(by Sai Sagar)
In a recent discussion with a friend, the netflix series Sex Education came up. He remarked that I might as well be acquainted with the education part, given that the first half of the title will always elude me. The joke here is on both of us. Firstly one doesn’t “GET” Sex unless and until he is Chintu Thyagi from Pati Patni aur woh and secondly we as a society kind of failed in that education part, because we take sex as something that comes with the license of a relationship or a marriage. In times when sexual skills and prowess in bed are championing the cause of masculinity ( toxic?) and with the influence of movies which portray men sleeping around with 350 women (safety ke liye I made it a round figure) and boast about doing it 545 times Shows like this are eye openers for the youth.
Sex education is a British teen comedy drama which follows the story of a socially awkward teenager Otis and how he becomes the Sex Guru of his school, helps them deal with their sex problems. Now where does he get his interest and skills from? His Mom Dr.Milburn is a sex therapist herself. Why does this show which has no relation to India geographically and culturally still popular among the Indians? It is because of our love for the forbidden. Sex has always been a taboo and remains so in our country. One can almost imagine the millennials watching this series sitting somewhere under the stairs hiding from the world, completely immersed, wishing that they had a high school life like this where beautiful people wear colorful dresses and dance around; all they do is gossip, party and have sex. Somewhere this show is fulfilling the fantasy life they want to live and also satisfying their curiosity about the things they want to know about but never do, openly.
The first season was breezy without much of a commentary; it was just our acquaintance with the subject. In the second season though, we progress into the problems and the lives of these teenagers. Issues like peer pressure, heart breaks, Intimacy and comfort are addressed in a much deeper level. The students get paranoid about an STD and they think that it spreads from the air they breathe, that’s the level of knowledge even their curriculum offers. This paranoid reaction of theirs simply shows that contradictory to what we think even the westerners consider this a taboo and topics like these are frowned upon when discussed in public. One thing the Brits gave all the colonized nations are a shared sense of prudishness.
Then comes Dr.Milburn to the rescue of the students and keeps the door open for them to talk about the issues they face. People laugh at her, mock her and stay silent for a few days; this shows the hypocritical attitude we have towards things. But finally when they are convinced and comforted by her and she manages to convince the school that it will be purely done for academic purposes the students get ready to start a dialogue on this. We can clearly see the changes in the lives of the students in the show. You may argue that it is a fictional story and is only for developed countries but, there is a particular scene which shows assault on a public transport and the trauma this teenager goes through and the way her friends help her deal with it. Do you think things like these are spoken about openly in our country, even though they happen a lot? This is why shows like this are necessary to start a dialogue on topics like this.
It also shows the parents of these kids battling through midlife crisis and having intimacy issues. This serves as something to show that even they are as vulnerable as the teens to the heart breaks and issues with relationships. At the same time this show also talks about what’s wrong with our relationships and the way we look at them. It touches upon the same-sex relationships and unlike season one they are not sidelined this time. The way one should deal with coming out or the homophobia of people and how the series deals with it is commendable. With the realistic portrayal of the same sex relationship and the tension and trauma people go through before getting into them needs to be talked about in order to bring acceptance to these relationships and change the way they are perceived in our society.
What we get in our Indian films or shows is only the Sex part of it and not the education. It doesn’t want to deliver a message, talk about an issue or help us deal with difficulties of our life. They simply portray this because it sells. I am not saying this show doesn’t use the same commercial concept, it just merely doesn’t add purposeless nudity or scenes to make us too comfortable or vice-versa. This show clearly brings its audience out of their comfort zones, breaks down the myths and addresses many sensitive issues, delivered under the back drop of a great story on friendship and solidarity. If you haven’t watched this I would recommend you to watch Sex Education right now, because you can’t have a dialogue about either of them in our country. If you think this is not your cup of tea then you can happily go back to watching gandi baat.
Baradwaj Rangan 
AdhithyaKR
January 22, 2020
The show seemed click-baity judging by its title, but your article makes me think maybe it’s worth trying out. Good article.
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N Madhusudhan
January 23, 2020
I watched a couple of episodes from the first season yesterday. The show doesn’t follow Hollywood’s teen dirty teen comedy formula and i found the drama so far to be quite engaging. It’s more than the nudity and laughs.
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tonks
January 24, 2020
I only just started watching this series, and it’s quite good. Fleshed out characters that I’m beginning to care about, after just three episodes.
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tonks
January 29, 2020
In addition to the qualities mentioned in the write up above, this is a highly “woke” series. I love the messages it gives across about the importance of consent (Otis kept asking Ola, “is this ok?”), and about “no meaning no” (when he spoke to the guy who tried to jump off the ceiling during the school dance). I love how the fiercely feminist Maeve is characterized as utterly cool, the way she forces her friend to testify against the guy who assaulted her in the bus, because if not, he would do it again.
I love how Eric’s being different is celebrated, the scene where he sees the guy in the cool car with painted nails, and this makes him believe once more in himself and embrace his individuality.
I love the British landscape (it’s shot in Wales), Otis’s lovely balcony with the view, and the college that has US soccer (not UK football).
I highly recommend this series.
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tonks
January 29, 2020
Also, when they showed Eric being stranded alone and cross-dressed on his birthday, and the usually irrepressible, bubbly boy became worried, you felt for him : so when these things are shown from the perspective of the vulnerable, and when shows like these (sensitive, intelligent, liberal, bold) are viewed by teenagers, it does give one hope that it will reduce prejudice.
I also loved the way they poked fun at the hypocrisy of the pro- lifers.
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tonks
January 29, 2020
Fun to watch, humour, depth of characterisation, and a lot of lovely, deeply thought out liberal slant in the storyline. What’s not to like.
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N Madhusudhan
January 30, 2020
Tonks – The scene where a cross dressed Eric walks alone on the road and what happens to him at the end of that scene was quite chilling. Very rarely do we get such empathetic portrayals of people who don’t follow conventional ways of life. It opens your mind to things you don’t normally think about. The over-optimist in me wants to believe that shows like this has the power to change the world.
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tonks
January 30, 2020
Very rarely do we get such empathetic portrayals of people who don’t follow conventional ways of life. It opens your mind to things you don’t normally think about. The over-optimist in me wants to believe that shows like this has the power to change the world
Indeed. I love how non judgemental they are. About how they try and show the view points of colothose with alternate sexuality, asexuals, the freaks, the drug addicts. No one’s black or white. The bully turns out to be more vulnerable and more deserving of sympathy than his victim. The only persons who are portrayed as mostly dislikeable (till now) are those snotty gang leaders and the head master.
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tonks
January 30, 2020
I also love the eighties pop hits they keep playing in the background all the time.
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brangan
January 31, 2020
Okay, now you guys have really made me want to watch this 🙂
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tonks
January 31, 2020
Frankie goes to Hollywood, Fleetwood Mac, the song “Dance hall days”, Rod Stewart, UB 40, A-ha, Billy Idol, amongst songs from other decades. Stangely enough, it’s unbelievable that I’d never before got the sexual connotations (sometimes hilarious) of some of these songs. Like “I can’t get no satisfaction” playing aptly in the background to the desperate rhythm of a boy who cannot complete his wanking due to a mental block.
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N Madhusudhan
January 31, 2020
Strangely i also noted “I can’t get no satisfaction” playing in the background in Scorsese’s Casino.
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