As Netflix prepares to present the fourth and final season of Sex educationArthur has already marked this date on his calendar for several months.
For more than a year and a half, the 17-year-old has regularly followed, with his mother, Alice, each season of this British series in which Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield), a tall, white, heterosexual young man, appears. He is a school student, a virgin and the son of renowned sexologist, Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson).
Helped by his mother’s knowledge, Otis decides to set up a sexology consultation at Moordale High School with his friend Maeve (Emma Mackey) in order to advise his classmates on their doubts about their sexuality in exchange for a little money.
“My way of telling him that I liked boys”
Initially a simple moment of relaxation between mother and child, Sex education It quickly became over the course of the episodes a way for Arthur to talk more openly about his own experiences and, in particular, to talk about his homosexuality with his mother.
“At first, when the series featured gay characters or questioned LGBT issues, I didn’t necessarily feel very comfortable. I was 15 years old and I hadn’t come out of the closet yet. My mother,” Arthur confesses.
“But seeing openly homosexual characters like Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) or Rahim (Connor Swindells) allowed me to downplay the drama of announcing my homosexuality to my mother,” says the young man.
“One day she showed me Jackson’s character (Kedar Williams-Stirling) and told me he was cute, expecting a response from me. And I said, ‘Yeah, I think he’s really cute, he’s totally my type.’ It was my way of telling him that I liked boys,” explains Arthur.
A series “close to reality”
Imagined by Laurie Nunn in 2019, Sex education addresses with humor, kindness and realism many issues surrounding the first steps of high school students in their discovery of sexuality through the “cases” treated by Otis.
Thus, the first three seasons especially address masturbation, female pleasure, consent, STDs, sexual orientation (homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality, pansexuality, etc.), communication between couples and even sexual assaults.
Without forgetting quite recurring themes in youth series, such as academic pressure, bullying, love triangles, relationships between parents and children or beauty standards.
If the shape of Sex education It can be a bit “cartoonish”, according to psychologist and clinical sexologist Floriane Meyer, “based on the messages or problems encountered by the characters, the series is very close to reality.”
“The series addresses in an inclusive and attentive way many topics that today question adolescents, young people and even parents. Whether it is the question of the feeling of love, the experimentation of sexuality, first loves, consent, identity issues linked to sexual orientation…”, emphasizes the sexologist.
To make the series more realistic while still respecting the actors, Netflix, for example, turned to Ita O’Brien. This British intimacy coordinator prepared, supervised, advised and supported the actors as well as the crew during the sex and nudity scenes.
“One of the series that best talks about sexuality”
According to Frédérick Stassart, series specialist and author of the Monsieur Séries podcast, the strength of Sex education It also lies in the educational and humorous tone with which these different topics are addressed.
“‘Sex Education’ speaks in an open, raw and direct way about issues that go beyond sexuality, we talk about identity, age and our place in society, but always with lightness and humor. It is without a doubt one of the series of the public that speaks better about sexuality,” says Frédérick Stassart.
Sex education It also owes its success to its very wide and inclusive range of characters inspired by the entourage of Laurie Nunn, the creator of the show. If we find the fairly classic codes of the series, with the popular girl, the athlete, the intellectual, the geek, Sex education make the decision to show that they are much more than the label assigned to them.
“Most of the characters come from people I know and this representation in the show made sense to me. When people watch television, they want to see themselves represented. I think that’s very important, especially for younger audiences,” Laurie confided. Nunn in 2020 a 20 minutes.
“I understood that it was not abnormal”
It is in particular thanks to the character of Lily, a young lesbian who seeks by all means to lose her virginity, that Léa, 23 years old, managed to put words to an illness that she had been suffering from for several years: vaginismus.
In the eighth episode of season 2 of Sex educationLily announces to her partner, Ola, that she has this disorder that causes involuntary contractions in the vagina and prevents or makes penetration very painful.
“It allowed me to understand that I was not the only one experiencing this and that it was not abnormal. […] I went to the gynecologist and he actually diagnosed me with this vaginismus but also other more serious problems (autoimmune diseases, malformations, etc.) that could be treated in time,” explains the young woman.
“Although it is not 100% complete on some topics, ‘Sex Education’ educates better about sexuality than most series and perhaps even better than in school,” says Léa.
A postulate shared, in part, by sexologist Floriane Meyer. According to the specialist, this type of sexual education series and courses are complementary. “Viewers can learn a lot and project themselves in relation to certain characters or certain problems they may encounter,” indicates the specialist.
“But the viewer is alone in front of their screen and that is why it does not replace sexual education sessions where the objective is to be able to exchange with professionals and ask questions to realize that we are not alone when faced with certain issues or certain difficulties.” “adds Floriane Meyer.
Family Planning takes advantage of the return of “Sex Education” to launch an awareness campaign among young people, within the framework of the series.
“Young people ask so many questions and have very few answers. In our opinion, it is clear that pop culture can allow these issues to be addressed precisely, getting as close as possible to the problems of youth,” writes Family Planning on Twitter.
“Talking about it with my friends is much easier”
Thus, Arthur was able to talk about sensitive topics with his mother, thanks to an episode in the second season. In one scene, Anwar’s character, openly gay but still a virgin, has to perform with his friend Nick, but he doesn’t know it. that he is an enema.
“At first I felt uncomfortable because enemas and sodomy were not topics I would have talked about like that with my mother. But in the end ‘Sex Education’ revealed a lot of things and it was much softer after talking to him about my love.” and sexual life,” she explains.
In this same season, another passage also had a strong impact on viewers. While Aimee, one of Otis’ classmates, takes the bus to bring a birthday cake to her friend Maeve, the high school student is the victim of sexual assault. A man, standing behind her, begins to masturbate and ejaculates on the girl’s clothes. Traumatized, Aimee can no longer take the bus for fear of encountering her attacker again. But Maeve and other Moordale high school students then decide to accompany her on these daily trips so that she is no longer alone.
A moving scene that greatly helped Rythoe De Brito, herself a victim of sexual assault. “When I saw Aimee, she always told me that it wasn’t her fault at all and that really helped me stop feeling guilty. […] Talking about it with my friends is much easier. I just have to say that I felt like her. I love Aimee with all my heart,” she says. On twitter.
“In the series we finally move on to the topic quite quickly but I find it quite revealing of what can happen on a psychological level when we suffer an attack: we are going to minimize the events a little, we are going to quickly move on to something else,” analyzes Floriane Meyer.
“We finally realize in the next season that this episode had repercussions for Aimee. And this is what regularly happens in real life when we are faced with this type of aggression. It is often in the “afterwards that we realize “that we have experienced something violent.” adds the psychologist and sexologist.
“Pride”
In the second season, still, Sex education The character of Florence stands out, a young high school student, who, unlike her classmates, is not attracted to anyone. In consultation with sexologist Jean Milburn, Florence discovers that she is asexual, meaning that she does not feel sexual attraction in a relationship.
“Some people want romantic relationships but without the sexual side. And others don’t want anything at all. Sexuality is fluid,” explains Jean Milburn.
This brief sequence allowed 21-year-old Romain to accept his own asexuality. Although the representation of homosexual and bisexual people on screens has improved in recent years, “it is rare to see a series that dares to talk about this issue,” the young man considers.
“It is truly a pride when we see a series like this talk about a topic as important as asexuality and more relevant than ever,” he adds.
A broader audience
Yeah Sex education Although today it is one of the most popular series on issues of sexuality and gender, Laurie Nunn’s show is not one of the first to address these issues.
According to series specialist Frédérick Stassart, many programs like Skins, The L World, Girls either Degrassi – which rapper Drake revealed – have been highlighting these issues for several years.
“In the ’90s, Degrassi already addressed important themes about sexuality, adolescence and who we are in society. We also talked about consent with episodes that addressed the issue of rape and even pedophilia,” says Frédérick Stassart.
“But ‘Sex Education’ has a pioneering side because it is on Netflix and therefore reaches a broader audience than the series of the same genre that came before it. And today, it has paved the way for more programs in addition to those on the subject. of sexuality transmitted on the platforms: Euphoria, normal people…”, he continues.
Sex education However, it differs from other series in its “sincere” and “realistic” representation of sexual relationships, according to Romain, a fan of the show. “In many series, relationships are shown as perfect, as a wonderful moment, but in ‘Sex Education’ we see relationships that do not always go very well, we discover that sexuality sometimes becomes complicated when we no longer really know who we are.” …”, he confesses.
And he added: “Sex Education shows that it is normal that not everything is always perfect and fortunately. We needed a series like this.”
Source: BFM TV
