TV

‘Heartstopper’ Has Kicked Off The Internet’s Best New Meme

What was your 'Heartstopper' and why was it Merlin??

by Jules LeFevre  2 May 2022
heartstopper

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No, you’re not overthinking it: everyone really has fallen wildly in love with Heartstopper.

The graphic novel turned Netflix series has burrowed its way into our gloomy hearts, bringing with it a sense of giddy teenage love. The series, based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novel, follows the tender love story of Charlie and Nick, and has swiftly become one of the most beloved Netflix shows ever. (It’s currently sitting on a cool 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.)

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It’s easy to see why — a lot of queer stories in film and TV are couched in tragedy and sadness (the less said about that Killing Eve finale, the better), so to witness a warm queer love story play out on screen without (too) much drama and anxiety feels like a restorative balm.

It has also — because we live on the internet — brought about one of the funniest memes of the year, so we thank Oseman for that too. You see, it was rough sometimes growing up queer, searching desperately for any scraps of queer love on screen and finding yourself watching that Fleetwood Mac episode of Glee over and over again (no one else? Hmm, okay).

Some people have been rather earnestly sharing their Heartstoppers — Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Tara and Willow from Buffy, Brokeback Mountain, what have you — while others have been royally sending up the whole trend, which I think we can all agree is much funnier.

Here are some of our favourites: