BY ALEXIS HOSTETTER

Recently Netflix released a show based on a graphic novel by Alice Oseman, titled “Heartstopper”. The story follows two young boys in high school as they navigate through their friendship, discovering it could be something so much more special. 

Many streaming services don’t necessarily have shows based on representation and coming-of-age films that are focused on LGBT+ people. Netflix is consistently breaking that barrier, with many shows and movies such as “Young Royals”, “Sex Education”, “Orange is the New Black”, “Fear Street”, and now “Heartstopper”. The show’s first season released recently, on April 22, with eight episodes running about twenty-five minutes each. If you were me, you could’ve binged it in an afternoon after school. 

If you thought this show could only impact you if you were a gay man, you’d be sorely wrong. The show includes representation of many different sexualities and genders, such as becoming transgender, figuring out whether you’re straight, gay, or bi, coming out, and many other things. The representation this show projects could apply to anyone, whether it be an ally or someone who is trying to figure themselves out. 

Currently, the graphic novel the show is based on is maintaining a high four star rating, with the show at a five star rating. People across the world seem to be raving about how well the journey was executed by Oseman. The show was very well done, and I personally texted many of my friends recommending the show, with one of them actually binging it all in one sitting just as I did, then texting me just how much she loved it herself. 

The show even includes the perspective of being judged and bullied for your sexuality. Throughout the show, Nick’s friend Harry had been teasing Charlie for his sexuality. As well as at the girls’ school, Higgs, a lesbian couple had came out and recieved a lot of backlash from their peers. The backlash included phrases familiar in todays day and age like, “You don’t look like a lesbian.” Many of the characters struggled with dealing with what people said about them, but at the end of the day, it’s all about how you react, rather than what they choose to think of you. 

If you’re a teenager struggling with identity, coming out, or dealing with what people would say, or just simply an ally wanting to learn more, I would recommend this show to you. From the perspective of someone who struggled with many of those, this show portrayed the feeling very well.