“Heated Rivalry.” Where do I even begin? Born in snowy Canada to Crave, an indie production company, the hit show managed to take the globe in a fiery blaze. I have not met a single person who has not heard of this piping-hot queer romance… or maybe I need to get off campus more often. Either way, it has caused quite a stir online from people all across the world. When I had first heard of “Heated Rivalry” in mid-to-late December, my first instinct as a nihilistic queer seeing a TV adaptation of a gay romance novel was to sigh and settle in to feast upon sanitized Hollywood slop for even a glimpse of someone like me on screen. In retrospect, my expectations were completely off-course. It was not another sanitized corporate cash grab; instead, it was the lovechild of a small Canadian production team unwilling to heed to American Hollywood censorship in exchange for a better budget, making something so wildly successful despite the small amounts of money they were working with. It was the first time I had ever seen a queer romance story that hit the mainstream while feeling the many tragedies of the queer experience, not bloating them or succumbing to them, but rather, ending on a note of hope.
Most of all, the happy, hopeful ending to the first season resonated with me the most — I’ll admit, I cried after finishing the show for the first time… and the second time. My high school experience was trademarked by having to camouflage myself to stay safe from harassment: this involved having to either censor or completely mask my relationship, among other things that make up unpleasant memories. Shane and Ilya, as well as Scott and Kip, obviously have higher stakes, but the emotions remain the same. “Heated Rivalry” tackles the nuanced effects of homophobia on all scales in society, without making it an over-dramatic modern-day fable. Instead, the creators made something that felt incredibly real– and this is coming from someone who has to navigate those same nuances in their own life. The show is able to sink into the depths of those pains, while still having a hopeful ending. Now more than ever, we need depictions of queer hope to shine into the mainstream. Any positive queer story is a win in my books, but “Heated Rivalry” was a sure-fire shot in the right direction.
