Dear Netflix,
I'm not sure where you are in your process about whether or not to renew Heartstopper, and I'm not sure if one letter will make a difference, but here it goes.
I am a queer, transfeminine, non-binary individual who is 44 years old. Given my age, I am well outside of the target demographic for Heartstopper. But this show is a show that is tremendously important (for three examples, see here, here, and here; and there are a lot more out there) to a lot of people of wildly varying ages. There are teens who have used it to come out to their parents, who can see themselves finally portrayed in a joyous way on television, or can see the challenges that a lot of queer youth face.
For adults like myself, this show produces feelings of melancholy and intense joy. The melancholy comes because we never had this growing up. Growing up, I only ever heard jokes about queer people, I never heard anything good about being queer. If there was a queer person on TV, they were either the completely unsexualized sidekick or some sort of devious villain who backstabbed people or acted in other nefarious ways. Even queer movies were, for the most part, centered around sadness, trauma, and pain. Sure, you might have a movie which ends happily, but the path to getting there was one of pain because of the amount of crap the people had to get through to be with the person they loved. But seeing two teenagers who are falling in love and seeing it portrayed like it is on Heartstopper where their sexualities are important but not the focus of the show? That was something that I never would have even dreamt of. Seeing it now does bring on the intense feeling of joy because the new generation will be able to see this lovely relationship as it is growing and developing, just like cisgender, heterosexual people have seen their relationships grow and develop onscreen for decades.
Another reason this show is so important for me as an adult is that it allows me to have some experiences that I never had growing up. I always knew that I had feelings for guys growing up, but because of society and religion, I forced those feelings down and tried to erase them from myself. I never got to experience that young feeling of falling for a guy and just being with them. Did I have crushes on people? Absolutely, but I never allowed myself to even examine them because I was scared about how my family or friends or society might react. I had a teacher in middle school who people assumed was gay. He got sick and it was bandied about that he had AIDS (this was in 1990) and he was laughed at and about. That sort of thing is a big part of the reason that I never acknowledged to myself that I was queer until after I graduated college (I came out around 2002 at the age of 24). Seeing Charlie and Nick's relationship develop (and seeing how Tara and Darcy develop theirs) allows me to experience these joys that I was denied when I was younger.
A third reason the show is important is less personal and more about the queer community. Studies have shown that the more authentic queer stories are told and as acceptance of queer people (particularly in our personal lives) grows, it helps to cut suicide rates of young queer people because they feel seen and loved. A show like Heartstopper helps teens know that they are not alone and it has helped form online communities which can be tremendously important for them. It gives them places where they can connect with other queer people, share any difficulties that they may have, and also allows them to build a community of shared interests. Also, because the show is so popular with older queer people, it allows for intergenerational communities to be formed where queer people of all ages can talk about the show and can also support each other.
I know Heartstopper is not the most popular show you have, but I truly believe it is one of the most important. Its meaning to the queer community is not something that can be measured financially. Its meaning is one of queer joy and love. It allows us to see ourselves portrayed in a way that cisgender, heterosexual people have for a long, long time. I don't know any of the financial stuff around the show, but I do know that this show needs to continue on. It is too important to just let it die.
Sincerely,
Mychel Vandover
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