Heartstopper Premiere Celebrates Joyful Queer Youth

The premiere of the Netflix adaptation of Heartstopper has been greatly anticipated. Heartstopper first began in 2016 as a webcomic published on Tumblr, Tapas, and Webtoons. Creator Alice Oseman knew from the beginning they wanted it to be a story about queer teens living full and joyful lives.

The show doesn’t fall short of this, with a diverse cast of queer characters, they navigate high school, friendships, and romance. Although it deals with homophobia among a range of struggles, the characters don’t feel limited to that. This provides a younger queer audience with much needed positive and hopeful role models and stories.

Possible Spoilers Beyond This Point

From Nick and Charlie’s (played by Kit Connor and Joe Locke) romance, to Nick coming to terms with being bisexual, to Elle (played by Yasmin Finney) dealing with moving to an all-girls school as a trans girl. To Tara and Darcy (played by Corinna Brown and Kizzy Edgell) working through coming out and dealing with homophobia.

The reaction online has been overjoyed with the adaption. Fans of the webcomic loved the way scenes were translated to screen.

One fan said, “Heartstopper is probably one of the best book to film adaptations I have ever seen I’ve never seen anything stick to the book so accurately.”

heartstopper is probably one of the best book to film adaptations i have ever seen i’ve never seen anything stick to the book so accurately

— liv!! (@bwsbassett) April 22, 2022

Another fan tweeted, “I can’t believe in eight short episodes was heartstopper was able to capture the essence of growing up LGBT, not knowing how to explain all your feelings, going through hard times but being able to surround yourself with the right people. I’m never getting over this.”

i can’t believe in eight short episodes was heartstopper was able to capture the essence of growing up lgbt, not knowing how to explain all your feelings, going through hard times but being able to surround yourself with the right people. i’m never getting over this.

— ☁️ (@torisprjngs) April 22, 2022

Another said “I’ve never seen such beautiful LGBT representation on tv before. I couldn’t stop watching and was brought to tears with how real it felt. Incredible job to everyone that worked on this. And obviously, 1000% recommend to everyone. ????️‍????????️‍⚧️ #Netflix #Heartstopper.”

I’ve never seen such beautiful LGBT representation on tv before. I couldn’t stop watching and was brought to tears with how real it felt. Incredible job to everyone that worked on this. And obviously 1000% recommend to everyone. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ #Netflix #Heartstopper pic.twitter.com/mGWvvweRxW

— 𝓔𝓭 /𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓸𝔂𝓼 𝓛𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓭 (@messy_eds) April 23, 2022

Fans also expressed thanks for the bisexual representation.

One face tweeted, “As someone who is bisexual, Nicks storyline with figuring out his sexuality in heartstopper is so deeply important to me and I’m a sobbing mess.”

As someone who is bisexual, Nicks storyline with figuring out his sexuality in heartstopper is so deeply important to me and im a sobbing mess

— sage 🍂🪴🍄 (@sagelovesplants) April 22, 2022

Another wrote, “Honestly can’t remember the last time I watched a show where they actually said the word “bisexual” out loud so heartstopper doing that and exploring nick’s bisexuality in such a realistic way means everything to me.”

honestly can't remember the last time i watched a show where they actually said the word "bisexual" out loud so heartstopper doing that and exploring nick's bisexuality in such a realistic way means everything to me pic.twitter.com/d1Zggj4Reb

— anna ⎊ (@dyleoliviazella) April 24, 2022

The Heartstopper webcomic began at a time when there was little-to-no optimistic light-hearted content for the starved young queer audience. Since then there have been quite a few. Heartstopper is a fantastic continuation of this genre, bringing fresh diversity and a beautiful, joyful style.