There are many films and series about finding your own identity or your first love. “Coming of Age” is the name of the genre internationally, which in German would probably best be described as a series of development, puberty, adolescence or growing up. The Netflix series “Heartstopper” (eight half-hour episodes), which, like the Swedish series “Young Royals”, focuses on two boys in love, plays it through with excellent actors.
“Heartstopper” is the name of the new coming-of-age series on Netflix and, according to IMDb’s ratings, even outshines “Sex Education” with nine out of ten points.
Lanky teenager Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) only needs one word to fall in love with his boys’ school: “Hi.” That – and a smile from Nick Nelson – and it’s over for the last student who was bullied. Nick (Kit Connor), who is valued as a heartthrob and cool rugby player, also seems to like the outed Charlie. But probably not in the romantic way. Right?
Netflix: Proven concept rethought
The story seems to have been worked through many times: a supposedly inconspicuous person meets a popular person and falls in love. Popular person deals with social pressures and internal conflicts. Both get injured, both overcome the hurdles. Happy end.
But “Heartstopper” is different from many things, even if the plot isn’t particularly innovative and all the arcs of tension are resolved quickly. It is a queer and diversely told school series with a touchingly romantic love story, which is occasionally enriched with small animations such as little hearts and butterflies.
And best of all: It seems pleasantly relaxed when gays, lesbians, trans people, blacks, whites appear in roles here quite naturally – just like British producers have done in series like “Sex Education” or “Queer as Folk” or in did in the ’90s with the coming-out movie “Beautiful Thing”.
Netflix:Comic serves as a template
“Heartstopper” is based on the graphic novels of the same name by Alice Oseman. The 27-year-old also co-wrote the screenplay. The soundtrack is also carefully thought out.
Nick’s mother is sensitively played in a few scenes by Olivia Colman (“The Father”, “The Crown”). The Oscar-winner (“The Favorite”) previously worked with series director Euros Lyn on the crime series “Broadchurch.”
In view of this series and other streaming productions with various characters, a recent absence from Elon Musk seems inappropriate. Netflix has the woke virus, wrote the Tesla boss after the streaming leader stated in the last quarterly report that it had experienced a decline in users for the first time in ten years.
Wokeness is a “thought virus,” a threat to civilization, the 50-year-old claimed. Vigilance (wokeness) is “divisive at heart, exclusive and hateful,” said the tech billionaire. So the man who has incorporated Twitter complains that the entertainment industry itself reflects previous disadvantages and clichés in its productions.
Of course, the Queer Media Society, an association of queer media professionals in Germany, contradicts this: Musk’s “derivation of the viewer decline at Netflix” is reactionary and backward-looking, sweeping and populist, says a spokesman.
Musk, and others who agreed with him, implied that mainstream society was tuning in to diverse characters and issues. “His statements are not only empirically untenable, but also borderline agitation.” Generating content and humor on an equal footing, no longer reproducing stereotypes and intelligently breaking well-known clichés is progress.
In fact: The warm-hearted “Heartstopper” is the best proof.