In the dark, seasonal depression-addled nights of December, something caught the populus by the heart and hasn’t let go.
Hailing from the low-budget Canadian streaming service Crave, “Heated Rivalry” was never set up for global success. Foreign, featuring unknown actors- and most glaringly, gay- is a recipe for a quiet reception and eventual cancellation.
Yet, the six-episode series has swept the globe, the likes of which have been unseen since “Twilight” Fever and “Beatlemania.” While the teenage girl audience is an easy, monetarily successful target for romance television to hit, “Heated Rivalry” has bridged the gaps of age, gender and sexuality.
The key to which might lie in the series’ release date, falling in a media landscape ripe with conflict and harrowingly bleak mirrors of reality. Pressing play on “The Pitt” or “Adolescence” only exacerbates the horrors outside and in the news, something most people aren’t keen on anymore.
Desperately needed escapism may be one piece of firewood in the blaze of the show’s success, but the starring couple, portrayed by upstarts Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, is the match that lit the flame. Williams and Storrie, led by showrunner Jacob Tierney, took the material from Book-Tok romance to a sincere tale of self-discovery under the shroud of secrecy .
To put it bluntly, mainstream LGBTQ+ representation has been in the gutter recently. As the sentiments of voters, and therefore consumers, shifted towards conservatism, entertainment followed. LGBTQ+ stories that have been embraced by a general audience are weighed down by the conflicts of homophobia, familial acceptance and more often than necessary, death.
“Heated Rivalry” encounters every roadbump, yet allows the characters to glide to the finish line. In a refreshing twist of events, main characters Ilya Rosanov and Shane Hollander end the first season happy and accepted by those in their immediate circle. More importantly for the queer audience, they end with hope.
The “real world” is uninviting and outright dangerous for many. “Heated Rivalry” offered a well-timed escape from that reality.
In a rather heartwarming turn, watching straight audiences accept the story of two gay male athletes has emboldened closeted athletes to come out themselves.
Jesse Kortuem, professional hockey player for Cutting Edges, came out as gay in an Instagram post, citing the reception of the series as a driving force in his choice, and Williams said a number of professional athletes have come out to Williams in his DMs.
“Never in my life did I think something so positive and loving could come from such a masculine sport,” Kortuem said in an interview with Out.com.
Criticism over the show’s sexualization of its leads to snag a straight audience has been thrown into the conversation, and it may even be true. It’s true that male same-sex relationships on television are more prevalent. It’s true that queer women deserve better representation in the media.
Those truths don’t negate the positive impact “Heated Rivalry” has had on a general audience, but they can be used to shine a light on what needs better representation.
If something, especially a cheap Canadian streaming show, can bring a divided population together for a few months, maybe it’s worth sticking around. Even if a large portion of that viewership is just there for shirtless Storrie and Williams.
