Over the past few years, there's been a ton of conversation about the power of representation. The TV and film industries have made major strides forward, showing diverse stories and featuring more women, people of color, and LGTBQ+ stories. While queer characters were historically given tragic fates onscreen, that’s been changing with feel-good titles like the YA series Hearstopper and Amazon’s rom-com Red, White and Royal Blue. And while these projects are super healing for queer folks like me, I’ve got one complaint. After all, there’s still more work to do regarding representation.
Part of why Heartbreaker became such a hit for those with a Netflix subscription is because the series is a feel-good innocent take on coming out and being a queer teenager. Red, White and Royal Blue was also romantic and has low stakes drama, making for a delightful rom-com experience. But the problem is that these stories still aren’t being made starring people of color.
