With gorgeous visuals, stunning wardrobe, and writing beyond wit, “Sex Education” has burst onto the Netflix scene to jumpstart the new year. Released on Jan. 11, the British series has captured the hearts of many viewers—English and American alike. But what’s so great about it? Aside from the fact that it’s beautifully shot and beautifully written, the best part about the show is that it’s not only a great from every angle, it’s important with every story, covering serious issues through relatable and lovable characters.
The show follows Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield), a sixteen-year-old sixth-form student (equivalent of American high school) and son of a sex therapist, Jean Milburn (played by Gillian Anderson). Despite his own sexual complications (he seems unable to masturbate), Otis has inherited his mother’s talents, a skill school-outcast Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey) picks up on. Maeve propositions Otis to run their own unofficial sex therapy clinic at school, and together they uncover a multitude of their peers’ problems that often aren’t covered in your typical Sex Ed class.
A brilliant cast of heartfelt characters surround Otis, like his best friend Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), who undergoes the most critical character arch over the course of the series. Then there’s the belligerent bully Adam Groff (Connor Swindells), the spacey sweetheart Aimee Gibbs (Aimee Lou Woods), the eccentric band-geek Lily Igleheart (Tanya Reynolds), and the charismatic golden-boy Jackson Marchetti (Kedar Williams-Stirling). Each personage contributes their own important plotlines to the story, so that by the season finale you’re guaranteed to love each of them all in different ways.
Some viewers are confused or unnerved by how Americanized the show is, or the vintage style of dress, but for most the ambiguity of the setting is part of the appeal. It’s a show for everyone. It’s a little European, a little American, a little old, a little new. And in this sense, the importance of a show like this translates to people of all ages, all over the world. Plus the soundtrack, a timeless work of art on its own, is enough to keep you hooked every episode.
Seriously though, it’s important that the show reaches people, connects to them, resonates with them, because “Sex Education” isn’t just enjoyable, it’s educational.
Typical Sex Ed classes reluctantly acknowledge the reality of teen sex, making sure that teens only know the basics of taking care of themselves. Real-life Sex Ed stops at contraceptives and STIs. The show approaches teen sex from the opposite direction. “Sex Education” acknowledge sex for what it really is: a part of life. It doesn’t discriminate young from old, it doesn’t ignore LGBTQ+ relationships, and it certainly doesn’t make it feel forced like it does in school. By embracing and naturalizing a typically taboo topic, the show bypasses otherwise awkward conversations for something that feels more real and coherent than basic horny teen characters.
The Netflix series addresses relatable scenarios that might be more awkward to talk about in real life but resolve effortlessly on screen, and that’s because unlike real-life Sex Ed classes, “Sex Education” knows that it’s what’s in our heads that scares us the most. Whether it’s a lack of information, a past trauma, or ineffective communication, the show pushes past the physical complications of navigating a young sex life and reaches right for the heart strings and mental blocks. As a result, viewers quickly come to realize that while the problems Otis and his peers struggle with are sex-related, they’re not actually sex problems. They’re just regular growing pains, symptoms of being young.
Even Otis’s mom, a wise, middle-aged, sex and relationships therapist has something to offer to the plethora of valuable lessons the show conveys. Her strength in being able to navigate conversations about sexual experiences serves as a guide to parents who may not handle it as easily. But her flaws – not being able to give Otis the space he needs, finding it hard to move on from her divorce – also serve as bases for stories of growth later in life.
Through character conversations and experiences, the series covers everything from abortion to LGBTQ+ sex to masturbation, providing a wider and more comprehensive curriculum than a high school classroom. Unlike in school, it focuses mainly on the personal aspect of sex and relationships and not just your knowledge of contraceptives. Seeing these scenarios played out on screen adds something to this knowledge that classrooms sometimes cannot provide: context. It’s one thing to talk about hypothetical scenarios, but seeing them conveyed by characters you can relate to in real ways adds a whole other layer of understanding to a situation.
Everything that goes into creating a series like this, from character construction to set design, needs to work seamlessly for it to feel relatable, in order for the massage to stick. With a topic like sex positivity, there’s almost never been a message more important to stick. Lucky for us, “Sex Education” achieves just that. So if you haven’t already, carve a good eight hours out of your weekend and let Netflix teach you something your gym teacher didn’t.