Gone are the years in which you had to dive into television production to find an LGTB + character (and whether he was the protagonist, relevant or did not end up dead, I’m not even telling you). The recent success of ‘Heartstopper’ made us realize that there is still a gap in series like that, in which there is a more positive and realistic approach to the subject, without loading the ink with the drama. ‘With love, Victor’ already did it at the time and you have it available on Disney +.
Welcome to Creekwood
It all started in 2018, when ‘Love, Simon’ became a minor box office hit. The adaptation of the novel by Becky Albertalli to the cinema, by the hand of Greg Berlanti (creator of the ‘Arrowverse’), was a pleasant surprise and even more so was the proposal to continue expanding the story in a series for Hulu.
‘With love, Victor’ was born as a spin-off of that film, set in the same universe. In it we met Victora teenager who He just moved to Creekwood and still doesn’t know who he is or what he wants in life.. She will discover it through the new friends that she will meet, including Simon, whom she will consult in an epistolary way.
Without a doubt, the series is a good replacement for the film, with the same vocation of Good roller teen story with LGTB + characters. Its main success is its lack of pretensions: it does not intend to reinvent the wheel or be “the definitive teen series” but to build a fairly simple story of love and friendship in high school, of which, however, we do not have many in the series offer. .
If we take a look at the adolescent television genre, drama predominates where salsa is exploited to the point of surrealism, with some loose examples that are more paranormal or fantasy. There is nothing wrong with this type of series but, precisely because there are so many, it is appreciated that from time to time we have other examples like this one or ‘Heartstopper’, in which they shoot for more natural plots and depict teens as teens.
Thus, we are faced with a coming of age where our protagonist will be taking his first steps in that first stage of maturity that is adolescence. We’ll see how Victor goes discovering first love and their first couple relationshipswhere your experience as an LGTB+ person will be of great importance.
positive referents
Precisely, one of the themes that the series touches on is the importance of referents when defining who we are. We see it in Victor, who finds inspiration in Simon and his love story, and the problematic lack of LGTB + audiovisual references that we have had until relatively recently is also commented on at some point.
It not only builds a positive reference in terms of LGBT+ characters, but also in the way the characters interact. They are not perfect, they often make mistakes, make bad decisions, act selfishly and even screw up to the bottom but, in the end, they use dialogue to talk about their problems and their feelings. It is very nice to see a fiction where the characters try to fix things by communicating.
The character gallery that populate this story are also its main attraction. They are so cute that it’s very easy to catch them darling and that you are interested in what happens to them throughout the entire series.
The series is finished with three seasonsof 8-10 chapters each, whose duration varies between 25 and 30 minutes, so it’s perfect for watching multiple episodes at once. Although the last season forces some sentimental swings a bit, it concludes satisfactorily and does not stretch the plots more than necessary.
‘With love, Victor’ is a nice and unassuming teen series. A happy place that approaches adolescence and self-discovery in a less dramatic and more positive way. If you are looking for something transcendent and brainy, it is probably not your series, but sometimes you just want to sit down and be told a beautiful story with endearing characters.