Not to be over the top, but I owe Heartstopper a huge thank you. Alice Oseman, Kit Connor, Joe Locke, Yasmin Finney, William Gao, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell and the rest of the cast and crew are directly responsible for this amazing feeling that has come over me. The fact that it was unexpected makes it even sweeter.
April 22, 2022
Heartstopper is released on Netflix. I am totally clueless…never even heard of the book series. If we’re being honest, I had never even heard of any of people playing the main characters.
April 27, 2022
I was looking for something new to watch during my lunch break. Heartstopper was at the top of my Netflix recommendations. My internal dialog went something like this,
“<Sigh> I guess I could watch that. The episode is only 30 minutes.”
“Look, there is a cute red head. You’ve always had a thing for red heads.”
“He looks so young though. That feels dirty. “
“Oh, just hit play before you have to go back to work! If Patrick Stewart can be happily married to someone younger, you can run the risk of being infatuated with a guy you’ll never meet on that show you might not like.”
“Yeah, it’s probably just another 30-year-old playing a teenager anyway.”
So, I hit play. I had no idea what I was in for.
May 1, 2022
In four days, I had watched every episode four times, episode 7 five times, and episode 8 six times. Bought and read all 4 books. There were tears, laughter, and even some dancing. I was jealous as all hell of every one of those hugs because they looked so amazing and warm. The whole show felt like a hug in a way, but no one has hugged me like that in so long, and no one had ever run after me to make sure I knew they wanted to be with me because I was their favorite person. <Swoon> I felt something other than the endless numbness that I had let consume me. It was wonderful.
Thank you
I know the overwhelming success of the show must be a dual edge sword right now. Pride in something you’ve made doing so well. The fact that not everyone is being kind and respectful towards each of you. I’m sorry that is happening. Going through that as an adult would be rough. Going through it at your age is criminal. I hope that each of you can remember the positive support from your fans when things get bad. Heartstopper was a hug for me. Since I can’t hug you in person, this is my thank you hug for each of you. I hope to see you all in future seasons of the show. I may be a new fan, but you’ve earned a loyal fan for a long time to come.
Links
Haven’t watched Heartstopper yet? You can catch it all on Netflix.
To learn more about Alice Oseman and her books, visit https://aliceoseman.com/.