Adapted from Alice Oseman's webcomic and graphic novel, Heartstopper is Netflix's latest hit. The story of two teen boys falling in love, this queer teen romance is an overdose of sweetness packed into eight swift episodes. There's not much conflict beyond the usual fare for this type of narrative, though a good dose of angst keeps the sentimental dessert from tipping into schmaltz. All in all, I can't call myself a fan even though I recognize how such a production would have rocked my world as a gay teen growing up. It's cute, endearing, and terminally chaste, the kind of diversion that feels bound to delight its target audience.
That's not why I felt compelled to binge it, however. So, following that train of thought, let's talk about Olivia Colman and the Oscar-y conjectures Heartstopper accidentally puts forward…
After much mystery and subterfuge, it was revealed that the cast's rumored Oscar winner was our 2018 Best Actress champion. On the heels of playing a most unmaternal mother in The Lost Daughter, Olivia Colman shows up for brief scenes as one of the protagonist's stalwart single parents. As Sarah Nelson, she's a warm presence, openly affectionate, always ready with a heartfelt reassurance that'll put her son at ease. Sarah couldn't be more different from the actress's most recent Academy Award-nominated role. So much so that the performance feels like a proof of range - as if we needed more evidence of Colman's talents.
Speaking of awards, the show actively invites the viewer to think of Oscars when it refers to the annual traditions of a particular group of teens. Every year, the adorable Charlie Spring and his friends get together to watch the Academy Awards. However, as their bond is tested by young romance, Tao – the token cis straight guy – laments the loss of their rituals, including that Oscar-viewing get-together. I don't know about you, but when that happened, and then Olivia Colman showed up minutes later, I couldn't help but wonder if the actress also exists in the Heartstopper universe.
If so, does she look like Sarah Nelson's doppelgänger? If not, how is Oscar history affected by a Colman-less reality? In other words, this innocent show may present an alternate dimension where Glenn Close won in 2018, and Emily Blunt became an Oscar nominee, at long last, for Mary Poppins Returns. If not Colman, I wonder who gets that 2020 Supporting Actress nomination and if Gaga's snub would have been averted. Or perchance, other performers would get those Colman roles and deliver good enough work to get buzz. That I watched Heartstopper and couldn't get such questions out of my head says a lot about me - none of it good.
As I fall further into the depths of Oscar-obsessed insanity, tell me, dear readers, how do you reckon the last few years of movie awards would have unfolded in a universe without Olivia Colman.