Cork author: Why Heartstopper has been healing for many

Last month, Netflix released its highly anticipated film conclusion to the Heartstopper television series, Heartstopper Forever.

Based on the six hugely popular comic volumes and two novellas, Heartstopper was adapted as a Netflix television series in 2022. Author, and now honorary Doctor of Letters, Alice Oseman began publishing chapters of the comic free to the public online. Now, she’s the brain behind a show that streams in countries around the world on Netflix, the current biggest streaming service.

What is it about Heartstopper that makes it such a phenomenon?

Firstly, some of the key cast members were found via a nationwide open call for queer actors, ensuring that first-time actors were allowed to audition and that the actors were close in age to their characters.

The series’ protagonist, Charlie Spring, begins the series aged 14, and finds himself in love with his schoolmate Nick Nelson. He’s recently been outed at his all-boys school and found himself the victim of immense bullying, which causes him to struggle with his mental health.

Oseman and Netflix found their Charlie in Joe Locke, who since appearing in the series has made his West End and Broadway debuts, and has joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Wiccan. Audiences were enamoured by how authentic the actors came across on screen, and how the teenage characters were portrayed by real teenagers.

Any awkwardness feels endearing, and lots of queer adults (myself included) found it really healing to see what growing up queer in a positive environment could have been like.

Unlike some popular shows, there was no stunt casting, so every actor earned the audience’s love out of pure talent, growing successful acting careers based on their own merit.

A number of well-established actors have also appeared in the show such as Olivia Colman and Jonathan Bailey. Its soundtrack remains rooted in indie-pop, but now also includes artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish who feature in both the show and film.

The Heartstopper series and film are often criticised for their optimism, but I feel that a lot of this is tied to the fact that the show doesn’t contain much sexual content. Heartstopper follows the love lives of young queer teenagers — of course there is cheesiness, naivety, and awkwardness. The film is considerably more mature than the preceding three series as the actors themselves are now adults, but personally, the optimistic side of the franchise is why I enjoy it so much.

In queer media, I feel like the majority of stories end traumatically, often due to homophobic environments or the characters tragically dying. Heartstopper offers queer people an outlet which previously felt reserved only for straight people - a story with a happy ending. Like many fictional romance stories, it has parts where you have to suspend your disbelief. When people only focus on this element of the franchise, it only highlights the double standard held for queer shows compared to straight ones. Sometimes, you need cheesy. You want to watch something uplifting that gives you hope. Heartstopper does just that whilst allowing its characters to maintain their teenage qualities – they fumble when communicating, they’re prone to co-dependency, they misread social situations. They’re learning, and so is the audience.

The Heartstopper film and series don’t gloss over topics not often addressed in mainstream media. There is also careful exploration around men’s mental health, including main character Charlie’s experience of an eating disorder, self-harm, and OCD. It’s never glorified, but it is also never shamed. Viewers aren’t subjected to gory imagery, but aren’t shielded from the reality of dealing with such issues.

Creator Alice Oseman also worked with the actors themselves to inform the characters — Kizzy Edgell, who plays Darcy, came out as transmasc between series.

Despite Edgell insisting they could play Darcy as written, Oseman adapted the character around the actor, greatly adding context to Darcy’s character arc.

The show also explores non-conventional relationships, such as the partnership between characters Tori and Michael. Unable to define exactly what they are to each other, the couple simply remain unlabelled, maintaining that loving each other is all that matters to them.

In this way, Heartstopper masters simplicity. It challenges the audience to want better for future generations, but we are always redirected to the heart of the show, which is love in all its forms.

Something as simple as Nick and Charlie greeting each other and seeing the animated on-screen comic butterflies they feel are what are framed as important.

What Heartstopper lacks in spectacle is made up by its ability to make the audience smile and wonder if such innocence can be possible for future queer generations.

For cinephiles, it asks you to look beyond the expected flashy cinematography and gratuitous sex scenes that the majority of coming of age franchises seem to have now. Heartstopper never tries to be something it’s not, evolving in its own time, allowing the characters to grow up gradually. It’s incredibly refreshing.