I think we can all agree that finding a great show is hard to do. By great, I mean a show that makes you feel every emotion and that allows you to enter the world they paint onscreen. To me, Sex Education has done that. Sex Education is a British Netflix original series. It is based around the lives of students and adults at Moordale Secondary School. The show’s focus is the intimate details of all the characters’ lives, especially their sexual encounters. This comedy-drama has done a fabulous job in setting a beautiful example of inclusion.
This show gets extremely personal with each character. We hear (in sometimes raunchy detail) about the sex lives of these characters. But, I want to be clear that this show is far more than a show only focused on sex. You get so much deeper with each character and their feelings. It is hard to not attach yourself to them, and in some cases, take on their emotions.
With the inclusion of characters from different backgrounds that also look different, there is a character for everyone and anyone to side with. There are Black, white, young, old, transgender, non-binary, and disabled characters. Not many shows can say they include in such detail the lives of so many people. One detail I would like to mention as well is that this series includes actors and actresses that mimic their struggle in real life to their struggle in the show, making it that much more significant to the story.
With the world evolving into a more inclusive and progressive society, it is only right that the media generates the same progressive outlook that the world is adopting. The conversation of media resembling reality or reality mimicking media is an important discussion, especially when young audiences are being reached. When it comes to Sex Education as a series, I believe it both resembles society and creates a tone of normalcy as to how the world is operating.
The reason I love this show is because there are great characters that I have formed a bond with. It may seem odd, but I can guarantee that everyone has in some way formed a connection to a TV series or a character in a story. One of my favorite characters includes a female lead named Maeve. She is a strong female voice that is an example of feminist structure. With her point of view being so central to the story, it allows female viewers to see the world through her and her experiences. Another character that was added in season two is a boy named Isaac. Isaac is a young man who is disabled and travels in a wheelchair. His story shed light on the disabled community and the lives led by those in a wheelchair.
An article I read recently mentioned that depictions of disabled people in wheelchairs often show these characters hating their life and having no sense of meaning. Sex Education chose a different path. In this same article, the actor who plays Isaac explained that this role is important to him because not everyone who is in a wheelchair has a terrible life. The inclusion of so many characters with differing lives helps shed light on people unlike ourselves so we can gain insight into what others may be going through internally.
This series is paramount to the culture of inclusivity, as it has characters that can reach almost everyone in some way. That is the beauty of so many main characters. I think this show stands out among the other Netflix original series because it speaks to a crowd of all ages and includes so many people in its narrative.
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