Rose Perkins: Heartstopper (Outside Reading)

     Recently, I have been reading the Heartstopper graphic novels along with the other novels written by the author, Alice Oseman, and I believe that some of the themes can be connected to this class. The main focus of the series is on identity, love, and mental health. All three of these themes are interior journeys undertaken by an individual. 

    Starting with identity. I would say that the central theme of the series, undertaken by most, if not all, characters, is finding their individual identities. As a series that focuses on providing LGBTQ+ representation in a ordinary manner, many identities are represented, including gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgender, pansexual, asexual, aromantic, and many more. When the series starts, some characters know who they are already, but others have to undertake the journey to discover themself. For example, Nick Nelson, one of the series' main characters, believes himself to be heterosexual until he meets Charlie. Meeting and falling in love with Charlie leads him to discover that he is bisexual. This is an example of an interior journey, like we have been discussing in class. Interior journeys surrounding identity are very individualized and personal to each person. No one goes through the same process and journey, even those who use the same labels. Furthermore, coming out is a huge focus of the series as well. It focuses on the process of coming out and how that decision should be left up to the individual to figure out the best time. This shows another interior journey involving working through the mental hoops to figure out the best time to come out. 

    Mental health, especially relating to being LGBTQ+, is another focus of the series. The main character, Charlie, struggles a lot with his mental health, and this leads to many challenges he faces within the series. Mental health presents an interior journey for everyone, and also sometimes an exterior journey, depending on the circumstances. Mental health and feelings can only be felt by each individual, meaning they have to travel on the journey themself. However, when an individual tells others about their mental health struggles, or begins displaying their struggles externally, it transforms into an exterior journey, and that can be traversed by others if an individual chooses to seek help. 

    The last main focus of the series is on love. Many characters choose to seek out, or not seek out in some cases, love. Discovering how you feel about another individual is an interior journey. However, once you confess your feelings and enter into a relationship with another individual, it becomes a shared journey. This shared journey is traversed together, and the journey does not progress with only one person. An example is Tara and Darcy, a couple in the series. The two are dating for a while when Tara confesses that she loves Darcy. Darcy is not quite ready to make that confession out loud, so their relationship journey stalls until Darcy is ready to move forward. Tara cannot move forward in the journey without Darcy and vice versa. Love shows an example of a shared journey, as we have discussed in class before. 

    Overall, I discovered that Heartstopper represents a good example of the interior, exterior, and shared journeys that we have mentioned in class. The different focuses such as identity, love, and mental health show different aspects of these journeys. 

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