What happens when the people around you don't understand you — and how do you find the people who do?

In the Season One finale of The Still Growing Up Film Club, Cece Fanning revisits the beloved 1996 film Matilda to explore belonging, justice, community and the families we find for ourselves.

Growing up in a family that neither understands nor appreciates her, Matilda learns to rely on herself from an extraordinarily young age. But through books, school, friendship and eventually Miss Honey, she begins to discover something different: there are people in the world who will value you precisely for the things that make you different.

Cece reflects on why Matilda's story can resonate so strongly through a neurodivergent lens, from feeling like everyone else was given an instruction manual for socialising to finding comfort in books, developing fierce self-reliance and possessing an intense sense of fairness. She explores the difference between being nice and being kind, why the traits we're taught to see as weaknesses can sometimes become strengths, and why having power matters far less than what we choose to do with it.

Along the way, there are libraries, chocolate cakes, terrible parents, terrifying headteachers, telekinetic powers and seven more rules for growing up.

Because sometimes family isn't simply the people we're born to. It's the people who see us, choose us, support us and allow us to be entirely ourselves.

Follow Cece:

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenotoriouscece

📱 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenotoriouscece

✍️ Blog: https://cecewhatimean.com/

🛍️ Store: https://stillgrowinguppodcast.dashery.com/

Produced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network.

🎧 The Still Growing Up Film Club is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.

🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com

🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com

📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when you spend years doing everything “right” — only to discover you might have missed something along the way?

In this episode of The Still Growing Up Film Club, Cece Fanning heads back to high school with Booksmart, following best friends Molly and Amy as they attempt to squeeze four years of missed parties, bad decisions and teenage chaos into one unforgettable night before graduation.

As their carefully constructed plans spectacularly unravel, Cece explores what the film can teach us about perfectionism, achievement, friendship and the danger of assuming we already understand the people around us. She also looks at the pressure to be known for one particular thing — whether that's being smart, successful or neurodivergent — and what happens when other people see a very different version of us from the person we know ourselves to be.

Along the way, there are crushes, awkward encounters, unexpected friendships, plans going wildly off-script and some painful lessons about listening to the people we love. Molly and Amy may begin the night determined to prove that they can have it all, but they discover something more important: growing up sometimes means admitting you were wrong, apologising when you've hurt someone and allowing yourself to enjoy the present instead of constantly preparing for what's next.

Because working hard matters. But so do friendship, fun, mistakes and all the parts of life that can't be added to a résumé.

Follow Cece:

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenotoriouscece

📱 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenotoriouscece

✍️ Blog: https://cecewhatimean.com/

🛍️ Store: https://stillgrowinguppodcast.dashery.com/

Produced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network.

🎧 The Still Growing Up Film Club is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.

🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com

🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com

📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if growing up isn't about finally having everything figured out, but learning to like the person you already are?

In this episode of The Still Growing Up Film Club, Cece Fanning opens the diary on one of the most beloved romantic comedies of all time, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and makes the case that Bridget's story is also a coming-of-age film — just one where the person growing up happens to already be in her thirties.

From New Year's resolutions and disastrous dates to career changes, embarrassing family gatherings and questionable romantic decisions, Cece follows Bridget as she tries to build the life she thinks she's supposed to want. Along the way, she explores people-pleasing, masking, self-doubt, trusting your instincts and the uncomfortable feeling that everyone around you has adulthood figured out while you're still making it up as you go.

And while Bridget might begin the film determined to find the right man, her biggest transformation comes when she starts choosing herself. Cece looks at what Bridget can teach us about setting goals, surviving embarrassment, walking away from people who don't value us and learning that mistakes don't have to define what happens next.

Because finding someone who likes you just as you are is wonderful. Learning to offer yourself that same acceptance might be even more important.

Follow Cece:

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenotoriouscece

📱 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenotoriouscece

✍️ Blog: https://cecewhatimean.com/

🛍️ Store: https://stillgrowinguppodcast.dashery.com/

Produced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network.

🎧 The Still Growing Up Film Club is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.

🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com

🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com

📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.