This post is continuing my blog’s recent trajectory of Canadian divas who are saving me from the Great Diva Drought of 2021. My partner heard a lot of buzz about the Canadian TV show “Jann” coming to Hulu, a fictionalized tale of a real-life diva from back in the day and her attempts to revamp her career. It sounded totally up my alley so I anxiously awaited the Hulu premiere. Who knew it’d be my re-introduction to Jann Arden.
Right from the opening sequence, where a sobbing Jann is driving her SUV while her song “Insensitive” blares on the radio, I was hooked and laughing my ass off. My partner was laughing for another reason, because I knew who Jann Arden is. In 1994 I, like half of all North American gays, was obsessed with “Insensitive.” I loved it so much, I ran out and bought her album Living Under June on CD but over the years lost touch with Jann’s career, although she had eleven other albums.
“Insensitive” came out when I first came out. Trying to date guys who were just interested in a hook up. There were many a night with tear-stained cheeks driving home in one of my many POS (Piece-Of-Shit) vehicles wailing along to this song!
The show “Jann” is a hysterical look at the life of a self-absorbed diva (girl, I can relate) whose career is steered by two battling managers trying to rein in her crazy to get her career back on track while Jann is bumbling her way through life trying to bond with her sister’s family, helping care for her elderly mother and rekindling a romance with her ex-girlfriend. All the while Jann is poking fun at celebrity (I love her antagonistic run-ins with K.D. Lang and Sarah McLachlan), her career (doing commercials for people with over-active sweat glands), and herself (making everything about her). Every episode gave me a warped view of life as a diva and left me in stitches.
After watching the show, I’m once again a Jann Arden fan. I know they’re not one in the same but a star with such a self-deprecating sense of humor is a true diva, at least in my gay opinion. In the show and in real life, Jann dates both men and women, it’s nice to have a positive role model in the non-straight community. It’s heart-warming to see someone who loves based on a person, not on gender.
Jann Arden is now on my list of divas to see perform live. If she brings one of her warehouse supply-store book signings or grocery store parking lot tours to the USA, you can bet I’ll be in the front row or parking spot to witness all the fun that is Jann Arden.
