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

Contents:

• THE ST OF NETFLIX’S HEARTSTOPPER W ON SCREEN TRAILBLAZER AT GAY TIMES HONOURS 2022
• THE ST OF NETFLIX’S HEARTSTOPPER VERS GAY TIMES: ‘IT SHOWS THE BETY OF QUEER LOVE’
• ‘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
• ‘YOUNG GAY PEOPLE BEG OUT AND HAPPY? IT’S REVOLUTNARY!’ MEET THE HEARTSTOPPER GENERATN
• THIS GAY NETFLIX TEEN DRAMA IS JT WHAT WE NEED
• WHY HEARTSTOPPER MAK ME WISH I'D HAD MY OWN GAY TEEN ROMANCE
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• ‘HEARTSTOPPER’ REVIEW: NETFLIX’S TRANSCENNT GAY ROM-COM DELIVERS A PERFECT FIRST SEASON

THE ST OF NETFLIX’S HEARTSTOPPER W ON SCREEN TRAILBLAZER AT GAY TIMES HONOURS 2022

The charmg same-sex romance, which began (and ntu) life as a thrice-monthly web ic, follows openly gay Nick and gby player Charlie as they bee unlikely iends and, eventually, disver they have feelgs for one another. Joe Locke, K Connor, Yasm Fney, Will Gao, Corna Brown and Kizzy Edgell are the recipients of the GAY TIMES Honour for On Screen Trailblazer, sponsored by CUPRA.

Locke told GAY TIMES earlier this year that ’s “important to show younger, pecially queer kids, that your life isn’t gog to be jt bullyg, ” addg: “You n have a happier life. GAY TIMES Honours sponsored by Meta Qut celebrat the dividuals and anisatns who have had a profound effect on the liv of LGBTQ+ people over the past 12 months.

The new digal edn of GAY TIMES magaze spotlights this year’s wners and is available to read now on the GAY TIMES app, Apple News +, Readly and Flipster. To follow all of the actn om GAY TIMES Honours sponsored by Meta Qut, check out our Instagram @GAYTIMES. It was October 31, and the Brish actor, then 18, was the middle of shootg the send season of Heartstopper, the young-adult Netflix romance seri which he plays Nick Nelson, a bisexual-but-hasn’t-realized--yet jock who be the primary love tert of the central character, the gay misf Charlie (played by Joe Locke).

THE ST OF NETFLIX’S HEARTSTOPPER VERS GAY TIMES: ‘IT SHOWS THE BETY OF QUEER LOVE’

He’s got a supportive mother (the great Olivia Colman, also seen the first season; “Dog a scene wh her is gog to teach you more than a year of drama school, ” Connor gh) and a tense dynamic wh a homophobic brother.

“It’s the experience of maybe you’re too straight to be gay and you’re too gay to be straight. Officials said the book picted homosexualy and was sold to love story, about two teenage boys, has been ma to a Netflix fe was issued by the Budapt metropolan ernment office, which told the state news agency MTI that had nducted an vtigatn to the bookshop for sellg the tle, and others that portray plotl volvg homosexualy.

‘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

"The probe stated that the books qutn pict homosexualy and spe this, they were placed among lerature aimed for mors, " said. In 2021, the ernment of prime mister Viktor Orban - who says he is fendg the untry's Christian valu - troduced a law banng the "display and promotn of homosexualy" among unr-18s. Charlie and Nick - played by newer Joe Locke and Rocketman actor K Connor - are subjected to homophobic bullyg by Nick's so-lled (Yasm Fney), a transgenr teen, has recently moved om the boys' grammar school where all her iends are, to the girls' equivalent, after also sufferg cel, who has a built up a big followg on TikTok, postg about her experienc of beg a young, black transgenr woman the UK, endured difficulti at school source, NetflixImage ptn, Elle fds hard to make iends at her new school at first"For me, school was the same.

"The bate about thentic stg is still ongog - should gay rol only be played by gay actors, for example? Many mixed the two (thk: the 1989 awards ntenr Longtime Compann, which varly closeted and open gay men ntend wh the first of the New York epimic, or 1986’s die darlg Partg Glanc) whereas others alt centrally wh the sticky notn of g to terms wh, and revealg, one's sexual inty. The late ‘90s prented somethg of a nveyor belt of g-outers both at home and abroad: thk 1998’s Get Real, about a nerd and an athlete who fall love an English school — more on that later — or Edge of Seventeen, which released the same year and als wh the trials and tribulatns of g out amid the anti-queer hostily of Reagan’s 2010s saw a new surge of tert the gay g-of-ager, wh g out an evable plot beat.

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

Followg the Love, Simon (2018) — another gay g-of-age film set a school, more notable for beg the first-ever LGBTQ+ stud movie than s artistic mers — off-shoot Love, Victor, Heartstopper is another show among many shows (and movi, songs; list your artistic mediums here) about g out. It's a very sweet ltle seri, stars Olivia Colman — she who n seldom do wrong — and, for somethg actually ma for and marketed towards kids, do a fair b to subvert the typil g out-slash-queer g of age-slash-gay rom trop. Rather than shoulr barge Charlie the halls and make a Great Big Deal about keepg public distance, he mak a pot of “allyship” around his peers, llg out loutish mat for their sually homophobic 's the ensemble, too, rehgly diverse for a genre tradnally domated by cis whe male homogeney (even if the central duo, cute as they might be, are your typil twks).

This might've ng te for gays growg up the ‘80s, and there’s an argument to be had that the accsibily of Heartstopper on a major streamg platform mak for a watershed moment, but g out stori have always been there for those of who looked for them. I distctly remember the movi I pirated when I was 13 and workg out the Gay Stuff for myself — My Own Private Idaho was there, as was Edge of Seventeen, and the major motn picture You Should Meet My Son! Followg the love story between the openly gay overthker Charlie Sprg (Joe) and buoyant gby player Nick Nelson (Connor), the seri is a light and joyo watch featurg ltle the way of trma and nflict, and that’s exactly what young queer people g to terms wh their sexualy or genr inty need to see.

THIS GAY NETFLIX TEEN DRAMA IS JT WHAT WE NEED

“The elements of bullyg and of sexual asslt are [Heartstopper], but ’s a miscule part of a really happy story, which I thk is really important to show younger, pecially queer kids, that your life isn’t gog to be jt bullyg, ” he tells GAY TIMES. You n read our full terview wh the st of Heartstopper and Alice Oseman om 15 April via the GAY TIMES app, Apple News+, Readly, and Flipster. The post The st of Netflix’s Heartstopper vers GAY TIMES: ‘It shows the bety of queer love’ appeared first on GAY TIMES.

) hummg about a potential season 2 to by a tr of love stori and gay, lbian and trans characters stgglg agast adversy, Heartstopper has managed to quickly garner massive acclaim, spe mostly featurg a st of h Brish characters that U. Heartstopper brgs viewers along for the ri as an out gay teen Charlie Sprg, played by Joe Locke (his first major role), navigat datg while stgglg agast bulli and discrimatn at an all-boys high school England. Charlie is gay, so datg at his all-boys school isn’t easy.

But he won’t go 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. For Gary, 59, the show is a tharsis for moments his own life growg up gay, like when someone outed him to his fay.

WHY HEARTSTOPPER MAK ME WISH I'D HAD MY OWN GAY TEEN ROMANCE

Ajayi (Fisayo Aka) is an openly gay teacher Heartstopper. 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.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

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.

‘HEARTSTOPPER’ REVIEW: NETFLIX’S TRANSCENNT GAY ROM-COM DELIVERS A PERFECT FIRST SEASON

“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.