Receiving V-MAIL from all of you amazing Bomb Girls fans is a very rewarding experience for us, because it just shows how much the show is cherished all over the world. And every now and then, there’s a message that stands out. We’ve had many of them, but this week we’d like to share one with you that we think is especially moving, inspiring and encouraging.
It comes from a fan who’d like to stay anonymous, and she is happy to let us share her story with all of you so that it can hopefully give courage to others who might be in a similar situation. Please note that it contains sensitive content.
Bonjour,
I discovered Bomb Girls a few months ago… But, oh my, what a discovery! This show has exploded in my face, no pun intended.
Bomb Girls has taught me a lot and helped me greatly. I’ve never had the opportunity to know my grandfather, who was drafted into the Nazi army corps. He was later captured and tortured by the French army to serve for them. My mother married an alcoholic and abusive man who beat her and cheated on her. One night when he was drunk, he raped her, and nine months later my half-brother was born. His father died later from alcohol abuse, and my mother married my father, a sweet and funny Spanish man. I was born almost a decade after they met. My father then went to live in another country when I was 4 years old. He could not stand being with my mother, who was manic-depressive. I grew up with it, I helped her get through every day life and took care of her as best I could.
My brother then enlisted in the Air Force when he was sixteen. I was six . There he began to change, became violent, racist, homophobic. He wanted me to fix my failed Spanish education, because for him the fact that I love my Spanish family was not correct. I quickly learned that I am a lesbian, having my first relationship with a woman when I was 11 years old. My brother went crazy, beat me and raped me. My mother listened to him doing it every night. And every night, she remained silent. There was a time when she reacted; she first asked me what she had done to deserve this, and then she told me to make an effort.
During my teens, I fell into a life of drugs, alcohol and sex. At 13 years of age, I was going to “street teen” parties. I drank and gradually became addicted to cocaine. The sexual, sometimes degrading experiences became more and more frequent. I fled my home when I was sixteen, the legal age in France to leave school. I fled without a degree, without money, without hope or self-esteem.
And from then onwards, I began to grow. At present, I do not drink a single drop of alcohol. I take no more drugs. I have a fabulous girlfriend and three totally crazy cats (they are important, my cats!), an apartment of 90m² I pay for myself, and I study law through evening classes so that one day I might, I hope, help others and get punishment for those who do not respect life.
Bomb Girls represents to me everything I have fought for in recent years. Love, hope, equality, life. The episodes of the show have soothed me, made me smile, laugh and cry. And they have made me proud, proud of what I’ve done so far, the person I am now. The show told me that everyone, without exception, one day, will suffer discrimination. And in a sense, it showed me a sad truth, even if the show takes place in the 40’s, some themes are still valid today.
For this, for these slices of life you offered us–stories that fill us with hope, courage and love–thank you. And I wish with all my heart that Bomb Girls will come back. Thank you all–actors, directors, producers, behind the scenes crew… A big thank you. Come, give us courage again. I will fight with you, because I know that this series is worth it; because I know that hundreds, if not thousands of others have found their own courage upon seeing the show.
I give you all my love,
(and a lot of bombs for the fight!)