On the 11th January, Netflix graced us with arguably the greatest teen show of the year—‘Sex Education’. The show was so impressive that I finished it in one sitting, meaning that I watched it for 6.6 hours straight.
The show has well-rounded characters, including complex female characters, and an awesome cast. The main character is Otis Milburn, an awkward teen who’s unable to masturbate and has a mum that is a sex therapist. He has a best friend Eric and attends Moordale High where they are social outsiders but hope that this year they’ll become cool. A few episodes in, during a conversation between characters Jackson and Maeve, Jackson asks her what her “thing” is and she says “complex female characters”. ‘Sex Education’ is certainly full of said characters, such as Jean Milburn, Aimee Gibbs, Lily Iglehart, Ruby, Ola Nyman and Miss Sands. With Maeve, nicknamed as “cock-biter”, we first see her as harsh and cold but by the end we’ve seen her in a serious relationship with Jackson, having feelings for Otis, and becoming a hard-working student who is a reader of Jane Austen and able to debate difficult philosophical ideas.
As for the cast, I mean the show includes Gillian Anderson … need I say more. Gillian Anderson playing a shag therapist makes the entire show! Other awesome cast members include Asa Butterfield, Emma Mackey, Aimee Lou Wood, Ncuti Gatwa, Connor Swindells and Alistair Petrie. Aimee Lou Wood and Connor Swindells are dating in real life—yes it is incredible.
‘Sex Education’ also has good LGBTQ+ presentation and promotes diversity. Eric, Otis’ best friend, is gay and much more than the stereotypical black best friend. Eric’s story is complex, colourful, and emotional and shows that the writers deeply care for his story. His personality is outgoing and infectious and his identity as a black gay teen with a strong West African upbringing adds layers to his character. Eric has a story and a purpose outside of Otis, including his sexuality, family dynamics and religious background. His character steers away from the sassy gay best friend and shows how ‘Sex Education’ cares more about diversity than tokenism. Eric isn’t the only form of LGBTQ+ representation in the show as there’s also a teen interracial lesbian couple and Jackson’s parents are lesbians. What I love about Jackson’s mums are that there was no conversation about it, he didn’t awkwardly announce to Maeve that he had two mums; he just did.
Not only does it promote diversity and has LGBTQ+ representation, but it also has a great cinematic aesthetic and is packed full of embarrassing teenage moments. It’s filmed in a scenic town in Wales and the series juxtaposes influences of British and American teen shows. It’s contemporary and nostalgic while being sexy and municipal. ‘Sex Education’s’ throwback vibe is rooted in practicality and ultimately works to push the message of the show, which is that human connection is a balm for all problems. The show’s visual playfulness, with modern-day references and 80s/90s decor, softens the blow of heavy topics and allows room for there to be something sweet about growing up. Moordale High seems to be have more American than English influences because no one wears school uniforms, students wear Letterman jackets and they have long lockers on which bullies push helpless kids against. Many moments within the show reflect the reality of the teen years, with a desperate attempt to be a popular kid, the joy of being invited to a party, parents embarrassing their children (which Jean does to Otis constantly) and the most embarrassing moment of the show, though I don’t know how many people can say that this happened to them, when the characters were all practicing blowjobs on bananas and threw up.
Unlike many shows, ‘Sex Education’ is unafraid to discuss and look at a range of taboo subjects. A personal favourite is Amy’s masturbation storyline. After her boyfriend asks her what she wanted during sex, Amy went to Otis for advice. Otis said that she should get to know herself which led to one of the greatest lines in the show—“You’re prescribing a wank?”. For a significant amount of time, we saw Amy masturbating on screen. Female masturbation has always been a frowned upon idea and here was a teenage girl doing it on screen. Girls having a wank shouldn’t be something filled with shame and ‘Sex Education’ is helping to lift the stigma by showing this in a healthy way. Another taboo storyline that was included within the show was Maeve’s abortion. What many people really liked about it was how little controversy it was given. Maeve had the abortion and it wasn’t mentioned again. She didn’t cry about it every night or think about whether or not it was a mistake. Of course, the overall sex-positive attitude makes the show one hundred per cent worth watching. It promotes sex as a healthy thing to do and shows different teen’s individual journeys to sex. It shows people making a big deal about having sex for the first time and shows people casually having sex in the backseats of cars in empty parking lots. The range of sex is what makes it great.
All I can say is that thank goodness for a second season. They are currently filming the second season and I can’t wait to find out what the second season has in store.
