LGBTQ+ people my age didn’t get to have these experiences of queer joy. As I came to the end of the series, I slowly realised why.
It’s a warm, inclusive, funny and down-to-earth look at life for young LGBTQ+ teens today.Īnd yet, if you are an adult like me watching Heartstopper, these exhilarating plotlines of first kisses and new love may leave you with a strange, unexpected melancholy. We spend most of our time with the openly gay Charlie (Joe Locke), who falls for rugby-obessed Nick (Kit Connor). There’s that kissing couple, Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell), and one of the characters, Elle (Yasmin Finney) is a young trans woman. It’s an unapologetic celebration of young, queer joy.īased on the web comics by Alice Oseman, Heartstopper follows a set of mostly LGBTQ+ friends in a British secondary school as they navigate crushes and relationships. There is confetti and a euphoric song by Chvrches. Another teenager, Nick, who is coming to terms with his own bisexuality, watches on with silent admiration. They kiss on the dancefloor in front of all their school friends - and no one makes a fuss. Two young women are at a party, head over heels in love.
There’s a moment in the Netflix coming-of-age drama Heartstopper that sums up the spirit of the show.
