‘Young gay people beg out and happy? It’s revolutnary!’ Meet the Heartstopper generatn | Life and style | The Guardian

Contents:

• QUIZ: AM I GAY HEARTSTOPPER?
• ‘YOUNG GAY PEOPLE BEG OUT AND HAPPY? IT’S REVOLUTNARY!’ MEET THE HEARTSTOPPER GENERATN
• IS ‘HEARTSTOPPER’ ACTOR K CONNOR GAY? HERE’S WHAT HE SAYS
• ‘HEARTSTOPPER’: INSI THE GAY TEEN ROM-COM EVERYONE IS SWOONG OVERAWW!NETFLIXA TOTALLY CHILL AND NOT-AT-ALL OVERENTHIASTIC GUI TO EVERYTHG “HEARTSTOPPER” THAT HAS FANS LOSG THEIR MDS. (SURPRISE, ’S OLIVIA COLMAN!) WARNG: SOME SPOILERS.FLETCHER PETERSENTERTAMENT REPORTERUPDATED APR. 22, 2022 3:14PM EDT / PUBLISHED APR. 22, 2022 3:05PM EDT AS SUNNY DAYS AND SUMMER FLGS APPROACH, NETFLIX IS HEATG THGS UP WH A NEW ROMANCE SERI—BUT ONE THAT’S ALMOST TOO STICKY SWEET. SCRATCH THAT, ACTUALLY—HEARTSTOPPER IS SO ADORABLE. IT’S PERFECT! I LOVE ! IT N DO NO WRONG!WH A DITED FAN BASE SGG S PRAIS ALL OVER SOCIAL MEDIA, A TWEE SOUNDTRACK RIPPED STRAIGHT OM A 2010’S TUMBLR ACUNT, AND THE SWEETT TWO YOUNGSTERS PLAYG THE LEADS, HEARTSTOPPER WILL, WELL, STOP YOUR HEART. (AND NO, I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE FOR THAT RNY PUN.)MORE REALISTILLY, WILL: MAKE YOUR HEART SKIP A BEAT, FLIP AROUND AND FLUTTER WH JOY, SHATTER TO A LN PIEC, ETC.—ALL THE SWOONY HALLMARK THGS—AS LTLE CHARLIE (JOE LOCKE) EXPERIENC THE EPIC HIGHS AND LOWS OF HIGH-SCHOOL FOOTBALL ( ENGLAND ’S LLED “GBY,” I GUS). CHARLIE IS GAY, SO DATG AT HIS ALL-BOYS SCHOOL ISN’T EASY. HIS FIRST FLG SEEMS REALLY TO HIM, DASHG AROUND THE SCHOOL TO MAKE OUT RNERS AND EXPRSG THEIR FEELGS FOR EACH OTHER OVER INSTAGRAM DMS. BUT HE WON’T GO PUBLIC.THAT SADNS ONLY LASTS A LTLE WHILE, WHICH IS ONE OF HEARTSTOPPER’S CHARMS: EVEN THOUGH CHARLIE FAC PLENTY OF WALLFLOWER ISSU, HE’S STILL PRETTY NFINT ABOUT BEG GAY AND GETS A REAL, THRIVG ROMANCE OF HIS OWN WH ANOTHER BLOKE. ENTER NICK (K CONNOR), A SPORTS BRO WHO RECS CHARLIE FOR THE GBY TEAM. NICK DON’T JT STT ALL HANDSOME AND CHARMG TO TAKE CHARLIE’S BREATH AWAY, THERE’S A FUN TWIST WH HIS CHARACTER—BUT MORE ON THAT LATER. THEIR CHEMISTRY IS JAW-DROPPING. SERLY: IF YOU LOVE ROM-S, G-OF-AGE, OR REALLY, ANYTHG THAT FALLS UNR THE “FEEL GOOD” TEGORY OF TV, HEARTSTOPPER IS A JAM. SPEAKG OF JAMS, HERE’S ANOTHER ROUND OF APPLSE FOR THE MIC—FEATURG, FOR EXAMPLE, “DON’T DELETE THE KISS” BY WOLF ALICE, FRANKIE COSMOS, MAGGIE ROGERS, ETC.—WHICH MANAG TO F THE VIBE OF THE PROJECT AND SOUND LIKE WAS RIPPED STRAIGHT OM CHARLIE’S SPOTIFY.ALICE OSEMAN’S ORIGAL WEBIC, HEARTSTOPPER HAS A RABID BUILT- FAN BASE. THEY ARRIVED DROV AS SOON AS THE BATCH OF EIGHT EPISOS LAND ON NETFLIX. THEIR FAWNG OVER THE HEARTSTOPPER LOVERS MA THE SERI IMMEDIATELY SOAR TO THE TRENDG PAGE OF TWTER WH AN OUTPOURG OF SUPPORT FOR THE ADAPTATN.FANS ARE PECIALLY STCK BY THE AMOUNT OF PARALLELS THE SERI HAS TO THE WEBIC, GRATEFUL THAT THERE WAS SO MUCH RPECT FOR S SOURCE MATERIAL. REMEMBER THAT PEN EXPLOSN EPISO 1? THAT’S STRAIGHT OM THE IC. ADVERTISEMENT WE’RE NOT EVEN AT THE BT PART OF THE SHOW YET, THOUGH. THAT EPISO 1, RIGHT AROUND THE END OF THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE SHOW: AMY AWARD-WNER OLIVIA COLMAN MAK A SURPRISE APPEARANCE AS NICK’S SUPPORTIVE MOTHER. WHEN I FIRST SAW HER FACE—TALK ABOUT HEART-STOPPG! (AGA, I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE!)OSEMAN HAD THE SAME REACTN AFTER COLMAN JOED THE ST. “I LERALLY THOUGHT THIS WAS THE STUPIST IA EVER,” OSEMAN RELLED WHEN COLMAN’S NAME WAS FIRST MENTNED. “I THOUGHT THERE WAS NO WAY SHE WOULD WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS OR ANYONE FAMO WOULD WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS. I WAS PROVEN WRONG!” NETFLIX THE HEARTSTOPPER FANS HAVE IMMEDIATELY WELED COLMAN TO THEIR UNIVERSE, CELEBRATG HER TOUCHG SCENE LATER THE SEASON—SPOILER ALERT!—WHEN SHE LOVGLY ACCEPTS HER SON AFTER HE OUT TO HER.“THANK YOU #HEARTSTOPPER FOR GIVG NICK NELSON,” ONE ER SHARED, “TO SEE HIM FIGURE HIMSELF OUT, UNRSTAND HE IS BI AND TELL HIS MUM ON HIS OWN TERMS HIS OWN TIME AND FOR HER TO JT HUG HIM.” ADVERTISEMENT OH, AND JOE LOCKE, WHO PLAYS NICK, N NOW LL COLMAN HIS “UNOFFICIAL MOTHER--LAW” HIS INSTAGRAM B. JT ONE MORE ADDN TO THE SEA OF MANY REASONS TO LOVE HEARTSTOPPER! FLETCHER PETERS
• QUIZ: HOW GAY ARE YOU, REALLY?

QUIZ: AM I GAY HEARTSTOPPER?

Play this excgly tertg quiz and fd out, "am I gay heartstopper.

" Gay people are lovg, rg, and nocently cute. Fans found heartwarmg relatabily when Nick Google's if he is gay.

‘YOUNG GAY PEOPLE BEG OUT AND HAPPY? IT’S REVOLUTNARY!’ MEET THE HEARTSTOPPER GENERATN

But Nick is seen as a handsome and manly gby player, and he starts to wonr if he is gay. He search, “Am I gay?

He had multiple tabs open to LGBTQ webs explag the emotns he is feelg, homophobia toward the LGBTQ muny, and nversn therapy. Nick also tak an onle quiz and gets over 60% rult of beg gay. But fans might be terted learng when Nick Google’s “Am I gay?

When Googlg the qutn, the send most searched suggtn is “am i gay quiz buzzfeed. A fan on Twter ments, “the most realistic thg Heartstopper is the “Am I gay” quiz scene sent me gay back to when I was 11 or 12, the middle of the night, furly tryg to figure myself out wh them. Another fan on Twter ments, “i hate beg this person but the “are you gay” quiz scene on heartstopper actually broke my heart.

IS ‘HEARTSTOPPER’ ACTOR K CONNOR GAY? HERE’S WHAT HE SAYS

Aimed primarily at a younger dience, the show is about an openly gay male sixth former at an English prehensive (played by 18-year-old Joe Locke) who falls love wh the school’s most popular gby player the year above. By the time – episo eight – the two ma characters had tly fallen for each other, teenage Blackpool FC footballer Jake Daniels had e out; he was the first gay male profsnal footballer to do so sce Jt Fashanu 1990.

A week after Fashanu me out more than three s ago, his own brother – fellow footballer John – all but disowned him: “John Fashanu: My gay brother is an outst” read a headle The Voice. When I left school, jt over a ago, LGBTQ+ societi were credibly unmon: my sendary tn began only a year after sectn 28 was repealed, legislatn which banned lol thori and schools om “promotg homosexualy” any form.

Wh mut, one sixth-former, Ada, is tellg me how a heteronormative society, spac n by and for queer people – such as their school’s active Gay Straight Alliance – are important plac for self-exprsn and personal stunt shar reflectns on their own experienc: 18-year-old Greg reunts his disfort his prev tn settg, a fah school, while holdg hands wh his now boyiend; Milo, a non-bary sixth-former, was readily accepted by most rners of the school muny wh ltle send Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian“I had a really posive experience of beg queer when I was younger, ” says Amy, a fal year pupil. “Young, Brish gay people beg out and happy? Havg spent 14 years workg at the club var paci, she has seen huge shifts the way clivy at the club is implemented: at every level, players and staff have attend Football v Homophobia ssns and trag, and 2018, Leeds Uned was the primary sponsor for the cy’s Pri events.

‘HEARTSTOPPER’: INSI THE GAY TEEN ROM-COM EVERYONE IS SWOONG OVERAWW!NETFLIXA TOTALLY CHILL AND NOT-AT-ALL OVERENTHIASTIC GUI TO EVERYTHG “HEARTSTOPPER” THAT HAS FANS LOSG THEIR MDS. (SURPRISE, ’S OLIVIA COLMAN!) WARNG: SOME SPOILERS.FLETCHER PETERSENTERTAMENT REPORTERUPDATED APR. 22, 2022 3:14PM EDT / PUBLISHED APR. 22, 2022 3:05PM EDT AS SUNNY DAYS AND SUMMER FLGS APPROACH, NETFLIX IS HEATG THGS UP WH A NEW ROMANCE SERI—BUT ONE THAT’S ALMOST TOO STICKY SWEET. SCRATCH THAT, ACTUALLY—HEARTSTOPPER IS SO ADORABLE. IT’S PERFECT! I LOVE ! IT N DO NO WRONG!WH A DITED FAN BASE SGG S PRAIS ALL OVER SOCIAL MEDIA, A TWEE SOUNDTRACK RIPPED STRAIGHT OM A 2010’S TUMBLR ACUNT, AND THE SWEETT TWO YOUNGSTERS PLAYG THE LEADS, HEARTSTOPPER WILL, WELL, STOP YOUR HEART. (AND NO, I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE FOR THAT RNY PUN.)MORE REALISTILLY, WILL: MAKE YOUR HEART SKIP A BEAT, FLIP AROUND AND FLUTTER WH JOY, SHATTER TO A LN PIEC, ETC.—ALL THE SWOONY HALLMARK THGS—AS LTLE CHARLIE (JOE LOCKE) EXPERIENC THE EPIC HIGHS AND LOWS OF HIGH-SCHOOL FOOTBALL ( ENGLAND ’S LLED “GBY,” I GUS). CHARLIE IS GAY, SO DATG AT HIS ALL-BOYS SCHOOL ISN’T EASY. HIS FIRST FLG SEEMS REALLY TO HIM, DASHG AROUND THE SCHOOL TO MAKE OUT RNERS AND EXPRSG THEIR FEELGS FOR EACH OTHER OVER INSTAGRAM DMS. BUT HE WON’T GO PUBLIC.THAT SADNS ONLY LASTS A LTLE WHILE, WHICH IS ONE OF HEARTSTOPPER’S CHARMS: EVEN THOUGH CHARLIE FAC PLENTY OF WALLFLOWER ISSU, HE’S STILL PRETTY NFINT ABOUT BEG GAY AND GETS A REAL, THRIVG ROMANCE OF HIS OWN WH ANOTHER BLOKE. ENTER NICK (K CONNOR), A SPORTS BRO WHO RECS CHARLIE FOR THE GBY TEAM. NICK DON’T JT STT ALL HANDSOME AND CHARMG TO TAKE CHARLIE’S BREATH AWAY, THERE’S A FUN TWIST WH HIS CHARACTER—BUT MORE ON THAT LATER. THEIR CHEMISTRY IS JAW-DROPPING. SERLY: IF YOU LOVE ROM-S, G-OF-AGE, OR REALLY, ANYTHG THAT FALLS UNR THE “FEEL GOOD” TEGORY OF TV, HEARTSTOPPER IS A JAM. SPEAKG OF JAMS, HERE’S ANOTHER ROUND OF APPLSE FOR THE MIC—FEATURG, FOR EXAMPLE, “DON’T DELETE THE KISS” BY WOLF ALICE, FRANKIE COSMOS, MAGGIE ROGERS, ETC.—WHICH MANAG TO F THE VIBE OF THE PROJECT AND SOUND LIKE WAS RIPPED STRAIGHT OM CHARLIE’S SPOTIFY.ALICE OSEMAN’S ORIGAL WEBIC, HEARTSTOPPER HAS A RABID BUILT- FAN BASE. THEY ARRIVED DROV AS SOON AS THE BATCH OF EIGHT EPISOS LAND ON NETFLIX. THEIR FAWNG OVER THE HEARTSTOPPER LOVERS MA THE SERI IMMEDIATELY SOAR TO THE TRENDG PAGE OF TWTER WH AN OUTPOURG OF SUPPORT FOR THE ADAPTATN.FANS ARE PECIALLY STCK BY THE AMOUNT OF PARALLELS THE SERI HAS TO THE WEBIC, GRATEFUL THAT THERE WAS SO MUCH RPECT FOR S SOURCE MATERIAL. REMEMBER THAT PEN EXPLOSN EPISO 1? THAT’S STRAIGHT OM THE IC. ADVERTISEMENT WE’RE NOT EVEN AT THE BT PART OF THE SHOW YET, THOUGH. THAT EPISO 1, RIGHT AROUND THE END OF THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE SHOW: AMY AWARD-WNER OLIVIA COLMAN MAK A SURPRISE APPEARANCE AS NICK’S SUPPORTIVE MOTHER. WHEN I FIRST SAW HER FACE—TALK ABOUT HEART-STOPPG! (AGA, I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE!)OSEMAN HAD THE SAME REACTN AFTER COLMAN JOED THE ST. “I LERALLY THOUGHT THIS WAS THE STUPIST IA EVER,” OSEMAN RELLED WHEN COLMAN’S NAME WAS FIRST MENTNED. “I THOUGHT THERE WAS NO WAY SHE WOULD WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS OR ANYONE FAMO WOULD WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS. I WAS PROVEN WRONG!” NETFLIX THE HEARTSTOPPER FANS HAVE IMMEDIATELY WELED COLMAN TO THEIR UNIVERSE, CELEBRATG HER TOUCHG SCENE LATER THE SEASON—SPOILER ALERT!—WHEN SHE LOVGLY ACCEPTS HER SON AFTER HE OUT TO HER.“THANK YOU #HEARTSTOPPER FOR GIVG NICK NELSON,” ONE ER SHARED, “TO SEE HIM FIGURE HIMSELF OUT, UNRSTAND HE IS BI AND TELL HIS MUM ON HIS OWN TERMS HIS OWN TIME AND FOR HER TO JT HUG HIM.” ADVERTISEMENT OH, AND JOE LOCKE, WHO PLAYS NICK, N NOW LL COLMAN HIS “UNOFFICIAL MOTHER--LAW” HIS INSTAGRAM B. JT ONE MORE ADDN TO THE SEA OF MANY REASONS TO LOVE HEARTSTOPPER! FLETCHER PETERS

Staff never e homophobic language, when at one stage they might well have done whout thkg about .

QUIZ: HOW GAY ARE YOU, REALLY?

” On multiple ocsns, young Leeds players have reported homophobic language om opponents on the pch to refere, who haven’t always taken any actn. There’s no nyg much has changed sce Queer As Folk, the seri he wrote about three young gay men livg Manchter, was first released 1999. In the same way, shows like Heartstopper take the dialogue further: the mentorship picted between an out gay teacher and a gay pupil feels firmly new terrory; as Sex Edutn, young gay male characters are fally shown to foster close iendships wh their heterosexual male peers.