Jesy Nelson 'Odd One Out'
Posted on 18th November 2019
Recently, I became one of many others to watch the BBC documentary ‘Odd One Out’ by Little Mix member Jesy Nelson. I was shocked, disgusted and sympathetic towards the issue addressed: cyberbullying.
This emotional documentary discusses the feelings associated with cyberbullying and how Jesy Nelson herself became a target for online abuse and hate. Throughout, she is very open about the issue, at one point describing herself as “constantly feeling heartbroken”.
Jesy talks about how winning the X-Factor became the worst experience of her life, due to endless hate comments about her appearance on social media, such as; “the fat one off little mix”. The whole world had an opinion on her. As a consequence, she began to believe the comments that these people were making about her, knocking her confidence and self-image and making her feel as though she would never be happy again. This proves how just one thoughtless comment can be psychologically damaging and eventually consume someone’s life.
What surprised me most about this documentary was seeing the effect it had on someone who is in the public eye, who has the appearance of holding so much confidence, ambition and power that you would never have thought it would affect her as much as it did. This proves that if a celebrity can be targeted and affected severely by cyberbullying, then anyone can.
By the end of the documentary, after consulting a therapist, she reveals how she felt “like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders” and how she could eventually “see a light at the end of the tunnel”. She states that this issue is unacceptable and recognises that so long as you yourself are happy and healthy, you shouldn’t care what others think of you.
Personally I found this to be an emotional, yet truthful documentary, which many young people within today’s society are unfortunately able to relate to. 70% of young people today have experienced cyber bullying at some point in their lives. Therefore, it is important that this issue is not allowed to consume their lives and instead they know where help is available.
If you or anyone you know has become affected by online bullying, don’t hesitate to:
- Report it via the social media page
- Block the suspect
- Tell a trusted adult
- Visit bullying.co.uk/cyberbullying
- Call child line (free) on 0800 1111
Emma Davies, (1st year student - studying Fine Art, Media Studies and English Language).