HEARTSTOPPER AND WHY WE ARE DEPRIVED OF FEEL-GOOD TELEVISION – Leighcar Marshall

Heartstopper and why we are deprived of feel-good television.

One year ago, after my best friend practically forced me to watch Young Royals. I began to notice an unavoidable pattern in the content produced for teenagers.

Dark. Angsty. Gloomy. “Realistic”.

Yet, I struggle to truthfully say that I did not enjoy laying in bed with my phone on the lowest possible brightness, hoping my parents do not walk in and question why I am watching a PG sixteen rated show when I was fifteen.  It reeled me in. I accepted the good and the bad, because that is how life is. It is not just sunshine and roses.

However, writers and producers seemed to have found a sanctuary in the thunder.

They found great relish in the bad, uncomfortable and “realistic”.

There is a trend where creators believe that shows, that specifically depict teenagers, must involve drugs, violence, intimacy and crippling mental health.

They strive to represent the “teenage experience”, but for cases like Euphoria and Tiny pretty things, it borders on exploitation.

No worries! There is a loophole. There is always a loophole!

Although this is a show about high school teenagers, it’s too much for teens to watch. Much more so than 13 Reasons Why. There are parts when the scenes are much more explicit than necessary for the story. A survey done by IMBD (the world’s most popular and authoritative source for TV content), found that 90% of the participants agreed that Euphoria is a show about teens, but not for them.

Does that sound right? A show about teenagers for adults?

Nude scenes every ten minutes in a fifty minute episode is unnecessary and weird – especially when the watcher is meant to imagine the actors as  teenage girls and boys.

“Teenage dramas are oversexualized by having older actors and intimacy,”  Lahari Debra, a psychology major and senior at Virginia Tech, said. “Intimacy is not necessary in teenage-focused TV shows or movies or advertisements, especially if it’s not safe sex.”

Yes, these things do occur. Surprise! Teenagers participate in eyebrow-raising activities, which they need to be held accountable for, but for the last twenty years PG 16-18 rated shows have dominated the media.

Now this would not be a problem if the content was actually consumed by the people it was created for. Unfortunately, we live in a world where sensible censorship has been replaced by accessibility to explicit media. Therefore a plethora of underage teens expose themselves to mature mediums, without really considering the negative effects that follow.

Now, how exactly does Heartstopper tie in with the gloomy media discussed? Well, it is the complete opposite. It stands in sharp contrast with the rest.

As soon as I watched the last scene, my eyes filled with tears and for a change it was not due to a character tragically being killed or done harm to. I was genuinely filled with an immense feeling of happiness and satisfaction. 

Heartstopper perfectly captured how it feels to be a silly teenager in love; the awkward silences, shy glances and blundering around the idea of a proper relationship. It had a pure and light-hearted quality, which many producers appear to have turned their backs on.

Topics like homophobia, eating disorders, self harm and bullying are still evident in the show, but it is not used for shock value. The way they deal with conflict may seem boring to some audiences, but at least it is sensible.

And of course, the fact that I do not feel like I have to bathe in bleach after finishing an episode is a plus.

I am no prude as I am well aware that every teenager is different and their  realities obviously vary from mine. To some,  abusing substances, smoking weed and living like you have no parents, may be normal. However the vast majority of us just want to pass and be at any place other than school. 

There should be room for shows like Euphoria, Grand Army and 13 Reasons Why, but they should definitely not dominate the entertainment industry like they currently do. 

I think it is time that we give the actual realistic content a chance, rather  than labeling it as boring. Heartstopper is a great start.

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