The last TV series I watched in 2023 is “Sex Education”, all the four seasons, and I was very impressed by the performance of the crew, especially Emma Mackey (who also starred in “Eiffel” with Romain Duris), Asa Butterfield, Ncuti Gatwa, Aimee Lou Wood, Connor Swindells, Mimi Keene, Gillian Anderson. I am also impressed by the very mature and exemplary treatment of its sex and communication themes.
The story boils down to how to deal with human relationships, particularly the intimate part, between boys and girls, boys and boys, girls and girls, man and woman, husband and wife, parents and children, sisters and brothers, believers and non-believers, white and black, all in a very honest, realistic and relatable way. Growing up in China where everything seemed to be a taboo except for food, I envy with red eyes and an aching heart about the open and thorough communication permeating in the series. Actually I am as envious as to doubt whether a small-town British 16-year-old is really capable of those master-level communication and action about those petty and necessary challenges of life, like using or asking to use a condom every time during sex; being proud and determined, even though not without any bitterness or challenges, about their gender identity; apologizing or making up for their mistakes or misbehaviors in a timely manner; and going all the way to the essence of their intentions and desires (except between the two main characters Maeve and Otis where delays and misunderstandings were necessary props for story development). But whether a 16-year-old is capable of all those sensible words and deeds is not the point. The point is that I learnt a lot from those teenagers and their parents, and I started to imagine and hope that life could be so rewardingly eventful for my own children as they would be entering adulthood, or is this more or less what is happening with the teenagers now? (The 2021 French high school TV series “Voltair High” seems to be comparable to “Sex Education” but it is set in the 1960s France and has a different focus, even though they share some topics and the character setting is quite similar too. “Voltair High” has only released one season so far.)
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