Netflix accuses a man with an of such a quantity of premier that he will barely see something and here are five new products. That is why I write about "Sex Education" a little by everyone - although in my opinion this is an advantage - because the longer the distance from the premiere, the easier it is to separate your own opinion from the noise. And my opinion is that this series is very uneven.
For those who do not know anything about production - "Sex Education" is a British series. It tells about Otis - a sixteen-year-old whose mother is a well-known sexual therapist. Otis brought up in a home where sex was talked without taboos and embarrassment, soaked in knowledge about everything related to human sexuality. And he decided, along with his rebellious school friend, Maeve, to use this knowledge by opening a (obviously paid consultation) sex and relationship counseling center. And so, a little complexed and having a lot of doubts about his sexuality sixteen-year-old becomes a therapist of the half of the school. As you can guess, there is no shortage of clients, because even though children are sexually active, the title education is at risk, which affects their relationships and simply life satisfaction.
The starting point itself seems interesting and also quite courageous, because as you know - talking directly about sexuality, without stigmatization, is not necessarily common. On the one hand, the series wants to show that there is no place for shame in here. So there is a whole range of problems, customs, preferences and orientations. The language is direct, the problems - very diverse, and because it is a British series, the nudity approach is completely different than in the case of production from the United States. These elements could give hope for something new - which will show the sexuality of teenagers in a light in which it has not been put up so far. It is impossible to hide that usually teen sex in series is either romantic elation or teenage pregnancy.
Well, here's the problem - the production that at first glance wants to stand out from dozens of similar stories about teenagers, really quickly hits the audience to familiar tracks. Of course, that Otis has a crush on independent Maeve, and of course, as teenagers do - they can not get along with each other about their feelings. Of course, Otis best friend Eric is homosexual, and he will have strange chemistry with his school persecutor from the first moments. Of course, the golden boy of the whole school, swimming champion and teacher's favorite, has his own demons resulting from excessive expectations. Of course, in the end, it will turn out that emotional problems are behind all sexual problems of teenagers. Because about the sex in here we speak openly but this is the taboo - that sex does not always mean deep emotional involvement, the show does not want to break. Which leads us to the role models which are very close to the classic story of growing up. There is more sex here, but the features are very classic. Even the figure of Otis mother - a therapist who after spending the night with a new lover, explains to him that it is enough and goodbye, will finally get the plot in which it turns out that an old good romance is going well.
At the same time it is not a series that is badly watched. Admittedly, I would cut off ten or fifteen minutes from each episode, but otherwise it was nice. Gillian Anderson in the background plays the mother of the main character, in a characteristic way that makes a person wait for each scene in which the actress will appear. In turn, the main role is played by Asa Butterfield, who is a teenager so long as I remember, I checked how old is he. The Internet says he is twenty-one, but he calmly manages to cast a confused sixteen-year-old on the screen. At the same time, Emma Mackey is the best in the cliché but well-defined role of a young girl who is wiser than she seems and more desirous of love and understanding than she could signal to her surroundings. Among young casts, Ncuti Gatwa also stands out as Eric, in a non-standard role, that he plays a boy of African descent who does not hide his love for drugs queen. The fact that he does not hide it is not a big surprise, but the issue of Eric's relationship with his parents, especially with his father, is interesting. Here, we managed to add something that shows a conflict not so much against the sexual orientation of the child, but rather what it means for his everyday life and the future.
It does not change the fact that I look at “Sex Education” as a lost opportunity. The series not only plays well-known threads, but also known scenes. We have a school ball that everyone comes with not the person they want, we have a popular girl who is eye to eye with the possibility of compromising. I was hoping that the production would go a little differently and treat the protagonists and their problems a little less. Especially that I have the impression that everything is here. On the one hand, the series tells us that nothing about being human should be weird to us - especially in the field of sexuality, but ultimately does not tell us anything that would be truly problematic. Conflicts of young people, or their problems can usually be solved in a simple way and our hero never once gets into a situation in which he would not know what to say. The series also has a limited educational significance, because a little takes place in a world where this basic knowledge is rather common. Meanwhile, this is not necessarily the case. What I think is the most problematic in the series itself is the assumption that sex at the age of sixteen is necessary and obvious to everyone. Here I would argue, because I have the impression that it is a bit pushing a lot of kids into the feeling that they have something to catch up. And it is supposed to be the main character's problem, but it is a problem that has to be solved almost immediately. In the meantime, if you do not have any wild desire for sex at the age of sixteen, there really is nothing disturbing here.
In general, this is my problem with the series which does not know what to use comically and what is dramatically and ultimately to some serious matters is too light (I personally think that the relationship between the main character and his mother is so wrong - mainly due to lack of privacy, it's not there is a problem for one conversation) to the other - a bit to cliche. Above all, it is such a very clichéd tale of youthful relationships and feelings that never goes beyond what we have already somehow told cinema or television. You can watch, but I do not hide I was expecting more. Maybe because now so much is said about sex education that a man feels almost like an expert. Only the best - which just does not want to advise anyone.