I chose the show Young Royals on Netflix to watch for this week’s blog post. It’s a teen drama romance about the relationship between two boys at Hillerska, a prestigious boarding school. The story follows Wilhem, a young Swedish prince recently exiled to Hillerska after a video of him fighting at a nightclub surfaces online. There he meets a cast of wealthy characters with complex personal lives but most notable among them is Simon, a Latino scholarship student who is openly gay.
The exact location where the story happens isn’t specified, as the school itself is fictional, but I imagine it takes place on the outskirts of some large, picturesque European city. I enjoy watching foreign content that focuses on LGBT characters because I’m interested in seeing the ways that race, sexuality, and gender are treated in countries outside of the US. Concerning economics and the general quality of life depicted in the show, the setting didn’t seem all that different from any rich area in America, but the way the boys’ relationship was handled was different than the way events would unfold in America. (Spoilers ahead!)
Simon and Wilhem start seeing each other after a few episodes but they eventually get caught by another student with a vendetta against Simon who leaks a video of them together online. In an American show, there would probably be some sort of happy resolution after a small moment of conflict but the writers of Young Royals took the more realistic approach and had Wilhem do the wrong thing and throw Simon under the by claiming he wasn’t in the video.
What I appreciated most about the show was how realistic and subtle it was and how the characters had clear flaws. It was refreshing to see that all of the actors looked their age, versus American shows where high schoolers are played by thirty years olds with perfect skin and mature features. The homophobia was real and present throughout the series but it wasn’t something the watcher was beaten over the head with, which I think made it even more impactful. Overall, I enjoyed the show and my only complaint is that there aren’t more seasons for me to watch yet.
I think it is interesting that you pointed out that all of the actors look like the real ages because that is something that I have also noticed about American actors, they are always way older than the character they are playing. It gives an unreal idea about what teenagers are supposed to look like.