In my recent interview with Alice Oseman, they shared that Heartstopper is a series about teens FOR teens, as opposed to being a series about teens for a slightly older audience in mind, à la Euphoria. That’s not to say that Heartstopper isn’t realistic. Sure some of it is a bit much - what with the milkshake dates and the ardent confessions of friendship - but I just think, why the hell not? Life is hard and sometimes a slightly saccharine YA love story is just what the doctor ordered! There are so many nostalgic scenes and details in the show for me, from birthdays at bowling alleys to exploding ink pens. It might be that this series is a unique example of a queer, teen, romantic drama set in a British school environment.
I’ve watched plenty of LGBTQ+ teen shows before - Hollyoaks, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Glee, Love, Victor - but Heartstopper just hits different.
