When it “comes” to Netflix’s new high-school romp, Sex Education, sexuality is a chaotic mess that’ll stain your sheets and pierce your heart.
At face value, Sex Education, seems like just another teen dramedy to add to Netflix’s growing pile of teen-oriented content. After all, it has all the tropes we’ve come to expect from a Netflix Rom Com Original: the geeky outsider, the gay sidekick, manic pixie dream girl 2.0 and the dysfunctional high school. Sprinkle in some hot-button issues and at least fifty percent of jokes that land and you’ve got yourself another probable hit, Netflix. But as you follow each character in this series through the halls of a sex-crazed Hogwarts, you’ll find that there’s just a little bit more to it, and to modern sexuality, than meets the eye.
Writers, Laurie Nunn and Sophie Goodhard, dive head first into the stereotypes we’ve come to expect from the coming of age narrative. There is sex, lots of it, but it’s more than the American Pie frat boy developmental arc; you know that plot line that follows a nerdy virgin as he goes from nerdy and virginal—and fucking pies—to not so virginal (and completely problematic). In fact, the show has been widely praised for its diverse representation of male and female sexuality. The men in Sex Education are sexually frustrated, insecure, impotent and deeply fragile. In the hands of director Kate Nerron, the female characters are repeatedly fed up with the men around them, as well as the complex system that they must navigate to explore their sexuality. Add a healthy portion of self-aware witticisms and the “coming of age” story seems to have finally come of age.
For most of the series, we follow our geeky outsider Otis Milburn (played by Asa Butterfield) as he navigates the chaos of late adolescent sexuality. But he is one of many characters, and actors, that lift this series beyond the usual coming of age formula. Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey) and Eric Effoing (Ncuti Gatwa) deliver hilarious and heartbreaking performances as the two other leads of the series, but the supporting cast is also incredible as each one of them are given their own sub-plots to sink their teeth into. In fact, the entire series reads like a collection of sexual vignettes thrown under the covers and spliced into a thoughtful and passionate affair that is as raunchy and hilarious as it is deeply considerate. If the show chooses to tackle hot button issues like abortion, contraception or sexual harassment, it does so through a diverse range of people’s experiences, including its leads and its supporting cast. Ultimately, the show has a way of focusing and revelling in the chaos of subjective teen experiences first and foremost, rather than jamming a concept or moral issue on top of these experiences.
In a cultural climate that continues to explore and challenge assumptions about sexuality and the issues that surround it, this show is a well-thought out contribution to a growing conversation that’ll make you laugh, cry and cringe at all of those high school memories you spent years repressing.
Let us know what you thought of Netflix’s latest hit, Sex Education, in the comments!