( spoiler alert )
After winning several awards at the 2020 Emmys, Schitts Creek show director-creator and actor Dan Levay said, “Love and acceptance are at the core of our show, and that’s something we need more than ever. needed.”
The recently released series Heartstopper on Netflix also moves towards this world, where you have friends who fight for your rights, you have brothers and sisters who understand you, you have a family that accepts you and where there is only love.
Heartstopper is the story of Charlie (Joe Locke), a school student whose sexuality is known to all. Because the world isn’t as perfect as Schitts Creek , Charlie has to deal with some bullies at school. Charlie’s life begins to change when she meets Nick (Kit Connor), a year her senior at school.
Heartstopper is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Alyssa Osman, and this fact has been included in the series as well. Feeling of love, touching… and the coming of animation in between the scenes gives the feeling of boyhood love.
The series has not hurried to show Nick’s sexuality, rather it has been shown with great sensitivity. How Nick falls in love with Charlie after meeting her and how this feeling goes beyond friendship. How does he realize that his choices may not be limited to just one gender.
The series fights for the acceptance and rights of LGBTQ+ people in the society. When Nick realizes that he likes a boy, he does not show any disgust or anger, as is often seen in films, especially Indian films. When Nick tells his mother (Olivia Colman) that Charlie is her boyfriend, she immediately hugs him. Not even for a moment is he made to feel that this is something he would hesitate to accept. No! This is homosexuality, this is biosexuality, and it is as natural as being straight.
As Simon asks in Love Simon , “Why is being straight the default?” So neither being straight is the default, nor is being homosexual. Sexuality is fluid.
When you are carrying a secret inside you, the first thing you do is find a safe place for it. Nick’s ‘safe place’ turns out to be Tara and Darcy, who are outspoken about their lesbian relationship, to whom Nick is the first to tell about his and Charlie’s relationship.
The series also talks about how bad relationships break you down. Charlie’s boyfriend Ben meets her secretly before Nick does and refuses to even recognize her in front of everyone. Ben’s behavior causes Charlie to feel like a burden on her boyfriends and friends, and she carries this trauma further into her relationship with Nick, and when Nick gives her respect and love, she trusts Nick. Difficult to get.
In terms of dealing with sexuality, gender and school, it is quite reminiscent of Netflix’s second series Sex Education . In Sex Education too, the complications of discovering one’s sexuality during teenage have been presented in a very correct way. Perhaps the reason for this similarity is that both the series are British.
Many films have been made on teenage sexuality, such as Love Simon , Alex Strangelove etc., but there are very few that can accurately describe the confusions and troubles of a young mind. Love Simon was successful in this to a great extent. Call Me Buy Your Name, which has been praised by audiences and critics , is also one of the LGBTQ+ films, however, it is a romance between a 17-year-old boy and a 24-year-old man, so it might not fit the teenage romance genre. .
Heartstopper is a sweet and simple story, and just finds a place and love in this world for LGBTQ+ people.