jesse, 16 year old, is one troubled kid. He cuts school, goes to bar, has somewhat of a regular thing with a gay couple because he likes being used, sells his sleeping pills, had ADHD, curses at his shrink and overall a very difficult kid. To make matters interesting, he is an adopted kid who doesn't' get along well with his mother at all and has recently been contacted by her birth mother and then by the birth father causing all kinds of emotional upheavals in his already turbulent life. Jesse and the therapist have an interesting dynamic. Their relationship feels more like angry-father to angry-son than like therapist to patient. The session builds tension-- you think the two of them might fight, and then suddenly the tension breaks and Jesse becomes submissive, or cooperative, or has a moment of genuine reflection.
The whole show is very interesting. Since it is only a section of the whole show focusing only on one patient in the case, I am sure I was missing a lot of context, but still it was an alright watch. Having said that, all that non stop dialogues for 7 episodes each of about 20-25 minutes gets a little too much after a while. Jesse is clearly a very very difficult child. It is obvious, so I do appreciate the seriousness and maturity with which this shrink handles him. Jesse's story and background is also not an easy one. Many a times, you do understand where he is coming from but at other times, you are not very sure. The actor playing Jesse is fantastic. He is scene stealer. The shrink comparatively as a more subdued personality and also does well. Overall, this is a very serious show. More than Jesses's sexuality, the focus here is more on his attitude and his struggle to come to terms with his adoptive family and the storm that has come into his life with sudden appearance of his birth parents. (4/10)
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