We've been waiting YEARS for this day (when Alice Oseman's faaaaaaaabulous queer-af (and beautiful-af and deep-af and emotional-af) graphic novel, Heartstopper, is made into a Netflix television show). I imaged waking up early and binging the entire thing (at least once) right away. Except, I'd hyped it up so much in my head (with all of the behind the scenes pics from Alice and all of the magazine photoshoots and all of the lead up excitement) that I totally and completely avoided the entire thing for hours Friday morning, like one does.
Season One follows (for the most part) Volume One and Volume Two of the graphic novel series. Charlie Spring is played by Joe Locke, Nick Nelson is played by Kit Connor, and my feelings are played by the heart of my sleeve.
The Guardian said that Heartstopper is "possibly the loveliest show on TV" and if that ain't the truth. I mean, I got dark and sooooo emotional, but it stayed true to the original text, which is the most important part. And speaking of the original text, a bunch of the background images/murals/art-work is all Alice originals. And they're sprinkled in some of her leaf/flower/heart artwork in as animation into important scenes, just like she do in her graphic novels.
This series was....so damn important. The representation of race and sex and gender. The balancing act of being a teen. The real-life struggles of figuring out one's sexuality (and place in the world). The pureness of first loves and close friendships. The fucking infuriating fact that some people are just assholes and bullies. The fucking brilliant fact that some people are just themselves and supportive of their friends/family no matter what.
I'll probably have more thoughts and things to share as this wonderful, beautiful, important show sinks in more and I have more time to process...everything. For now, I just wanted to share my initial thoughts as well as some of my favorite scenes (from the books as well as the show--which, happened to be one of the scenes Alice was really looking forward to filming/seeing acted out).
If you liked the graphic novels, watch the show. If you liked the show, read the graphic novels (if you don't have the money to purchase them, they're free on several social media platforms). But do both. We all need more gay and more love in our lives (and if its more gay love, then I think the world would be a much better place).
Trigger Warnings: anxiety, depression, homophobia, internalized homophobia, bullying, self-image issue, body-image issues, self-harm, eating disorders, transphobia, violence, forced coming out, fear of coming out because teenage bullies are taught by adult bullies and sometimes the world sucks, etc
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