The Ashley Osemna comic is spreading positivity everywhere with its wholesome representation of queer love. The story follows two young boys, Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring in an all grammar school. The two discover their sexual identity while also falling in love with each other. What remains a challenge for the boys is telling their friends and family about each other. The winning cast and plot have already made the two leads a sensation. Fans have also dubbed the Heartstopper as anti-Euphoria. Both tackle LGBTQ issues but their approach couldn’t be any different. 

How is Heartstopper the exact opposite of Euphoria?

In a nutshell, Heartstopper is more optimistic. It focuses on the nice side of queer individuals and queer love. But Zendaya starrer Euphoria takes a darker approach. 

“Our story is not so based on sex, because our characters are turning 15 and 16 in the series, so it’s more about relationships and love. It’s a more optimistic piece,” said Joe Locke who plays Charlie.

Locke explained, “It shows the really nice things about being queer. I think a lot of queer people growing up feel like they don’t deserve love because they don’t have access to the same dating pool or support as straight people do. And so Heartstopper is so lovely in that it gives that to queer characters.”

When Nick comes out to his mother, (Olivia Colman) his mother immediately embraces him. This is in stark contrast to Cal Jacobs on Euphoria. Cal’s father was emotionally abused and he was forced to live a double life. In turn, he blamed and emotionally abused his child, Nate. 

The Netflix adaptation also showcases the struggles and the painful experiences of queer people. But unlike Euphoria it doesn’t show them descending the dark path of sex and drugs. Euphoria’s Jules, a trans girl hooks up with strange men she meets online.

In the Netflix series, Charlie’s lover, Ben Hope bullies him at school refusing to acknowledge him. But that is nothing compared to Jules and Nate’s relationship. Nate is ashamed of loving a trans girl who also happened to have slept with his father.

All of this points out how Joe Locke’s comment is actually true. Stream Heartstopper on Netflix and let us know in the comments other differences that you can point out.