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.

What can surviving a zombie apocalypse teach us about surviving everyday life?

In this episode of The Still Growing Up Film Club, Cece Fanning takes an unconventional coming-of-age trip into Zombieland, following Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita and Little Rock through a world where staying alive requires rules, resilience, courage — and occasionally a desperate search for a Twinkie.

Using Columbus's famous survival rules as a starting point, Cece explores our need for structure and predictability, the comfort of self-imposed rules, and what happens when keeping ourselves safe begins to get in the way of actually living. Through a neurodivergent lens, she reflects on anxiety, hypervigilance, vulnerability, finding safe people and the complicated process of learning when to trust ourselves enough to take a risk.

But survival is only part of the story. Zombieland is also about finding your people, knowing what keeps you going, doing things even when you're scared, enjoying the little things and making room for fun when life feels overwhelming.

Because sometimes the rules that keep us safe are exactly what we need. And sometimes growing means knowing when it's okay to break them.

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 does it actually mean to become the person you're capable of being — without losing the person you already are?

In this episode of The Still Growing Up Film Club, Cece Fanning revisits the beloved coming-of-age classic The Princess Diaries and Mia Thermopolis's unexpected journey from invisible teenager to Princess of Genovia.

Through princess lessons, makeovers, friendship fallouts, embarrassing mistakes and one very important royal decision, Cece explores what Mia's story can teach us about identity, confidence, courage and finding our own voice. She considers the difference between changing to meet other people's expectations and allowing ourselves to grow in ways that genuinely feel right.

Cece also looks at The Princess Diaries through a neurodivergent lens, reflecting on the parts of Mia she finds particularly relatable — from literal thinking and feeling awkward or out of place to the struggle of stepping outside an identity other people have prescribed for us.

Because becoming more confident doesn't have to mean becoming somebody else. Sometimes growing up is about discovering that you can change, make mistakes, ask for help and still remain entirely yourself.

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 can Ferris Bueller teach us about letting go of the plan and actually enjoying the moment we're in?

In the first episode of The Still Growing Up Film Club, Cece Fanning revisits the 1986 coming-of-age classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the lessons hidden inside one unforgettable day of playing hooky.

Through Ferris, Cameron and Sloane's adventure across Chicago, Cece explores spontaneity, friendship, anxiety, masking and the pressure we can put on ourselves to make everything go according to plan. From Ferris's determination to make the day count to Cameron learning to confront his fear, the film offers a reminder that growing up sometimes means taking a chance, finding your people and accepting that life can still be meaningful when it goes off script.

For a neurodivergent brain that loves schedules and certainty, perhaps Ferris has something particularly useful to teach us: leave a little room for the unexpected.

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 can coming-of-age movies teach us about growing up - even when we're already adults?

In this trailer, discover The Still Growing Up Film Club, a podcast exploring the lessons hidden within coming-of-age films and what their characters, choices and experiences can teach us about our own lives.

With a special appreciation for the late-diagnosed autistic community and all who love them, each episode takes the form of a stand-alone essay focused on a different film, exploring identity, relationships, belonging, personal growth and what it really means to grow up.

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.