so i binge-watched gay teen angst
the yassification of queer representation in television
Welcome to the inaugural post of Flop Era, a digital platform to muse on pop culture, cultural trends and all things Gen Z. Today, I’m here to dissect some recent LGBTQ+ coming-of-age shows.
Being in my so-called flop era, I decided to spend much of the past month binge-watching some shows that have been on my watch list for a while. As a gay™, I naturally gravitated towards shows that I saw myself represented in. Queue the nostalgia — largely coming-of-age series with an ensemble cast of queer characters were being checked off my list.
I couldn’t help but noticed how accessible and abundant shows with queer characters have become. Interestingly, the shows I’ve watched were all on streaming services, specifically Sex Education and Young Royals on Netflix and Love, Victor on Hulu and I was amazed at how nostalgic and relatable I felt watching them. How was it that they achieved this? While being effortlessly fresh with a touch of nostalgia and relatability by playing with popular plot formulas, authentic representation and portrayal plays a major role in their successes.
While the shows are filled with tropes (and unnecessary love triangles), this is something that draws in viewers. But, while some characters are based on archetypes that are seen frequently in visual and print mediums, the characters aren’t placed in a box. Often, writers fumbled in their storytelling resulting in queer characters to fall back into the stereotypical gay trope without establishing further development.
In Sex Education, Eric Effiong isn’t just the gay best friend or Black sidesick to the protagonist, but has his own journey of self-acceptance and tackling the intersectionality of being gay, second-gen British Nigerian and religious. While Eric embraced his flamboyance, in Love, Victor, we see that Victor Salazar struggles to figure out what gayness means to him. The writers touch on the cultural difference and white privilege when Victor pointed out that coming out for Benji Campbell — who comes from a white liberal family — is easier than for Victor (who comes from a religious Puerto Rican-Colombian household).
While I appreciate a story about the hardships of coming out to immigrant parents or religious parents (because it’s common and I can relate to that), it’s also a nice change to watch a show where a queer BIPOC character is out and embraced by their families, such as Simon Eriksson from Young Royals or when Rahim’s Iranian Muslim parents accepted his coming out in Love, Victor. It breaks the stigma that are immigrant families of color are all inherently homophobic or conservative.
Teen angst galore
Coming-of-age dramas like Sex Education and Love, Victor are able to shine and garner a following among young people because it realistically depicts dilemmas a typical high schooler experiences unlike other current series, such as Euphoria and the HBO Max’s reboot of Gossip Girl (which are still fun to watch).
There are some criticism that the sex scenes Sex Education oversexualizes teenagers such as Euphoria. Yes, the sex scenes can be extreme (and often unnecessary), but Sex Education successfully portrays these scenes with nuances and with a purpose: championing sex positivity and exploring the awkwardness teenagers encounter as they discover and embrace their sexuality and identity.
Each show beautifully captures the various coming-of-age journey LGBTQ+ adolescents may go through. Victor goes through self-discovery in Love, Victor, illustrating that sexuality may be fluid and a path to self-acceptance can be rocky and takes time.
Sex Education depicts the struggles, the flaws and the angst that teens go through in their journey of self-discovery in such a constructive, respectful yet carefree way. It tackles issues and concepts such as abortion, pansexuality, asexuality and gender identities in a transpicuous way.
Young Royals tackles race, class and neurodiversity, while bringing a refreshing take on the “typical” issue surrounding queer relationships — it strays away from homophobia or even the gay relationship itself being a conflict, but rather focuses on other conflicts that may arise in relationships.
The characters in these shows are allowed to be multidimensional and as a result, there isn’t an inherently good or evil character mirroring the real world. These shows eschew the hero and villain archetypes, allowing characters to exist in a morally gray area.
Queer racial diversity
It’s obvious the more representation of historically marginalized communities, the more normalized and the more accepting of these communities will be in society. As an old Gen Zer, I am thrilled younger people now have more access to characters that they can see themselves in.
“When I was a teenager, if I had seen this show [Sex Education], I wouldn’t have held onto all of the gross feelings about myself, just in me being me,” said Dua Saleh in an interview with Firstpost. “I wouldn’t have been as shameful about just existing.” Saleh (who is non-binary) plays Cal Bowman, a non-binary student in Sex Education.
It goes without saying that queer representation in television wouldn’t be genuine at all if it doesn’t include queer BIPOC storylines and characters. The intersectionality of being queer and Black or Latinx and rich or poor among other identities is so prevalent in everyday life as illustrated by these shows.
LGBTQ+ people of color outnumbered white LGBTQ+ people in broadcast TV shows by 53 percent according to a 2021 GLAAD’s “Where Are We On TV” report that measures queer representation in television. People of color account for 52 percent of LGBTQ+ characters on cable programming and 47 percent on streaming services.
Zooming out, only eight percent of LGBTQ+ characters in broadcast, cable and streaming programs are transgender or non-binary. 45 percent of transgender characters are BIPOC, but breaking down by ethnicities, the number is minuscule — only five Black trans character and two Asian Pacific Islander and Latinx trans character were in series across all platforms.
It is extremely important for queer characters to be played by queer actors. True, authentic representation cannot exist if the industry does not give LGBTQ+ people the chance to thrive in front of and behind the screen. As the GLAAD report explained:
“We have seen outstanding programs and progress for underrepresented voices in the community come from these series like Pose, Twenties, and more where queer and trans people have been empowered as decision makers and have then leveraged their platforms to hire more LGBTQ writers, directors and actors. It is important that networks are not only hiring LGBTQ writers to tell those authentic stories, but also investing in, developing, and providing greater opportunities for those writers to eventually become showrunners, producers, and industry leaders themselves, bringing about a new wave of outstanding LGBTQ storytelling.”
In a Youtube video discussion, the director and head writer of Young Royals meticulously explained their creative process. Head writer Lisa Ambjörn touched on representation, stating that “representation isn't about pushing representation where it doesn't exist, it's just about showing a broader world.”
What I interpret this as is that the show is trying to depict society in the most realistic way. Young Royal in a way acts as a microcosm of the world in a way as does Sex Education and Love, Victor. For example, by setting Young Royals at an elite boarding school, the writers are able to tackle the obstacles that a lower-class immigrant or a multiracial student or a neurodivergent person may face in that setting — and that’s what it tries to tackle.
These shows aren’t exactly perfect, but are just a few examples of shows willing to dig deeper and be vulnerable with their storytelling. Having coming-of-age shows that center queer characters and their varied experiences with queerness is important for adolescents to see themselves reflected in media.
As past trailblazing LGBTQ+ series, characters and actors paved the way for these shows to exist, hopefully these shows can continue to further break down barriers and challenge what it means to have queer representation. For now, I will impatiently wait for the release of their upcoming new seasons.
Some good soup (according to me):
Creating Young Royals - the Director & Head Writer shares all details: It’s always so intriguing to go inside the heads of writers and directors and learn more about their creative process.
If you haven’t already, read Passing by Nella Larsen and then watch the Netflix adaptation written and directed by Rebecca Hall. Passing candidly explores the notion of race and Blackness in the lens of early twentieth society.
Currently reading: The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein and Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (add me on goodreads!)
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