Why Queer TV is Getting Worse

i love heartstopper and i am biace - but i think a lot of the hearstopper is propped by the aro ace community. Also its so happy that it made me sad. Plus, its kinda cringe after a few watches

I have to say Heartstopper really does more represent teen groups of today. It feels more authentic to the world my peers and I grew up in, and I'm so glad sex isn't in the show YET. It really normalises the idea of taking your time and taking care of yours and your partners wellbeing in a way that's really needed. I do have to argue that Heartstopper is some of the best representation I've found relative to my and my friends Queer experience.

To be honest this assumes that bisexuals(am pan, but close enough) are all neurotypical and part of a "community". I am queer but autistic and technically part of the " community" I have no friends, so no queer friends either. I am fine and good with not having friends. I am alao a part of the fandom community. Something that A LOT of autistic people are. I have a fandom side and an arts loving side. I like heartstopper but also series that are much more raw and subversive. It is not an either or. Tbh this feels very much like an extrovert neurotypical woman thinking all social relationships are the same. You can be bisexual and scared of people. You can be bisexual and never have sex with a woman. I am like that. It is incredibly hard to hook up with anyone because you are terrified of social relations. And I only fall in love with men. The problem with skinny, white actors is true for ALL media. I feel like the only " realistic " portrayals the queer yt review community accepts are extremely neurotypical. And that is regardless of whether the creator is neurotypical or not. You can conform to neurotypical narratives if you function within neurotypical society.

I'm a bisexual woman of color and I came to terms with my sexuality sometime in high school. Personally, I think I am a very "sanitized" bisexual and maybe that's oweing to a lot of other factors in my life as well but I'm not messy in the way you say bisexual people tend to be. So, for me, Nick from Heartstopper was the first bi character I saw in a long time that I could understand and relate to. When I started watching lesbian shows back in the day, it was like a punch in the gut for me as a 14 yr old because I was led to believe as a teenager that if I dated gay women, I would absolutely be left cheated on and shattered (dramatic I know, but I was barely figuring shit out). That is the sort of message that "bad queers" can send to growing teenagers who are learning about their sexualities. I'm by no means saying that imperfect queer characters shouldn't exist. Human beings aren't good all the time, and that's worth depicting, period. But these characters are more feasible for older ppl who aren't still baby gays figuring shit out. Which is exactly why shows like Heartstopper need to exist for young people in the community. Teenagers aren't mentally developed enough or personally grown enough to separate themselves from a character they relate to/ like. So it's all fair to say we shouldn't sanitize queer media to make it palatable for straight people but I think we should have projects as such for young teens within our community. Lastly, even though this video doesn't say it, in general, I feel like Heartstopper has received an unfair amount of critique on there being no sex in the show (the show being about teenagers, I don't understand). However, this is much closer to my high school experience than an overtly hyper-sexualized show about high school (like euphoria). So either I was just too "uncool" to be having sex in high school, or sexualizing teenagers is promoting a false narrative while pressurizing teenagers into having sex before they feel ready.

you should read the heartstopper comic. there's booze, swearing, realistic depiction of teenagers and nick has independent characterisation

As someone who's bisexual the only folks that haven't treated me like dog dirt under shoes have been transgendered folks and honestly even back in 2011 when I first got outed against my will the only people that didn't distance themselves from me where again trans folks either in hiding or just coming out the fact it has changed all that much for me in the years since then is harrowing ( love your vids keep up the fantastic work )

Great video! I appreciate the conversation including how capitalism and mainstream appeal affects so much of what is even feasible to make. I hope channel 4 doesn't get shut down.

Interesting for me because I’m bi and when I saw the title of that show “the bisexual” I immediately assumed it was going to be exactly that hyper sexualised tropic straight bait nonsense that I didn’t watch it. I remember thinking that it would piss me off and I‘ve been told the same old lines to undermine my sexuality enough times already. I even briefly lamented that it couldn’t just be a show about that actual experience. Now I’m wondering why I didn’t check and see what it actually was. I guess it’s just everything that I’ve seen that directly highlights bisexuality has done it in the same porno way that the word turns me off. Just as she was saying. I’ll check it out now.

heartstopper comic is def better tahn teh show

Heartstopper was a 1950's tean romance mag except it was written about moder gays

Chloe Grace Moretz is not straight btw

"It feels like online LGBT media directly translates to American media. Let's be real, that's not diversity, that's cultural imperialism"

dear god in ocean deep, someone has finally said it.

I'm personally not a massive fan of the heartstopper show. I watched it and enjoyed it sure, but it definitely fit more into the queer teen drama than anything. The comic definitely hit better for me. and its not really what I was looking for and its not what I enjoy. I do love shipping and I love my OTPs but I'm also kind of tired of seeing the same characters being shown over and over again when we are asking for real, unfiltered, true, not always flattering queer stories. I am a lesbian, so I don't relate to the bisexual experience, and I can't truly understand how it feels to be excluded from both communities, which must be so scary, but I am still tired of seeing people like me portrayed in one way in the media. Every lesbian I see is the same bombshell slender model body type and I always felt so inadequate because of it. I am a lot shorter and curvier than we are portrayed in the media, and I have had my fair share of ridiculous disasters, but I just never see them in media. We are always sexualised so we can fit the male gaze and as someone who is especially not fussed on sex (not that I don't want it I just don't ever really feel the need as of now) it's just really hard seeing myself in media and shows, but also not. it feels like it should be me, and I should relate, but I don't. It's why I prefer novels to tv shows lately. I have an easier time finding books with representation of people like me, who are awkward people with different body types and quirks beyond whats considered acceptable for tv, and I am actually able to relate.

heart stopper VS beastars: who is the more accurate representation of queers (short answer: it's the furries)

This is fascinating to me because, while I am not bi, I am aroace and agender and Ive found that a lot of my struggles come from not being "gay" enough. I always make the joke that I am the straightest queer person ever. I'm agender, but only really use she/her pronouns because pronouns don't matter to me and why risk a transphobic interaction when I can just exist under a guise of being cis. I am only attracted to men, but not in a typical way. If I was walking down the street, no one would be able to look at me and guess I'm queer because I am female presenting and would only ever be in a relationship with a person of the opposite gender. I don't feel gay enough, because I'm not, and I will never look gay or queer because that isn't what makes me comfortable. I feel like a fraud in queer spaces because I'm not queer in the same way most people are, but I also feel like a fraud in straight spaces because I'm not.

Thank you so much for talking about heartstopper. I always felt like it was off in a way but i could never figure out why. I agree completely with your criticisms

Honestly i can't even say how much this essay was so good and interesting! I learned things that i didn't even acknowledge before so good job!

I think that it's really important as LGBTQIA+ community to give credits to underrated queer content. It not only gives a more realistic POV of our lives but also shows a broader representation of queer people. We not only need lgbt characters who are just sweet uwu smol bean, we want some asshole miserable rotten useless bitches because that's reality : we aren't all nice and cute. Same goes for romance and environment : it's not always cute and healthy. LGBTQIA+ community isn't completely a safe place some of us are dumbass.
On the other hands i also think that those kawaii uwu shows are important. I don't really like heartstopper cause i just find it boring but i understand why a lot of people like it : it's cute, kinda realistic and deals with a lot of queer subjets such as finding yourself which leads youth to identify with the characters. Like i said it's important to shows a more toxic PDV about being lgbtq but sometimes just watching a cute tv show without homophobia and annoying stuff is heartwarming and feels good. In fact we need both of this (lmao just watching shows reminding me about how the world is fucked will kinda makes me depressed)

(EDIT) btw when i said i disliked heartstopper i was talking bout the TV shows! However i really liked the comics which i think is better (but i still prefer how Elle's character is more developped in the TV show)

off topic but i was drawing while watching this and looking up and seeing you had at some point donned a suit and devil horns was such a pleasant surprise, that look is EVERYTHING

Hands down the best bisexual representation I’ve seen is Captain Jack on Doctor Who. It’s not made to be a big deal, he’s a flirt that just happens to flirt with anyone and everyone.

Okay first of all your earned a new subscriber ! Your video is super qualitatively questionning myself on all those topics !! I have to say that personally as a bi man, I really love to watch queer shows and movies that I can relate or that can make me discover an authentic and deep story. But I really do love Heartstopper, as life can be super hard some times, it feels good to can watch an ideal representation that gives you comfort and hope to create a non toxic social environment around you :) And also your perspective about consumerism and our queerness made my brain blow !! I totally understand your point of you but I was wondering, do you think that even if our identity is used to make profit, it can also serve our community ?? I mean even for women or people of colour, they started on Hollywood with really small roles and bad representation but when the public where "used to see them" the industry was more open to give credit to their non conforming ideas and give them better roles (event if we still need progress) ?? Or an other example that I have is Kim Kardashian, at the begging she was saying to the haters "talk about me in good or bad you still talk about me" and all that representation of her in the medias (good or bad) gave her a space to get bigger audience etc... So can we hope that this consumerism system can also be a tribute to queer people so in few years we'll can create a deeper kind of content with more varieties of representations for an audience of queer and old n new allies? Or am I utopical ?
Sorry for my broke English, greetings from Belgium 🇧🇪