As the entire world seems to know, Heated Rivalry absolutely took over the internet this past winter, but its success level was unprecedented. If you weren’t keeping up with the trend, Heated Rivalry, based on the book Game Changer, is a Canadian television series, originally on Crave, then picked up by HBO Max. The series follows two young hockey players as they clash on the rink, but discover more and more about their personal lives. Its sex heavy opening turns into a soft, intimate, and emotional relationship as the characters witness other events happening around them and begin to understand each other more. The show was heavily praised for its queer representation, fantastic acting, and realistic character writing.
The other side of the story. Most people on the internet are also aware of the Netflix Original Series: Bridgerton. Another show following the sex lives of the main characters and how those relationships turn into ones of intimacy and love. Also based on a series of romance novels, each season follows a member of the family in their quest to find love. Shortly after wrapping up season 4, Netflix released a trailer for the upcoming season 5, which will feature a lesbian couple as its main romance.Â
Considering how positive the reception for Heated Rivalry was for featuring a queer couple, you would expect this announcement to have something similar. However, TikTok comment sections far and wide were filled with complaints that this was not the romance story they were promised, the series featuring only straight couples up to this point. As a lesbian myself, I wish I could say I was confused with these results, but unfortunately, I’m not. This is not the first time a series with two gay leads overshadowed one with two lesbian leads.
Before Heated Rivalry made its mark, the title for the most popular TV series featuring gay leads in recent years belonged to the British series Heartstopper. A simple love story of two high schoolers falling in love, a fanbase was quickly formed and expanded more by the day. Among those titles, there have been many other series of the same nature that have their own followings, and due to that, many of these series have made multiple seasons. Heated Rivalry season 2 was confirmed shortly after the first season wrapped up airing. However, in recent years, many shows with lesbian leads have not been able to make it past season 1 before cancellation, and even fewer after season 2, even if view counts are similar to those of the males.
It would be easy to blame this on standard misogyny, but I don’t believe that’s the case here, as the majority demographic of Heated Rivalry watchers were cisgender, straight women. So why do people seem not as interested in—and even upset over—lesbian stories? Well, it’s pretty simple to me. As many straight women are attracted to men, most have said they find themselves enjoying shows like Heated Rivalry more than shows like First Kill. I also believe it’s a matter of poor marketing on the fault of the studios. Because, as I mentioned, this show, First Kill, you’re probably realizing you’ve never heard of it in your life. This was due to poor marketing from Netflix, diminishing the show’s quality in the trailers, and canceling it before it could even make it past season 1. If studios simply treated lesbian stories on an equal level to their stories about gay men, maybe more people would be willing to give us a chance.