by Earl Valenzuela

The following publication material features gists of storylines, audience discretion is advised.

Flickering candlelight, the sweet, sweet scent of roses, and a hearty meal, sitting by a balcony drenched in the moonlight by the riverside, and a radio softly playing the song of star-crossed lovers. As each second passes by, the two lovers seem to get closer by an inch every moment—and fin; the screen goes dark—an ideal ending to a romantic film, or how society insists upon how love stories should end. In the contemporary age and time, no one is estranged from love stories portrayed in the media. No matter what form they might take, a woman and a man with their happily forever afters, even against the odds that conspire against them, do triumph, as portrayed and insisted upon by a heteronormative society. Despite that, as time presses forward, there are those who race against the standards of society and break the ice when it comes to what is considered taboo, as each progressive value is accepted, or at the very least, respected by society do more and more people decide to clamor and rally behind a flag symbolizing life, healing, sunlight, nature, art, harmony, and spirit. As the LGBTQIA+ community continuously grows, the demand for authentic representation increases, but what are we to make of this so-called ‘authentic’ representation when the sexualities of characters in plots of movies and books are mere fillers or for the sake of having a queer character?

Nonetheless, there are those few roses among the thorns, the shows whose focal point is a coming-of-age story, or even revolves around the queer life amid a heteronormative society. Beyond those shows who exploit the LGBTQIA+ community for popularity and profit, and ultimately portray genuine representation for the community.

* R18, the show has explicit elements that are not appropriate for the general audience.

[1] LOVE, SIMON (2018)

Based on the book Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Love, Simon follows the plot of a 17-year-old teen named Simon Spier exploring his sexuality as a teenager and falling in love with an anonymous classmate of his through the Internet who calls himself “Blue.” Simon is irrefutably closeted, as none of his friends or family knew about his sexuality. The plot seemed to be smooth-sailing from that point on until Simon had accidentally left his account logged on a library computer which contained his messages to Blue, and so the story transcends into its conclusion of acceptance and strife.

The unique key point in this plot is that Simon was outed by someone else, not himself. “You don’t get to decide [that], I’m supposed to be the one that decides where, when and how, and who knows, and how I get to say it, that’s supposed to be my thing, and you took that away from me,” exclaimed Simon during his confrontation with the person that outed him. How Simon dealt with all of the struggles that were brought upon him including his familial and platonic relationships had concluded with the message that however you might express yourself, whoever you might be attracted to doesn’t change the fact that you are still the same person people cared for and bonded with, and you are still equally deserving of love and respect. 

[2] SEX EDUCATION* (2019-)

A hit Netflix series spanning three seasons and counting that has gained the hearts and minds of millions and first aired in January 2019 has a variety of conclusions distributed among the three seasons of the series. Albeit containing a myriad of explicit content, the show itself does not fail to justify its certain eccentricities as it tackles mundane problems, including LGBTQ+ relationships, self-discovery, and even the iconic women empowerment ending of the second season. Shows like this are one-in-a-million, for every character’s sexuality isn’t a filler.

Undeniably, the greatly interesting part of this show is how they discussed asexuality, and referred to it as one’s sexuality can never be broken, as sexuality is fluid, and sexual intercourse never makes us whole, as said by Jean Milburn. Whereas pansexuality is often regarded as a person who is attracted to everyone, this show emphasizes that pansexuality is not defined by or bound to an individual’s attraction to gender identities.

Genuine representation in today’s society is what most people need to be able to relate to their experiences and know that they aren’t alone. This is exactly what Sex Education does and is, with the occurrences within the show also being undeniably mundane and not out-of-touch with societal challenges, even if the show does involve romance, the entire series gives an in-depth meaning to its title.

[3] HEARTSTOPPER (2022-)

Ramping up in popularity in the past two months, Heartstopper, a Netflix coming-of-age teen drama based on a graphic novel of the same title by Alice Oseman, had built its own prestige and followers within a short timeframe. The series follows the budding romance between Charlie Spring, an out gay teenager, and Nick Nelson, a bisexual jock whose relationship started from a seating arrangement and transcended into rugby games, and the inevitable confession at a birthday party.

Though the series has a myriad of loose ends to tie up in the upcoming seasons, the hallmark of this series isn’t only about the heartwarming relationship between Nick and Charlie. With the diversity of sexualities included, such as Elle’s struggles as a trans woman prior to the main storyline, and the statement that heterosexual males are still heterosexual when dating trans women due to the fact that trans women are still women. 

Another thing to note about Heartstopper is its feature on Darcy and Tara’s lesbian relationship, as to how the prejudiced audience they are connected with on social media has been the reason why they faced numerous challenges both individually and as lovers.

[4] FIRST KILL (2022-)

Arguably one of the most recent women-loving women relationships featured on mainstream media, First Kill features a lighthearted twist on vampires and first loves. It chronicles the love that developed between vampire Juliette and vampire-hunter Calliope. The show follows the plot of both protagonists having yet to earn their titular ‘first kill’, but end up falling for each other in all the irony that their bond has.

In today’s society where women-loving-women relationships on mainstream media often garner negative reception and rampant fetishization, First Kill is a good exemplar of genuine representation for lesbians, despite the patriarchal and heteronormative society’s attempts of bringing down shows like these because of misogyny. Spirited series such as First Kill will always be iconic for going against the norms of today’s society, and will one day bask in the reception that it deserves, rid of any prejudice from the society that suppresses it underlyingly.

[5] DIE BEAUTIFUL* (2016)

An iconic film starred by no other than Paolo Ballesteros, Die Beautiful is a comedic drama film that follows the story of a transgender Filipino woman named Trisha Echevarria, disowned by her wealthy father because of her gender identity and had managed to live off of the income she gets from pageants. Prior to her final breath, Trisha had elaborated that she wanted to be dressed up as a celebrity on each day of her wake.

Albeit living a short life full of heartbreak, betrayal, abuse, and despair, did she manage to fulfill her wishes even beyond her life, as she died beautifully. This film tackles the local social context of what transgender people have to go through, in the eyes of a heteronormative society, where people adhere to the word of a centuries-old institution that restrains progressive lifestyles.

Indeed, mainstream media will not stop here, as more and more digestible content pop up, through this shall we remain vigilant and watchful of exploitative concepts that undermine the generations-worth of activism and protests the LGBTQIA+ community has gone through. With what has been given and what is to come, the shows that represent us indeed do not make us whole, nonetheless still contribute to how society pivot toward the path of progressive ideals and inclusivity.