Overwhelming Netflix series heart block When the first season aired last year, it was a huge hit with teens.
It was originally aimed at a younger audience, like the Alice Ottoman graphic novel it was based on. But its appeal appealed to a wider audience.
The show follows the beginning of a relationship between two same-sex school friends, Charlie Spring (Joe Rock) and Nick Nelson (Kit Conner).
The plot tells about Nick’s journey out of the closet, He realized he was bisexual.
The second season, which premieres on Thursday, August 3, focuses on Charlie and Nick’s growing love story.
for young LGBTQ+ community, heart block It’s about representation, identity, and first love.. At the same time, the series also tackles other teenage issues, such as bullying or friendship issues.
but Older viewers are also drawn to the series Its universal themes and nostalgia for school days are pink (even if they weren’t always that pink).
And, for some, the series had an even deeper impact.
Fears Associated with Not Straight
Fiona (not her real name) said the show helped her come out as bisexual for the first time at the age of 40.
“The thing to say is heart block It made me realize that my being bi is an oversimplification. A part of me probably always knew this, but I didn’t know how to label it because when I was growing up, no one talked about being bisexual,” he explained.
More people identify as bisexual than gay, according to a recently published study in the UK.
Fiona herself is married with a young son. Her husband became very supportive when she told her about her sexuality.
But things are very different now than they were in the 1980s.
for her, Growing up in the AIDS crisis Section 28 of an amendment in the United Kingdom states that authorities must not “knowingly promote homosexuality”, This is very harmful. He recalls hearing adults whisper AIDS as the “gay plague” more than once.
“There was a lot of trauma and fear associated with being straight,” she recalls.
like the parts fit
Eventually he found a solution, at least at the time: “Because I like boys too, so I go that way. (Bisexual) It’s always on my mind, but I have some negative thoughts about what it means to be bisexual.“.
He also believes that the lack of stories about bisexual people on screen doesn’t help either.
Last year’s Glaad report, which tallied LGBTQ representation on US television, noted a 4 percent decrease in bisexual characters compared to the previous year.
While there are bisexual characters too, this is Nick Nelson from Bisexual. heart block Who made it all work for Fiona.
“When I saw his travels, the emotions he felt… the more I thought about it, the more it had something to do with my past. It was like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle going around and seeing ‘Heartstopper’ finally made it all come together. Back in place.”
He explained that while the series is “very important for young people because it normalizes these feelings, There’s a generation of older adults who realize they’re bisexual, which helps them recognize and get over what happened in their teenage years.”
True Story…Hopeful
heart block It doesn’t whitewash the problems that still exist today.
Nick, for example, is part of a very macho school football team that includes some openly homophobic members.
“[Nick’s]fear of coming out to friends is very relatable. It’s something I’m still going through,” Fiona said.
but he pointed out heart block It’s also a “simple love story…without getting stuck in trauma,” which he thinks is important.
“There’s a big phase where every gay story involves HIV. You can’t have an easy love story like a straight guy.”
look heart block Guide Fiona as she begins to experiment with her new identity.
“I unconsciously started using the label (bisexual) to see how I felt. It was like unlocking a part of your identity that you’ve been hiding. It all happened out of the blue and when Nick came out to his mum, I cried non-stop.”
Fiona recently attended her first Pride event and while her husband has been an ally, she wasn’t ready to open up to her family just yet.
“My family was very heterosexual. I didn’t fit in very well because everyone fell into (traditional) gender roles: woman this, man that. And I’ve always been against that.”
While Fiona’s coming out journey has proceeded at her own pace, actor Kit Connor himself revealed on Twitter last year that he is bisexual, but suggested he was forced to come out. After social media pressure.
“When a person is not ready, they shouldn’t be forced to go out, they should be able to do it at their own pace. They push him into a place where he feels compelled to speak up. It’s totally unacceptable”, Fio Na assessed.
Connor himself recently stated that “one of the really powerful things is heart block It is the voice of many.”
He said the series was designed to “teach people that no matter what happens, it’s okay. It’s okay to not know, it’s okay to explore, it’s okay to figure things out. You’re going to get there. It’s going to be the best thing you’ve ever done.” .”
bisexual stigma
In season two, the relationship between Charlie and Nick will continue to develop and mature.
Connor said the couple is “very, very optimistic and hopeful about their relationship,” but noted that “coming out may not be as easy for them as they think.”
Dr. Julia Shaw, psychologist and author of this book Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexuality, say bisexual They face “double discrimination expressed by homosexuals and heterosexuals”.
“There’s an assumption that for bisexual women, it might be a phase, and for bisexual men, it’s the opposite … assuming you’re actually gay, but you’re not ready or not enough The courage to come out. From the closet,” he explained.
“Often, bisexual people are not considered queer enough to be part of the queer and queer community,” she added.
Xiao Zhan also admitted The importance of screen representation.
“When we interact with or meet people in a screen or other media environment, parasocial relationships (which help identify our one-sided relationships) emerge,” he explained.
For example, viewers might feel a real connection to the character Connor through a shared experience.
“We know that when it comes to queer issues, parasocial connections are very important in changing people’s hearts and minds. If you feel like you’ve met someone (gay or bi) in real life or through the media, you’re more likely to accept that it’s an actual sexuality. “
He added: “I think there has been a huge increase in bisexuality over the last five years, although still disproportionately so.”
especially about heart blocksaying it was “one of the first works to show the subtlety of bisexuality among young people in a way we haven’t seen before”.
The author herself, Alice Oseman, who identifies as asexual and asexual and uses the pronouns “she” and “she” interchangeably to refer to herself, said she would like to see “our struggles in the media It was accurately reflected, but it also made us feel hopeful, comforted and happy.” I like to think that “Heartstopper” is a bit of both. “
so, If Fiona saw Alice Ottoman now, what would she say to her?
Thank you for giving our generation the representation we don’t get. I don’t know if he’ll realize the impact he’s really having. “
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