‘David and Keith were the role models I didn’t otherwise have’: The impact of the Six Feet Under Heartstopper couple
In 2022, Heartstopper arrived on Netflix, and everything changed.It was an absolute gift for the LGBTQ+ community, as two teenage boys figured out their feelings for each other without any death, disaster or gratuitous cruelty, which are still all too prevalent in same-sex storylines.For LGBTQ+ people who had grown up before Heartstopper, positive representations of same-sex couples in the media were few and far between – but they did exist, and they were just as important.As Pride month comes to a close, Metro.co.uk are catching up with LGBTQ+ people about the on-screen romances that impacted them growing up.We’ve had Emily and Naomi from Skins, Tara and Willow from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and now we’re diving into another trailblazing couple: David and Keith, from Six Feet Under.Their journey was far from the wholesome, hope-filled relationship enjoyed by Charlie and Nick in Heartstopper, but for LGBTQ+ people growing up in the early 2000’s, it was everything.Adam found Keith and David at a ‘pivotal time’ in his life, and was drawn to their ‘rich and complicated‘ relationshipFor Adam, seeing a gay relationship on a mainstream TV show, where each character dealt with their own personal strife but still found a way to make a relationship work, meant everything.While he ‘always knew’ he was gay, as a teenager Adam had ‘a lot of questions that needed answers.
Only I couldn’t ask anyone those questions to get those answers.’He discovered Six Feet Under, where in the very first episode, David’s father dies, leading to massive shifts in his family and responsibilities, all happening as he struggles to come to terms with his sexuality.Adam wasn’t out to his family, and at the same time ‘had just lost my sister, which.
