Predictably, I absolutely LOVED this. Words such as ‘heartwarming’ which I usually regard as negative comments could be fairly applied here – and in a good way too. Yes it was sentimental – not least in the use of little pastel-coloured butterflies and suchlike small images drawn onto the film, a la Disney, to show the feelings between the characters at significant moments. This could have been excruciating (and many will think that it was but, for me, it worked, not least as it was used quite sparingly.
While Charlie and his burgeoning relationship with Nick was the ostensible main focus, a strength of the series was that we are as much involved in the developing relationships between all the other characters and these were all well developed. The setting (a very authentic looking and feeling single-sex UK grammar schools) was very effective in that it well conveyed how small such environments are and how tricky it can be to have any real privacy. And the homes where the characters lived were absolutely authentic-looking too – Victorian terraced houses and the like
I thought too that the life of Charlie in the previous academic year (when he came out and was badly bullied) being referenced throughout was a good device for putting the series’ events in context; I think this may well have been a benefit of the original creator of the graphic novel being closely and centrally involved in this (writer, producer and more). And the importance of the admirably sympathetic Art teacher in that time and his subsequent importance then made all the more sense – and of course the Art room would be where Charlie would go when he wanted privacy and to get away from his fellow pupils, last year and this.
Stylistically too, the necessary stress on social media as means of communication was very well done and the frequent writing of message and then deleting before sending one was an effective dramatic device that allowed us to learn more and understand about the emotions and feelings of the characters who were sending (or not sending) them. It also showed, rightly, that savvy social media users have a good sense of how their words will be received and so do not usually send them unthinkingly. Too often social media are used, in that respect, in a negative way and I do not think that that is how it works, certainly with the young generations who grew up with it a d for whom its use is as natural as breathing. It also stressed how little things and how one said something was of vital importance. I thought in early episodes that the vertical and horizontal wipes were being a little over-used but this got less frequent as the series progressed – and the use of multi-split screens during group texts was another highly effective way of conveying in one medium, the characteristics of another.
The role of adult and parental figures was very well done (and Olivia Coleman in a small role!) as they were authentically supportive and not flat clichéd figures - and the dry announcements over the tannoy of the (always unseen) Headmaster were always entertaining.
Another authentic element in this was that the characters were not absurdly good-looking, as happens so often in US stories of this type. Charlie, with his bony face and enormous ears, had a gorgeously goofy air about him, with his constant unnecessary fussing about his hair, Tao was a wonderfully funny and verbally sharp creation – and a straight character too whereas those sort of characteristics are too often the (predictable) defining characteristic of the Gay Best Friend. In addition, everything we saw was, actually, very innocent, deliberately so, it seems from reading comments from the creator as she wanted it to be something that younger questioning children could access and feel comfortable with. Consequently, when there was anything more dramatic, like a passionate kiss, it had all the more impact as previously it was very small and subtle signs – hands brushing against each other when sitting at a shared desk, little fingers interlinking when watching a film in the cinema –which charted and marked the developing relationship.
It was the warm innocence of this series which was its most endearing, and powerful, characteristic. It reminded me, in this way of Beautiful Thing – and praise for coming out films and plays that match that work is rarely given by me.
So, wonderfully enjoyable – and I am sure there will be a second series and possibly more, as it seems we are about halfway through the (short) series of graphic novels that make up the series.