I binged Heartstopper in one sitting and I'll probably do it again soon.

The week in queer television reviews continues! This time I'm going to talk about Heartstopper, which is on Netflix and is an adaptation of a graphic novel. Heartstopper caught me by surprise. I expected a romantic comedy, but what came across my screen was a story that was remarkably free of drama, and was just a budding love story between two kids that came from different worlds. It was allowed to unfold without manufactured breakups, terrible tragedies, and without the expletives and nudity of Euphoria or Sex Education. In a word...it was just wonderful and pretty grounded in actual reality.

This is another show that was everything that I've wanted and couldn't express. It's so wholesome and heartwarming. The fact that Charlie and Nick have this chaste relationship is part of the absolute charm of the whole thing. Queer culture is drenched in sex, and it's pretty much ubiquitous among young gay men on the verge of adulthood (which happens at different ages around the world). I follow an Instagram couple (for example) that look like they could be 19, and they're porn stars flying to Ibiza to party, London, Manchester, Hollywood, and you name it. They are awash with money and about as dumb as rocks because the only things they seem to do is spend money and have sex to post online to fuel their expensive lifestyle. Then there are the other gay men (also 19) putting on makeup and clay masks to (I guess) plump up their already young skin. It feels a lot like water just trying to be wet when water is already wet. What's the point? Heartstopper in contrast to this dares to tell the story of love without all that garbage. It's just two boys who really like each other, seeing each other, and then saying "hi" in a way that makes me verklempt. Seriously, the word "hi" becomes so romantic and good that I was just swept away by it whenever Charlie or Nick took the time to say it to one another.

The main romance of the show is pitched perfectly. Even in "straight" love stories, it's so rare for the athletic love interest to be an insecure character of pure heart who doesn't make some terrible mistake to introduce drama. Nick (in this role) is such a refreshingly likeable and relatable boy. Loads of people on Facebook are saying that they wanted something like this when they were young. If I'd had access to this when I was a teen, I absolutely would have realized some things about myself that took a lot longer to crystalize. That being said, everyone wants something like this. But I know (because I've been around this racetrack called life a few times) that it is exceptionally rare kinda like the fabled blue rose of fairy tales. That doesn't mean we shouldn't believe it could happen, which is why I love this story so much. It reminded me of why I became a writer in the first place: I like to dream.

I thought the homophobia they showed in the story was very accurate as well. There are so many characters saying, "I'm not homophobic, but..." or something like, "I'm an ally," and then they do something to diminish the main character (or commit some micro aggression). We also get very accurate and real comebacks for these people from characters who have learned to have tough skins and to draw boundaries. They snap back by saying things like, "Thank you for your service, but please move on," and it feels so great. That's kinda what homophobia is like in modern times. People aren't so brazen anymore that they threaten you with fisticuffs or other forms of violence (sure those still exist, but they are becoming more uncommon). Instead, homophobia has entered a passive/aggressive stage. It's morphed, kinda like the variants of the Omicron virus, and attacks gay people through innuendo, or backward compliments. This is what we all now have to deal with in America (especially).

Anyway, all that being said, the actors who played Charlie and Nick absolutely nailed the nervousness and butterflies moments. The lesbian couple was also well-scripted, and I found myself getting invested in their story arc as well. The one thing that bugged me a little was Tau, who was very defensive of Charlie and always threatening to hurt Nick if he hurt Charlie...it was a bit heavy-handed and was really the only source of tension in the show. And as it turns out, Nick had purely good intentions with Charlie and was in a process of realizing a great truth about himself, and he had the courage to show it to the world once he figured it out. Tau (I think) was just feeling lost because his friend group that very much had Charlie at its center was splintering into relationships in which he was no longer a priority. All of his friends were getting together (except for him) and they no longer had time for movie night at his house or for hanging out and having those long, meaningful conversations that friends of the same age tend to have. So, of course, Nick Nelson (Charlie's boyfriend to be) was very threatening to that, and Tau attacked him with claws out until Nick showed Tau that he was a good person and could be Tau's friend too (Nick's a puppy dog masquerading as a human...I swear).

This year we are getting so much gay! I love it. I'm just a little worried about getting attached to it all. For example, I feel like this show (Heartstopper) only got made because it was already in the pipeline before Netflix started hemorrhaging subscribers. I think they're going to think that woke content is dead weight, and anything that isn't Stranger Things won't help slow their decline in subscribers. Ahh well...it was a beautiful moment while it lasted. My favorite moment? When Nick runs to Charlie's house in the rain and stands outside all drenched. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  Y'all seriously need to watch this show.