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Rec: "Sex Education" on netflix
Feb. 1st, 2019 04:46 am"Sex Education", 8 episodes, Netflix.
This series takes place in some magical part of England that seems to be frequently sunny and always green. Almost all the people seem to quite wealthy and have fancy houses, except for the one poor kid who lives in a well-kept trailer home. It's all just beautiful to look at. The showrunners also know how to light black skin. The beauty of the cinematography, the winning characters, and the drama sucked me in, and I watched this show quickly.
Otis is a 16-year-old kid who is a bit awkward. His mom Jean, played by Gillian Anderson, is a sex therapist. Although well-meaning, she has a poor sense of boundaries when it comes to Otis. Otis' best friend Eric is a black gay kid; funny and campy, he at first seems like a bit of a stereotype, but he gets his own satisfying character arc through the series.
Otis befriends Maeve, the "bad girl" of their class. Maeve needs money, and discovers that Otis has a gift for listening to people talk about their sex lives and giving them sound advice. Together, they start up a little sex therapy business at their school. This is awkward, funny, and ultimately very sweet and human. Students come to Otis because he's a peer, someone they can talk to honestly who isn't an adult. Otis makes some mistakes occasionally, but works to correct them, and he enjoys helping people.
The ensemble cast gives us stories about a variety of kids at the school. We follow the story of the school bully, Adam; the head boy, Jackson; the four popular kids who are the "mean girl" set. We get to meet their parents too. These characters are black, white, Indian; some are immigrants; some are gay.
The show normalizes gay sex, awkward sex, and the idea that everyone has fears and anxieties in this area, suggesting that more open communication and having someone to talk to is really helpful. It's uplifting, in this. It's also about friendships and shifting relationships that can come with being a teenager, or with just being human.
Content notes: Teenagers having sex, full nudity, a queer bashing, drinking, bullying, an abortion. Some annoying love triangle jealousy stuff. Also, repeated use of "vagina" to mean vulva (I grew up with this too, but I didn't expect it from a show called sex education!)
This series takes place in some magical part of England that seems to be frequently sunny and always green. Almost all the people seem to quite wealthy and have fancy houses, except for the one poor kid who lives in a well-kept trailer home. It's all just beautiful to look at. The showrunners also know how to light black skin. The beauty of the cinematography, the winning characters, and the drama sucked me in, and I watched this show quickly.
Otis is a 16-year-old kid who is a bit awkward. His mom Jean, played by Gillian Anderson, is a sex therapist. Although well-meaning, she has a poor sense of boundaries when it comes to Otis. Otis' best friend Eric is a black gay kid; funny and campy, he at first seems like a bit of a stereotype, but he gets his own satisfying character arc through the series.
Otis befriends Maeve, the "bad girl" of their class. Maeve needs money, and discovers that Otis has a gift for listening to people talk about their sex lives and giving them sound advice. Together, they start up a little sex therapy business at their school. This is awkward, funny, and ultimately very sweet and human. Students come to Otis because he's a peer, someone they can talk to honestly who isn't an adult. Otis makes some mistakes occasionally, but works to correct them, and he enjoys helping people.
The ensemble cast gives us stories about a variety of kids at the school. We follow the story of the school bully, Adam; the head boy, Jackson; the four popular kids who are the "mean girl" set. We get to meet their parents too. These characters are black, white, Indian; some are immigrants; some are gay.
The show normalizes gay sex, awkward sex, and the idea that everyone has fears and anxieties in this area, suggesting that more open communication and having someone to talk to is really helpful. It's uplifting, in this. It's also about friendships and shifting relationships that can come with being a teenager, or with just being human.
Content notes: Teenagers having sex, full nudity, a queer bashing, drinking, bullying, an abortion. Some annoying love triangle jealousy stuff. Also, repeated use of "vagina" to mean vulva (I grew up with this too, but I didn't expect it from a show called sex education!)
