On this chapter of The Queerest Things I Watched Last Week, at the center of the story is an adorable pair of teen boys, but there are also cute Heartstopper lesbians and a transgender character.
- Heartstopper – Season 1 [Streaming]
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Heartstopper is a webcomic/graphic novel series turned into an eight-episode Netflix series. It reminded me a lot of the movie Beautiful Thing and the series Love, Victor. At the center of the series are Charlie and Nick. Charlie is the shy gay kid at school and Nick is the star Rugby player. Their story is very sweet and follows a coming out/becoming boyfriends track we’ve seen before. However, what makes this different from similar past stories is the bar of outness and being okay with being queer is higher. There are 4 characters who are out and not in a state of constant torture over being queer. It’s very refreshing.
In addition to Charlie and Nick is Elle, a member of Charlie’s core friend group who has to transfer to a different school for transphobia reasons. She gets her own cute romantic arc with another member of the friend group.
At the school Elle transfers to are the Heartstopper lesbians, Tara and Darcy. Elle becomes fast friends with the two of them.
Tara also happens to be Nick’s ex and as she and Darcy decide to come out they act as role models for Nick.
The show is entertaining, enjoyable and emotionally low stakes — in the bad way I mean. In the happy way, it’s the big emotional payoff we need these days.
This week: Shondaland is back!
