by Douglas Messerli
The British romantic comedy-drama series Heartstopper was written and created by
Alice Oseman, based on her webcomic on Tumblr and Tapas and her graphic novel of the same
name, featuring primarily the gay love between two grammar young school boys,
Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson. The series also explores, to a lesser degree,
the lives of the two boys’ friends Tao Xu, Elle Argent, Isaac Henderson, Tara Jones,
and Darcy Olsson.
The
series’ charm relies, quite apparently, on its two leads Joe Locke and Kit
Connor. Although all of the actors are good (Nick’s mom is played by the
incomparable Olivia Coleman and the voice over the school’s loudspeaker is
Stephen Fry’s) it is Locke and Connor’s good looks and engaging personalities
that make this TV series so different from others. Critics have also cited the
straightforwardness and honesty of Heartstopper, which over time certainly
does reveal the dangers and problems of being gay and out as a student; but yet
presents us with basically good-natured kids who represent youth in a truly
positive way.
As the
reviewer for Variety, Aramide Tinubu nicely summarized the series: “Blissful
and euphoric, Heartstopper is a reminder that life is about living for
yourself. More than that, those who have caused harm, whether they’ve offered
an apology or not, shouldn’t automatically regain access to safe spaces or the
people they’ve hurt. After all, coming out or allowing people in is an intimate
gift, much like the series itself.”
Below I
treat each of the season’s episodes as separate films, commenting and indexing
them as I would separate short films. The various episodes run from 26 to 30
minutes.
Los Angeles, September 28, 2024
.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment