‘Heartstopper’: Nick Nelson’s Emotional Scene Helped a Fan Come out to Their Parents
Heartstopper has not stopped trending on social media and news outlets and is a grand success among fans. The Netflix series tells a positive outlook of a coming-of-age LGBTQ story of a group of British teens in high school. Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) is openly gay and starts to develop feelings for his new desk mate. Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) is the handsome school rugby player who starts to realize his own sexuality in Heartstopper. The character’s coming-out scene resonated with fans and helped one fan in particular.
Nick Nelson treats Charlie with respect and starts to fall in love in ‘Heartstopper’
Nick is quite the opposite compared to Heartstopper’s other main character Charlie. He is the school’s popular guy, a rugby player, outgoing, and the typical male by many accounts, even in the original graphic novels. On the other hand, Charlie is more shy, reserved, and kind but is still firm in his sexuality. They become desk mates for the new term, and Charlie is immediately smitten.
The thing that gravitated fans toward Nick was his open-mindedness. From the start, he was nice toward Charlie, greeted him in the hallways, and had no problem being his friend. Fans applauded when Nick saved Charlie from his confrontation with Ben (Sebastian Croft). Along the way, Nick started to experience newfound feelings toward Charlie.
He goes through the same journey of Googling what his feelings mean and whether or not he is right about his assumptions. The entire time, he never disrespects Charlie or pushes him away. By the end of Heartstopper, Nick realizes what is true in his heart and accepts he is bisexual or still figuring out who he is.
Kit Connor reveals a fan used Nick’s coming out scene in ‘Heartstopper’ to tell their parents
Heartstopper has lovable and resonating moments from first kisses, small touches while playing drums, or heartfelt conversations. Coming out to one’s parents can be emotional, even for Nick. In the final episode of Heartstopper, Nick is clear about his feelings for Charlie and decides to tell his mother the truth.
Nick tells his mother that Charlie is more than a friend and is his boyfriend in their kitchen. He admits he still likes girls and boys. His mother looks at her son with understanding and hugs him. She apologizes if he ever felt afraid to tell her. Nick reveals he likes both genders and might be bisexual.
Nick’s coming out scene resonated with global audiences and helped some fans gain the confidence to tell their parents. In an interview with This Morning, Connor explains a Tweet he saw from a fan.
“There was a beautiful tweet that came out from a Heartstopper fan days after the show came out. It was basically talking about after showing their parents a scene, like quite an important scene in the show with my character, they essentially used that to come out to their parents,” said Connor. “For me, it was the most gratifying moment in my career, ever. For an 18-year-old to be able to have that kind of effect on anyone’s life is unbelievable.”
Fans wish ‘Heartstopper’ was created when they were younger, when they needed accurate representation
Emily Bashforth from Refinery29 wrote an article about Heartstopper’s importance to younger audiences but its melancholy effect on older generations. While fans praise Nick’s coming-out scene and Heartstopper’s story, the accurate depiction of lesbian couples also made an impact.
“I cried because its authentic LGBTQ+ storytelling is so lovingly handled. I cried because I never had that visibility as a teen. I also cried tears of joy that today’s kids have TV shows telling them it’s okay to be who they are,” explained Bashforth.
She also explains how older generations did not have the same representation. “It shouldn’t be revolutionary for us, as lesbians, merely to hear our sexuality uttered on screen. But the reality is that we are excited by this because we have been starved for so long, with no one to turn to who looks like us. Coming across fictional characters who are proud of their identities is a big deal.”
In This Morning’s interview, Locke explains seeing similar stories from fans. He explained how fans were joyous watching the series but lamented never having a positive representation of themselves and their sexuality when they were younger. Locke says it is “heartbreaking and heart-making at the same time.”
