New Netflix series Sex Education is gaining praise from the LGBTIQ+ community for its diverse character representation and nuanced storytelling.
With notes of British series Skins, which premiered back in 2007, as well as animated series Big Mouth, Sex Education follows the story of Otis (Asa Butterfield) whose divorced parents are both sex therapists. While his father lives overseas (they communicate via Skype), Otis lives with his sexually liberated and no-boundaries mother (Gillian Anderson), who runs her therapy practice out of their family home.
Struggling with his own emerging sexuality, Otis and his openly gay best friend, Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), are tip-toeing through the pubescent minefield of high school when they meet the no-sh*ts-given Maeve (Emma Mackey). The trio then configure a plan to make money by running an in-school sex therapy business of their own, drawing on the extensive knowledge Otis has absorbed from his mother's work.
Including 'jock' characters who openly suffer from anxiety and panic disorders, openly gay characters with loving religious parents, and a beautifully written episode around the experience of abortion, the show's main achievement is perhaps that its groundbreaking representation never feels forced or inauthentic. Rather, it comes off as an all-too-rare reflection of our everyday society.
Naturally, Twitter is wasting no time in celebrating the British show.
"Netflix's is the most diverse show on TV without overtly reaching to seem diverse. This show just gets it right," one viewer wrote.
"The funny thing is, they aren't even trying. They're just telling stories. I love it!!"
Another fan tweeted: "Here to say that I genuinely can't recommend Sex Education on Netflix enough. Came for Gillian Anderson, stayed for complex and open discussions about sex, relationships, body politics and queerness."
