Eating Disorders and Queer Youth: ‘Heartstopper’
By Christine Siamanta Kinori
Heartstopper season 2 dropped early in August of this year. Fans were understandably excited to meet Charlie and Nick again. Season 2 was a great follow-up to the first season as we dug deeper into the relationship between these two adorable boys from Truham Grammar School.
In season 1, we saw Nick question his sexuality and experience what he termed as a full-on gay crisis when his feelings for Charlie became clear. We left them at the beach, officially in their dating era. They were all smiles and having fun in the water, happy to be dating and basically in their honeymoon phase.
In season 2, we meet them as they try to settle into their new roles as boyfriends. They are still in their honeymoon phase, blissfully happy and sneaking kisses around the school grounds. Season 2 also sees them battle with Nick coming out.
Charlie is supportive and wants Nick to come out on his terms. He is adamant that he wants to protect Nick and spare him the bad experiences he had in season 1.
At the time, he was publicly out and was being heavily bullied. It didn’t help that his fling, Ben, only wanted to date him secretly and was, for lack of a better word, a jerk. Ben was struggling, as we learn in season 2, but that doesn’t excuse his toxic behavior towards Charlie.
In season 1 Charlie had a horrendous experience at school. The bullying was so bad that he hid in Mr. Ajayi’s art class for peace during lunch. His friend, Tao, did his best to help Charlie overcome the bullying, but it only worsened the issue. The bullies, mainly Harry, took this as a challenge and doubled on his actions. By the end of season 1, Harry was getting on most people’s nerves with his homophobic attacks on Charlie.
Season 2 walked us through that tumultuous time in Charlie’s life. We thought it was bad but never knew how bad it got for our beloved, curly-haired boy. The last episode of season 2 shed more light on how the bullying affected Charlie. In the last episode, Charlie opens up to Nick and explains in some detail what he went through, and it was heartbreaking to hear this.
Charlie tells Nick that people would verbally berate him because he was gay. It was the first time Charlie started questioning his worth. He started believing what the bullies were saying and began to hate himself. These homophobic attacks led Charlie to self-harm.
It didn’t stop there; Charlie developed an eating disorder as the stress from the bullying got too much. He was scared to speak about it because he didn’t want to be a burden. He internalized all these hurtful experiences and didn’t have an outlet. It started to consume him internally, but he pretended he was okay.
In season 2, we can’t help but notice that Charlie is lying about his relationship with food. He would say he had already eaten when he hadn’t. He would barely eat his food, and he fainted on one occasion. Nick quickly began to suspect something was wrong but didn’t know how to bring it up.
Charlie admits to Nick that he feels like food is the only thing he can control in his life. Everything in Charlie’s life was too consuming. He couldn’t control the bullying, and he couldn’t verbalize the trauma. He developed an eating disorder as a means to regain control.
Heartstopper’s portrayal of eating disorders are a much needed reminder to all of us that we need to discuss eating disorders more. According to research, at least 65% of people with eating disorders say bullying contributed to their condition. It is not something we can ignore, especially given the rising cases of bullying in our schools. Lately, LGBTQ+ American students have been fighting to survive in their schools while their government tries to silence them. The list of legal attacks that LGBTQ+ students have been fighting against is disturbing, to say the least. These government sponsored attacks all make homophobia and bullying even worse for LGBTQ+ students.
This is why a show like Heartstopper is. It starts the kind of tough conversations that most people are uncomfortable discussing. The impact of bullying is dimensional, and we are still learning more about how the trauma manifests. In this case, it manifests itself in Charlie as an eating disorder and self-harm.
I also loved that Heartstopper showed how support from loved ones can help. Nick is super supportive and assures Charlie he will be there. He wants to help him and insists on open communication between them. You can see from Nick’s eyes that he is worried and wants to help. The show subtly touched on these issues this season, and we can’t wait to see what happens in season 3. Hopefully, Charlie will get professional help. It won’t be easy, but we hope he will overcome with Nick by his side.
Heartstopper’s take on eating disorders and body dysmorphia is a welcomed and refreshing take. There was no glamorization, and it directly hit the topic on its head, with no room for misinterpretation.
About the Author:
Christine Siamanta Kinori grew up in a little village in Kenya known as Loitoktok near the border of Kenya and Tanzania. All she wanted to do when she grew up was to explore the world. Her curiosity led her to join Nairobi University to pursue a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. She later got a job with an amazing travel magazine Nomad Africa which gave her the opportunity to explore Africa. She also writes for numerous travel websites about Africa and tries to create a new narrative in the media about our aesthetic continent.
Christine claims to have somewhat unhealthy addiction to TV and reading, as it is a fun way to keep herself occupied during the long journeys for her travel writing. She is also a believer of letting people be their beautiful selves. To her, love is love and it is the greatest gift we have as humans.
