The Weird British-American Setting of Sex Education (Netflix)

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thanks for watching! If you'd like to support me to make more videos like this then I'd be very grateful if you'd check out my Patreon page at patreon.com/tomnicholas

[@RossMcDowall94]

Really not gonna even mention Harry Potter when talking about the decline of soft power in the last two decades? Imagine if Harry Potter was American

[@juliangerth4640]

would you consider making a video on Altered Carbon? I think that especially the first season explores some very interesting themes that fit right into your channel:) much love from Germany, fantastic videos

[@graffic13]

Perhaps he put the " American aesthetic " on this so it wasn't just " SKINS" .... because it would be " Skins" ... something had to define it.

[@darrenburns1143]

I assumed they were in sixth form therefore no uniforms.

[@Skylla07]

I feel like the main thing you missed is that it's meant to be set in Wales but nothing about it is Welsh - you mentioned "English" countryside and "English" culture but that's not where the show is set either.

[@katied1744]

Personally the biggest thing that made the show feel British wasn't the accents, but the fact that teens got around town successfully by walking, biking, and taking public transport in a rural/suburban community.

[@lunalunarluna]

exactly, the lack of excessive apparition of teenagers driving their own cars gives a lot of non-american vibes

[@alysbaah-danso5278]

😂😂😂omg yes

[@bocameron4983]

I actually found that quite un-British! I live in proper middle of nowhere countryside, and in my experience it would take at least 2 hours for me to bike to see my friends. It actually reminded me more of a stranger things American kinda vibe! But obvs that’s just my experience, I do get what you mean :)))

[@realanger1543]

@@bocameron4983 Unless you live in a metro area. There is no public transportation in the United States

[@bocameron4983]

@@realanger1543 exactly, the biking and stuff made it feel more American! i actually didn’t know that tho, very interesting.

[@zw5851]

I haven't seen Sex Education, but 'End of the F***ing World' has a similar flirtation with American aesthetics, though in EotFW's case it seems to be more with the Americana of diners and "The Western" as a vaguely kitschy aesthetic realm rather than Hollywood-ized high schools. I wonder if there is a larger trend here?

[@Tom_Nicholas]

There is something quite similar about EotFW and, at one point, I think I was going to discuss both in the same video (I've been debating making this video for around a year now so it's gone through a number of versions in my head). Again, there's an element of genre in that as you say. I do wonder if there's potentially something of a trend which, although I think there's elements of it which really work in both these shows, I would be a bit disappointed (as there's the potential that everything just becomes very similar). Somehow, I think it works slightly better in EotFW but I wonder whether that is because EotFW simply isn't trying to make any political points at all, it's very much genre fiction, whereas SE seems to want to comment on the world as it actually exists...

[@FreyaEinde]

Zach W “ I’m not okay, which is by the same creator has the same aesthetic and it portrays the American rust belt experience better than most American shows that always has a more sanitized look.

[@Bijo69]

The graphic novel it’s based on is American

[@PaulMason99]

As bijo points out the source material is American. What stands out to me is that the structure of S1 is essentially a road movie. But the logistics of going from somewhere in SE England to the coast (a journey that could easily be less than a day depending on specifics) to those in a vast country like the US are very different. Similarly season 2 turns from road movie into lost in the wilderness story. I believe it's shot in Wales again and so you are at most a couple of hours drive from more built up areas.

[@PaulMason99]

@@Tom_Nicholas Even with a genre piece it's a shame if everything becomes culturally homogenized. I think it's a failure of imagination in marketing. Or is it now the case that British cultural references are as inimical to US audiences as reading subtitles?

[@deaf-tomcat]

I noticed this immediately!! And I'm American, lol. While I love the mixture of the 80's and 2010's aesthetics, I'm so tired of teen/young adult dramas following the same Hughes template. School culture is completely different nowadays than it was in the 1980s. I honestly feel like some of the best examples of a modern (US) school are 21 Jump Street and Booksmart because it's not so focused on cliques anymore. Smart kids are "popular" now. Our values have changed. I get that the producers/writers grew up in the 80s and 90s, but it's so weird to keep pushing their high school experience onto a new generation. Like, we get it, y'all love Hughes. There are better and newer inspirations to pick from, however.

[@shannoncasey6244]

What school do you go to that’s not focused on cliques??? I wanna move there lol

[@antitheticaldreamgirl]

it's because most shows and movies are made by people who went to school in the 80s or 90s or even later, we'll hopefully see more current portrayals of school life in the near future

[@Udontkno7]

as a 17 year old, nobody’s really popular. There’s too much of us to care lmao, we just kinda...hang

[@antitheticaldreamgirl]

@@Udontkno7 literally!!! especially here in the uk, i've never even seen that type of thing irl

[@karmicobsession1636]

Shannon Casey Like there are cliques but they aren’t as rigid as shows like this suggest. Like the person said it’s very 80’s, very Hughes.

[@Paxility]

I don't know if this fits here but: Not being from the UK or the US I'm kind of surprised i didn't notice that they didn't wear uniforms. But there is something else that i found very weird about the setting. The shool looks fairly big with alot of students going there that don't recognize most other students faces. This makes the impression that they live in a pretty densely populated suburb or something. But alot of the houses we see are in the middle of nowhere surrounded by acres of forest and fields. Which leaves the impression that some of them have a pretty big commute to shool. I grew up in such circumstances so this felt familiar. But at the same time they all visit each other casually by bike or walk each other home. Or they casually meet at the one store. Amy lives in a huge house in the middle of nowhere. When she can't get on the bus she just... WALKS. This would have taken hour's here. Sometimes ot felt like the producers don't know what it's like to live in the country. Especially how much effort it takes to see your freinds outside of shool without a car.

[@livisome123]

but they're in 6th form and a lot of people in those years dont have to wear uniforms

[@erinlee5936]

Regarding the long commute, I always thought it was because the schedule in UK schools was different compared to US schools. Similar that students have to be at school by a certain time (7am or 8am) but UK students spend less time at school. For example, students have classes until noon or 1pm then do activities in the afternoon, whereas US schools have students sit in class until 3pm then do after school programs like clubs and sports activities. I always thought that's why the long commute (walking to school, like what Amy does) happens. Idk if this is true but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[@palmo9823]

My primary school had 400 students and my high school had iirc 800 and I didn't recognise the vast majority of people

[@Udontkno7]

I live in the rural country, in America, and it didn’t seem that strange until you made me notice all the bikes. In America, teenagers usually get cars by 16-19, so this distance isn’t a bother. You’re right, it seems a little non-understanding of how country life is. (My school also had 2,200 kids, so maybe not that rural? More like spread apart with farms.)

[@chloeviolets6865]

​@@erinlee5936 I don't know what UK schools you're thinking of, as most that I know of have roughly 6 hour (minimum) days. Mine's 8.30 - 3.30. We don't do "activities" unfortunately. We also just do school work and classes. It's still a school. We do after school programmes / clubs. Heck as the oldest year group, we're all given the responsibility for leading those clubs. We have to give up lunch times for some of them. I'm a little confused on where this assumption came from tbh

[@thesnowflakediaries5267]

i kinda like the weird setting, makes it seem kind of futuristic ig? like thats how we should be in the future, open minded and empathetic

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Fair enough, I wouldn't say I necessarily "don't like" it, just felt like it was interesting to examine!

[@rockwitharms7455]

That great Shakespearian space performance takes that concept to a metalevel, don’t you think?

[@luke-alex]

@@pondy3490 I agree, the American aspect that it evokes is definitely _retro,_ it's like an 80s US high school (as represented in US TV and film) which is inexplicably located in modern day England!

[@СпаркиСпаркиБуМен]

@@Tom_Nicholas your British English is pleasant!

[@janelle8137]

It kind of reminds me of The Incredibles! Feels like it's in the 60s but is also very modern.

[@tapetenklaus1869]

Im neither British nor American, but something always really felt off.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

I go back and forth between finding it fun and engaging and finding that it draws me out of the show little. Mostly, really quite like the show though.

[@nurailidepaepe2783]

yeah me too sometimes i think it's american and then i'm like no wait

[@imbored9955]

Tom Nicholas they were making it to support people, to show us that our british stuffiness can be behind us if we open up to people :D

[@biggiesmartypants]

i'm neither, either (lol). i never questioned where it was, which i find interesting in itself again. i just remember thinking 'they sure live fancy'. i guess i ran with that it plays nowhere specific

[@MartijnPennings]

Me too, I literally googled where Sex Education was supposed to be set while watching it.

[@ellaorlando4372]

It's stuck in an aesthetic limbo of the 2010s and 1980s and floating somewhere between north American and British culture. Gives it a weirdly off-putting, quirky, "I'm not like other shows" kinda vibe, but in a good way.

[@mikelmontoya2965]

I think that is mostly for British and North American audiences to be honest. Here in Spain, high school is so different and the 80s were so different, that nobody noticed any of that, most people probably think it's set in nowadays North America. The only weird thing I noticed was when in one episode in season 1 Maeve had to remind Aimee that the UK doesn't have a president but a prime minister, here in Europe everyone knows the UK has a prime minister, I think that bit was directed to the North American audiences.

[@ellaorlando4372]

@@mikelmontoya2965 Yeah, they definitely had a target audience that they were trying to appeal too. I know many teens in America really like the appeal of british media, so its likely they were trying to pull a large audience from teens and young adults here.

[@mikelmontoya2965]

@@ellaorlando4372 the show was also massively successful here in Spain among teens and young adults, it felt like everyone watched it to be honest, but taking into account that the only actually British thing about the show is that since the actors are British they speak with a British accent, and that here almost everybody watched it in Spanish, I think most people think it's an American show just like any other show on Netflix. You Americans obviously noticed that it's British because of the accent.

[@Khymeira]

So if it's good, then it's not really off-putting, lol. I like it a lot!

[@stvltiloqvent]

@@mikelmontoya2965 nope, me and my friends who live in Hong Kong and went to school in Hong Kong also noticed the weird mashing of American high school aesthetics and British setting in this show Because literally the no uniforms thing is the first thing you notice in this show. Everybody knows British kids wore school uniforms. It's really really jarring And there's been such an abundance of American high school movies that we can all tell the exact aesthetics they were going for

[@river2042]

It is clearly an A Level college? High schools in the UK have uniforms and students are aged 11-16, while A level colleges have students aged 16-18+, which makes a lot more sense considering there's never anyone around who looks much younger than 16! A Level colleges also don't usually have uniforms... Additionally, at 14;32 in the video you'll see a poster up for an A-Level history revision group. Overall the setting is very strange for a UK high school but for an A-level college, it's much more believable, even to me as someone who's been to one - it's just strange they are calling it Moordale secondary school, an American must've made that decision!

[@mirandahazel1703]

I'm not sure it's specifically a sixth form. I remember there being an announcement about the year 9 girls cake sale for one thing, and for another, there was a scene where it said "all sixth formers to the canteen". They wouldn't need to say that if there were only 16-18 year olds there.

[@river2042]

@@mirandahazel1703 I think the showrunners just don't quite know the difference between a high school and a sixth form then because they're very confused hahaha

[@graceelizabeth130]

they said in the beginning that they’re in sixth form

[@andres.alegre]

Also Otis and Maeve are always reading A level text books

[@archiebell9573]

There are multiple 15 year old characters and Otis is only 16. So can’t be just a college. Maybe a weird sixth form?

[@sebandrews4395]

Exactly. You look at the Inbetweeners, it’s british through and through. You look at the Cornetto Trilogy, and they can parody american films while still being incredibly british in their DNA. This just... doesn’t feel like that.

[@MrTacticalinuit]

I think Skins tackled some similar themes, but in a more British way perhaps. I wouldn't know though, I'm not british.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Early Skins was excellent in that regard. It's also set not too far from where I live so was always really appealing in that way. It did play into "really cool young people going to really cool parties all the time" in a way and got less good as time went on but the first two seasons of Skins were phenomenal.

[@jessiking7855]

Tom Nicholas omg yesss ive never actually seen someone mention how skins kind of just went downhill after season 2

[@Isabella-ot4mu]

Skins got me thinking uk teens are dope heads

[@AndresNavaHurtado]

@@Isabella-ot4mu they are

[@mrflibble1259]

@@jessiking7855 I dunno, I've recently watched it for the first time and I honestly enjoyed gen 2 most and really liked gen 3 too

[@themanfromhell24]

It doesn't just 'feel' American. They literally just transplanted English-sounding characters into an American high school. It's like they don't think American audiences could possibly conceive of a world outside of their own backyard.

[@Carlosdreamur]

Jack Seax lol there are UK versions of USA shows too

[@existinguser7788]

yeah it's so annoying. The inbetweeners is a clear indication that everyone enjoys a different setting

[@MingusTale]

Yup. I really want this US-centrism to end. I'm really afraid that as Netflix takes over and the BBC becomes irrelevant that we'll have no shows that actually reflect actual British life.

[@jakenadalachgile1836]

@@MingusTale thankfully with successful shows like Killing Eve the BBC isn't losing relevance yet :)

[@jakenadalachgile1836]

but I agree that US-centrism is a real problem at the minute, especially in politics

[@kamilavargas2754]

As an American, I didn't notice this until British KZbinrs mentioned it. It must be really weird if that is not your school experience. I did notice the colorful and slightly magical aesthetic of the show. Overall, I really enjoy it. However, I understand the problems it poses.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

That's really interesting. Yeah, I don't think it necessarily takes away from the show being really enjoyable and endearing but just something I think it's worth baring in mind.

[@1norwood1]

As an Australian I didn't notice anything off about the show I just assumed that was how things normally are in the UK. Some things about the "typical" television high school always seemed bizarre to me biggest one is probably the Cafeteria or the common dining area. At Schools over here everyone eats lunch outside usually in small groups sitting under trees or at picnic tables and benches. They used to make a big deal about forcing everyone to wear hats and suncreen (because of skin cancer) I always thought it was hypocritical they force us outside for lunch but fret over the fact we might get sunburnt. I've always been of jealous of all the food these TV high schools have, it seems you can get like full on hot meals for lunch (not sure how true to life this is) my school had a canteen but all it really sold was fruit juice, cheap ice blocks and packets of crisps.

[@kamilavargas2754]

@1norwood1 I can't speak for other places but in my public school, we get free lunches because our area is so poor. However, it varies depending on area

[@kJ922-h3j]

@@1norwood1 it’s really just an American high school show with British actors using their own accents lol it’s not just the look of the show, everything is American other than the actors. If you want any idea of british high school life, watch the Inbetweeners

[@lindseytallent2855]

@@1norwood1 It’s definitely accurate to get a full hot lunch, that’s a standard in America. Now whether it’s something you actually want to eat is an entirely different question!

[@max_208]

as a french viewer, i never though it was british at all, just american because the british influence is so rare (and mabye because i didnt' watched it in english the first time so no hints with the accents)

[@thomasjones]

i think that there's a certain beauty in the ambiguity of the finer details (i.e: where are they? why do they not wear a uniform?) sex education, to british teens, is a fantasy, what we desire for school to be like: an unattainable amount of time out of lessons, comedic teachers, no school uniform, a blatant disregard for the rules without serious consequence. all of this, while still getting good grades, praise from teachers, etc. these ideas are a paradox, they can't really exist alongside one another. this is why it's better to keep it ambiguous, as to not ruin the fantasy with harsh reality.

[@jackfrosty4674]

Romans 10:9-10 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Read More...) Ephesians 2:8-10 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Read More...) John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Romans 10:13 - For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. John 3:5 - Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Acts 2:38-39 - Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Read More...) Acts 22:16 - And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[@lakesideghost]

I wish they at least included a group of chavs

[@rebecca5088]

Omg yeah that’s what I was thinking

[@shahidullah5983]

not to bring any offence to maeve but wasn’t she basically a chav?

[@shahidullah5983]

@@lauravampire1276 eh idk

[@prafonity]

What is a chav

[@RZ-bq5kf]

@@prafonity look on urban dictionary

[@tbick7046]

I did really enjoy the show, mostly because of the well written characters and the nuanced and empathetic portrayals of their struggles. However, I also think using the aesthetics of progressivism without actually practicing any systematic critique of the politics that created this problem in the first place is purposeful. This way Netflix can appeal to young people without taking any real risks.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

I think this pretty much sums up my view on the show too.

[@vrixphillips]

I'm still watching it, but it always makes me laugh when people think that the whole Hughes-ian style of American High School Experience is at all reflective of reality. At my high school, at least, it was hardly like that at all. There weren't really in- or out-groups, or really distinguishable groups at all. There were just people you knew and people you didn't.

[@hatorigirl1202]

One of the movies that got closest to my experience of high school was 21 Jump Street. No special new drug and all that, but the way students interacted with each other and what they were concerned with.

[@Udontkno7]

Boom. Remove all the drama from Euphoria, and it’s kinda accurate.

[@irrelevance3859]

@Karl O'Shaughnessy sex education just doesn't hit euphoria or skins lol

[@mikelmontoya2965]

As a Spaniard, I kinda imagine US high school life as a less extreme and fictionalized version of Euphoria.

[@mikelmontoya2965]

@@Udontkno7 lol I hadn't read your comment before posting mine saying that as a foreigner I imagine US high school just like you say 🤣

[@Fran-le5pk]

As much as I like the 80s aesthetic, I feel like Netflix has overused it completely when it comes to the majority of their original shows. Also I'm not the biggest fan of the whole varsity jacket idea when it comes to the weird American theme of the programme. I wish Netflix didn't have to feel the need to add America into nearly everything they create, I'd love to see them attempt to make a classic crappy British school with the average attitude and personality of students/teachers that you'd find in one (I'm not asking for the second coming of the imbetweeners, I just want a show that doesn't have all the ott cringe cliques and shit).

[@colonelweird]

Americans need something other than John Hughes and Happy Days as our cultural shorthand for the high school experience. It's weird to realize how ubiquitous this stuff is, yet these depictions are such deep distortions of what school was like for most of us.

[@finnmacmanus5723]

The inbetweeners and skins are a great start

[@camrynward8254]

Please watch Euphoria

[@karmicobsession1636]

Finn MacManus I think they mean something that’s actually American.

[@karmicobsession1636]

camryn ward Euphoria is also what a lot of people wish their high school life was like but wasnt and isnt. It portrays addiction well but thats the best thing is does.

[@MsBean02]

It's interesting because when I started watching the show I also had a difficult time figuring out what period of time the show was set in. A lot of the style in the show is very 80s/90s and cell phones are kind of the only really modern thing featured. There are a couple shows out like this now that don't really give the audience a year. The John Hughes influence makes total sense with the styling.

[@ladysnailey181]

As someone who's been to school in both America and England, this show's setting was very strikingly strange to me. I remember watching it for the first time and feeling like two totally different worlds had been smashed together to create this weird world of it's own

[@nevadawalker850]

The thing about the “American high school experience” that you see in movies is that it is not actually representative of the real American high school experience at all. I think Americans have the same ideas about those movies and shows as others. There are some elements of it that are realistic, like some schools not having a uniform and athletes wearing letterman jackets (although not many people wear them and they aren’t really a status symbol). So I don’t think they were trying to appeal to an American audience with experiences they could relate to, but just to people that have seen those movies and enjoyed them.

[@mangoblaze]

As someone who went to a grammar school in the South East of England I actually found the show very relatable - our sixth formers wore their own clothes, we had lockers and while my secondary school didn't have a swimming pool we did have optional access to one in town and my primary school had one on the school grounds. I wonder if my school was just unusually American or if it's a weird South Eastern thing??

[@mangoblaze]

ALSO American style high schools DO exist in the UK - one of my coworkers went to one

[@yourlocalmurder8138]

Nah I think this is a South East England thing- definitely nothing like this in the south west unless it's a private school

[@BB-us8sz]

i go to a sixth form college in london and felt the show was relatable too!

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

same here, I went to a lowkey private school in the Midlands and we dressed in our own clothes (quite similar to in SE, people often had bright coloured/adventurous fashion choices), we had full-length lockers all the way from year 7 to 13 (which is pretty rare), we had a swimming pool, and for some reason we also had some weird Americanisms - our headteacher was called the 'principal', our school was a 'high school' and break was 'recess'. But at the same time, it was a very old and generally traditional British school.

[@maisie9705]

Just a higher class thing; if you’re referring to it as six form it’s likely posher than other public schools

[@john-fs9bw]

Rightly or wrongly as an American I imagine every British school is a magicless Harry Potter without the boarding school aspect

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Imagine that but, instead of a castle, they've got the architectural style of maybe a gym or a conference centre and, instead of being magical, they're all kind of falling apart after a decade of underfunding and corporatisation...

[@willhissettmusic]

check out Inbetweeners, pretty accurate

[@qetoun]

The death rates in some of our schools are close to Hogwarts that much is true.

[@jeanpaulsinatra]

Wrongly.

[@qetoun]

@@Tom_Nicholas You seem to have forgotten that huge depression in 2008. No money...no funding

[@archer1949]

A lot of Canadian shows have a similar sense of “Generic North American” feel to it. Accents aside, you can tell this show isn’t set in the US because they don’t have Bible Banging Evangelical fanatics in the school board trying to cram the discredited “abstinence only” policy when it comes to Sex Ed in public schools.

[@CatCamryn]

Tbf that type of thing is mostly just in the Bible Belt of the US from what I can tell. (Or perhaps just rural in general? I grew up in a suburb on the west coast so there was pretty much no religious influences on sex ed.)

[@scottwerner279]

Northerner here and camryn is right, christianity does not run school policies lol

[@scottwerner279]

That being said, sex ed. In my hs Is still stifled by our old timey social norms

[@innocentsmith6091]

Old timey social norms worked for 200,000 years but ok.

[@scottwerner279]

@@innocentsmith6091 well, the ancient world had vastly different social norms regarding sex than we did. So if you're making this argument then you can say that old timey social norms worked for the past 1.5k years, or around the time of the rise of christianity and Islam. You cannot claim to know that our ancestors who lived in caves and trees 200k years ago had monogamous relationships though.

[@BB-us8sz]

This annoyed me because I go to a sixth form college and my college is A LOT like the school/college in the show. The people who don’t think the school in the show ‘feels british’ have definitely never been to a sixth form college. In my college we have around 800 people per year (so around 1600 in total) so I see a new face pretty much everyday. We also don’t have uniform like the school in the show and this is common in colleges and sixth form colleges in England. And because most people came from secondary schools which had a uniform, sooo many people wear very stylish clothes because it’s there first time being able to express themselves in a school environment. You mentioned that uniform is common in the UK but this only applies to secondary schools, the school in the show was NOT a secondary school!! What I’m trying to say is that yes, Sex Education definitely does not reflect the typical British secondary school. But that’s because it isn’t a secondary school. It’s a college or sixth form or even sixth form college, focusing just on A levels. So yeah, I definitely found the show to be relatable to my A level experience at a sixth form college.

[@ColossalRay]

My underfunded, shitty state school in a village in Scotland has its own pool. No swim team though.

[@dnl_lcknr690]

My underfunded, shitty state school in a city in Scotland had its own pool. Also no swim team though.

[@seventhsheaven]

None of the schools where I live in a big city have pools.

[@ghostinthearchives]

my grammar school has a pool and i Think a swim team but it's not really talked about lmao, there's no school pride when it comes to any sports, we have teams that play other teams on a regional, even national level, but it's not a big deal

[@thedancinggymnast4639]

We used to have one on site, but it was council owned and the school had limited use of it, like the primary schools.

[@IsAsleep03]

My school in Lincolnshire has a pool, its a city school too. I'm part of the sixth form and we have no uniform but in my home town sixth form they have uniform but no pool I think. But its a grammer school

[@jeandanielodonnncada]

I went to a public high school in the US, and my experience was nothing like the "American" high school of movies and television either. It is a John Hughes fiction in the US, too.

[@livewithintention1625]

THANK YOU! It pisses me off so much that this isn't ever addressed. Like I wish someone in the show would at least just be like "lol but our school does look a bit American" or maybe the headteacher's parents were from the US or SOMETHING, just to kinda take the piss out of themselves. It really irritates me that they just get away with this and people in other countries might genuinely think English schools are like that. Maybe I'm over reacting but it really annoys me lol. Like fking pick one and go with it, why do we need both? Other than the accents it's basically a US tv show

[@peepiepo]

I think it's sensible to be annoyed. It's the erasure of British culture

[@livewithintention1625]

@@peepiepo True actually, I hadn't thought of it that way. Definitely something that needs to be challenged in UK film and TV I think 🤔

[@spreadingthedrewth4643]

Why are you so annoyed? It’s a style choice, so that everyone can relate to it in some way

[@livewithintention1625]

Ijdijsbnmls it’s not relatable to British people in any way whatsoever, other than their way of talking. I’m annoyed for all the reasons I wrote above :)

[@ovaloctopus8]

Ijdijsbnmls watch the inbetweeners and imagine me saying to you that they portrayed the school that way so Americans can relate to it. Our schools are so different it’s pretty hard to come up with a middle ground

[@ghostoyster]

In the second season I was so shocked when they suddenly had cellphones?? I don’t remember seeing any in the first one and I assumed it took place in the 80s/90s.

[@Josh-oj9mm]

lmao

[@spreadingthedrewth4643]

They texted in s1

[@leahstone9938]

Otis has a switch in season 1 I think, he plays smash bros

[@stalememes3574]

I feel like almost anything with bright, saturated colours and environments always comes off as American. Britain just generally has more dull environments ig

[@ariswish]

That's so true! It's either that or pastels for brighter tones. For some reason saturated colours don't really scream, or even say, UK

[@SpeedyThingGoIn4]

Maybe it's the cloudy weather?

[@stools4437]

@@SpeedyThingGoIn4 Not really, just people tend to wear more tones (white, grey, black) or neutral colours, unless your like some fashion model quite rare to see someone wearing a whole outfit of saturated, bright colours in the UK

[@SpeedyThingGoIn4]

@@stools4437 huh, interesting

[@lucasouza889]

@@stools4437 thats interesting because even though i associate uk with gloominess, ive also noticed in skins and in britpop artists from the 90's and the 2000's how some of them used to be quite colourful in their clothes in a very intense way. can you tell me if this is accurate/you know the style im referring to?

[@wanderinglizzy]

I love that you called this out. I've always been fascinated by the particular aesthetic and stylistic choices of this show. By setting it in a kind of "no time" and "no place", two problems can be avoided. First of all, it won't feel dated like other shows in high school settings meant to appeal to a contemporary audience; things like fashion, technology and pop culture references go out of date really quickly, and the ambiguous setting avoids dating the show. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the unrealistic setting avoids the problem of real-life events, movements or ideologies interfering with the story it's trying to tell. For example, issues like class and discrimination, which would have more of a presence in characters' lives if the show is clearly set in the real world, can be avoided in favour of highlighting issues about sex and relationships.

[@victorroerholt9523]

Netflix created a danish series called The Rain. It was in danish, filmed in denmark, it had a danish setting. The dialouge tho, it felt oddly american. Despite being in danish, it felt forign, as if an american had written the dialouge and plot, and then just google translated it all into danish

[@blancavelasquez9859]

they’ll probably get the formula in a few years on how to create specific shows for different countries/audiences but it feels like they’re just throwing sh!t on the wall to see what sticks

[@rampantmutt9119]

Can you explain how it would be different if it felt Danish instead? What kind of things would need to be changed?

[@chrisv36]

The fact that there is no mention of A levels, which of course would be a big deal in an English school. Also the academic high flyers are not aiming for A*s like they would for A levels but instead for As like they would in an American school.

[@BB-us8sz]

in year 12 the maximum you can get in AS levels is an A. so maybe it’s that

[@aminabirdi2269]

I’m very late to this, but I think there are a few shots of A level textbooks

[@cgm530]

they all seem to be taking way too many subjects for a levels as well

[@TheSeaPriestessAnnika]

I've always wondered what country it's meant to be in, or if it's some parallel universe.... The weather seems unreasonably sunny and warm most of the time so it can't be UK.

[@mod3no]

Yeah, being European, I noticed that this kind of high school didn't feel very familiar. Love the show though.

[@katarinadayinta3673]

This probably just an america-set script bought by netflix uk then be like okay change it to be in uk

[@HeyPaulaCooper]

to me the fashion was so weird. I didnt get the vibes of most people and thought it may have been a "british" thing hahahaha

[@Tom_Nicholas]

There's also a real '80s influence on the aesthetic too which I didn't quite have the time to go in to. It sort of tries to set it outside of time as well as geography.

[@taridean]

@@Tom_Nicholas the cars in the show really stand out as they're mostly from the 80s with a few from the early 90s. Even the police Range Rover in one of the episodes in Season 2 has the classic 80's London Met Police orange stripe livery. For me that's what highlighted it's non present times aesthetic.

[@lunawilson6020]

@@Tom_Nicholas the 80s influence is really interesting, at times it seems like the show wants you to mistake it for something set in the 80s. The new netflix teen show, "I am not okay with this," also really leans into this 80s aesthetic, and honestly made me question what decade it was set in at multiple times. It seems like there are a lot of shows right now that are either set in the 80s, or make you wonder if they're set in the 80s

[@jaydescorner8401]

@- ɴᴀᴛʜᴀɴ's Cᴀssᴇᴛᴛᴇs IK!! Literally no schools have students who ALL have a specific and beautiful aesthetic its mostly a hoodie and jeans and a few people who have fashion sense (which would include me, lol sorry the fashion ego popped out)

[@tombullard123]

thepaulacooper the 80s and 90s bright style is more french/ northern european

[@lmello009]

I mostly enjoyed Sex Education, but something else bothered me: plot-wise, it throws everything at you. There are so many love triangles at once it feels l'm watching an old-school soap opera.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

I mean, at the end of the day, it is a show meant for young people and so it doesn't massively surprise me that it wants to do lots of big, heart-wrenching storylines but I can see how that could have been off-putting.

[@terch2882]

Honestly I think the only time when they bridged the gap _too_ hard was when Jackson did that whole performance for Mauve. Convinced if you done that in an actual british school you'd get the piss taken out forever lol

[@wagenenr8140]

It's funny how much the "american high school" has its own media ethos completely separate from it's own reality in the US, and how this style then mutates that abstraction through yet another lens

[@wagenenr8140]

As an American I want to shout at my screen that this is only somewhat superficially what American schooling looks like, and that american media about high school has developed its own cultural context

[@sunyavadin]

I lived in a caravan park as a kid for a couple of years when my mother got a job near where we already had a caravan for our holidays, so we moved into there while we found a house in the area. Also my UK state school DID have a swimming pool. It was in one of those awful prefab buildings apparently constructed entirely out of asbestos, prior to the 80s. It was about 3 feet deep, and freezing cold year-round.

[@ryane3703]

There's also a huge amount of romani and Irish Traveller people in the UK who live in caravans

[@slvinaja9213]

Yeah I think this part of the video was off the mark a bit. Caravan parks that people live in are fairly common in Somerset and the South West. Maybe not to the extent of the US but it is a very real thing in seaside rural areas where tourism has tailed off over the decades.

[@qutaibaabumatar6015]

@@slvinaja9213 idk if Bristol counts as necessarily 'south west' but I don't think I know very many, if not any people who live in caravan parks.

[@slvinaja9213]

@@qutaibaabumatar6015 fair enough, maybe I'm overstating it. When I lived near Weston in the late 00s/ early 10s I knew people who lived in parks near Weston and Burnham, so I can only speak to that.

[@siginotmylastname3969]

I stopped watching sex education because I thought otis' treatment of Eric was unforgiveable, and apparently Eric ends up in a relationship with his bully too??? Did not need to play the whole black kid in drag gets beaten up when he goes out alone thing if the protagonist isn't even there to support him.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

I didn't hate the bit where Otis let Eric down quite so much as (as far as I remember), it was clearly meant to be a "bad thing" that he did. The "homophobic bully is actually gay" trope it draws on I did find a little problematic though. While, in season two, they do address that, it still felt a little swept under the rug.

[@OMamifero]

I understand the bully sentiment but I believe they’re going to tackle it much more in the next season since s2 ends as soon as their relationship officially starts. But what Otis did is supposed to seem terrible and I think the point of writing it that way is Eric had to go through it alone because Otis probably can’t fully understand Eric’s struggles and I don’t think the white savior trope would necessarily help the story more.

[@jeywithane130]

not to mention the way they portrayed abortions (lying on a table?? what?? is this the 90s?? and all that weeping??) and the complete ace-erasure... the diversity and costumes were great in this show but the rest felt a lot like the writers themselves had themselves never educated themselves on sex.

[@pinkmuffinmitstreuseln5052]

Jey Withane ace-erasure.... they literally had a whole ass ace character in s2 which is like 100% more than most other shows

[@kezkai]

@@jeywithane130 hi. I had a surgical abortion. I had to be in hospital most the day, put under anaesthetic and was indeed 'lying on a table'. It's not always just taking a tablet. The rest I agree on

[@roos3003]

As a viewer form outside either the us or the uk, it’s not the american-like setting of the show, but more the uncommon 80s-inspired clothing styles all characters appear to have that has always seemed strange to me. Now, considering the fact that the show has partially been made as a kind of tribute to John Hughes’ work, this of course also makes sense. Thank you for the interesting analysis!

[@rhymeologyxx4043]

Honestly. The lack of school uniform really bothered me. So I tried to ignore by saying there were in like a sixth form or something.

[@rhymeologyxx4043]

Q that’s true but at the same time. Nothing like a sixth form or a British school at all. Just the accents

[@corsacs3879]

Rhymeology Xx they are in sixth form, it’s one of the first lines said. It’s just odd as they are still doing a lot of subjects, would’ve been cool if we saw them in their free periods, maybe poking their heads into classes with y9s in or something.

[@RainbowSprnklz]

GOOD VID as an american, i never realized all the nonbritish aspects of the school whoops

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Haha, that's really interesting. I suppose, if it's what you're used to, you simply wouldn't spot those things...

[@totalrevengeance]

That’s so weird because as a british person it stuck out like a sore thumb. I knew It was british but in my head I was saying “why is this American?”

[@graceelizabeth130]

That’s the problem though isn’t it?

[@RainbowSprnklz]

Grace Elizabeth oh yeah it 100% supports what hes saying

[@graceelizabeth130]

RainbowSprnklz yeah, it’s kind of funny because to me (english person) it always felt slightly off but to you it felt normal. So it’s kind of isolating to British viewers to not see ourselves properly represented like either we’re really posh like in the crown or rough like in Waterloo road.

[@marwak7581]

i'm from germany and i have honestly never thought about the setting beyond 'english-speaking country' lol. interesting video!

[@abigailhulme9665]

The end of the f***ing World had this same feel, especially the second series, as the concept of a lake being in the middle of nowhere and with no people is absolute bull (I'm from the lake district, everything is for tourists)

[@wtnv]

lake district gang :O

[@abigailhulme9665]

Whoop whoop!

[@narrgamedesigner2747]

The thing is if they were in an actual British setting they wouldn't be pressured into going home so early and would party til like 3.am everyone would be in Proximity anyway, they would be partying and mingling on the regular and drinking on the pavement with Bucky lol as I think they are all under age. XD

[@queeny5613]

Yasssss let's go

[@hereitszara1497]

i think the setting allows you to escape into the show and suspend your disbelief at some of the less believable predicaments. it has a realistic but heightened feel which is really enjoyable

[@vectaaze3188]

Great vid ofc and I found the setting a bit disorientating at first but it grew on me. Also showed me i'm not so blasé about national identity as I thought I was lol.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Yeah, I find a lot of the time it fades into the background for me and then, occasionally, something in particular will stick out and it'll niggle at me again for a while before I forget about it again...

[@Spacevalentine]

I thought the same! I was really confused as to why they were in a secondary school which everyone doing subjects like biology and English as opposed to a college which they were supposed to be in which would be less structured and everyone would only be doing 3 subjects or even less

[@Spacevalentine]

i’m guessing it’s because they wanted it to be in a senior school environment but everyone had to be 16+ for legal reasons so they said it was in a sixth form instead

[@RustOnWheels]

I feel that the “school in films & series” is a trope, just like how most sound effects have no relation with actual sounds (like the “handling noise” of a gun or “every car is a V8 and can squeal its tires on a dusty road”). I always find it very interesting how movie tropes are a whole language on its own, known by everybody watching many films, also being seen by filmmakers as something the public will know and understand.

[@jadebrown8622]

This was definitely something I noticed when watching! As an American high schooler, I often wondered why this British school looked so much like my own lol

[@T4bb18]

Love this video! I was heavily involved with Sexpression:UK while at uni and am so thrilled to see you highlighting the awesome work of a brilliant student-led charity. Although 'Sex Education' is an 18+ series, students would always bring it up in workshops, and were learning so much about healthy sex/relationship communication practices without even realising it. If the show did use a more political tone, I think it might alienate these young viewers, or cause parental backlash. I totally agree that national implementation of statutory RSE is vital and needs to be spoken about more in schools and government policy. While it can't perhaps achieve everything, 'Sex Education' does an amazing job at bringing the importance of diverse, sustainable and pleasurable sex ed to the forefront of RSE conversations without being dogmatic, and I think the American-style vibrancy really helps set this fun, engaging tone.

[@heyheyitsJoanna]

I'd disagree that the sexual stuffiness feels British -- I think that more than the aesthetics and schooling structure, that's what makes it feel American. The conflict btw abstinence only and comprehensive sex education is very prominent in American culture and, from what I've picked up living abroad, that kind of conflict is associated with the U.S. in other countries. That's not to say that it should be -- from living in the UK, I know that young people are just as woefully undereducated about consent as American school kids, so giving the show a firmer British setting could've gone a long way toward explicitly saying "this is a British problem, too."

[@maxwellsdemon6599]

I‘m German and I started the series in german. After two episodes I changed the language to English and I was really really confused, that they had english accents. I could have sworn the show was located in the US. I first thought Otis was some kind of exchange student and that this plotline just didn’t come across in the German version. But then everyone had an English accent and I actually ended up googling the location, because I was so confused

[@PockASqueeno]

Im American, and I’ve never seen a swimming pool at an American high school either. Colleges sometimes have pools, but never high schools.

[@DeepFriedMarshmallow]

I live on Long Island (NY) and all the high schools I've seen have them, and I even live in a lower income area. I think its probably more dependent on what area you live in and how your state/county does things.

[@MLJ-zp3ju]

I live in New Mexico, a state so poor it's the only one that it's a ward of the U.S government. My high school had a pool, and a pretty popular one at that.

[@trombonemain]

Realizing that the school in Sex Education wasn’t just a normal British school was a weird realization for me. For context, I’m a nineteen-year-old American who graduated high school last year and am currently in my second semester of college at an American university. Watching Sex Education, I never assumed that the setting portrayed in the show was anything other than perfectly ordinary for a British school.

[@katherinemorelle7115]

As an Australian whose school experiences would more closely resemble that of the UK than the US, I do find a certain kind of universality to the American high school. Because I grew up watching movies and shows set in that particular school experience. So while I would likely be able to fill more blanks about an actual British high school experience than an American, I still find that American experience to be universal. Which is a bit weird, really. Also, I’ve been considering watching the show myself (as sex education is a bit of a hobby of mine), but o wasn’t sure if I could get past my dislike of teenage dramas. I will most definitely be telling my daughter (12) that she should give it a go though.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Yeah, it's a weird feeling to try and think through in regard to the "universal" experience and how that relates to actual experience. Without wanting to tell you how to parent your kids(!), it might be a bit explicit for a 12 year-old but I think it speaks really well to a teen audience and does quite well in engaging in SRE issues in a way that doesn't feel offputtingly "educational".

[@katherinemorelle7115]

Tom Nicholas she’s almost a teen, and does tend to be a bit ahead of her age, and particularly in this area. I’ve had a few phone calls from parents not terribly pleased that she dispelled the myths of her friends at school. But I’ve always tried to walk the line of - start talking early and often, and if they’re asking about it, tell them. Though in an age appropriate way, obviously. So the topics themselves aren’t likely to be anything new for her, and as I said, she’s always been rather precocious. Maybe if she were a different child, less mature, I’d probably agree. 😊 Best to take it on a case by case basis, I think.

[@SzalonyKucharz]

Speaking of Australia, I've found 'Sex Education' to be drawing a certain amount of inspiration from 'Heartbreak High'.

[@Iron_Stigmata]

Just clicked on this video. I saw the title and shouted "YES!" out-loud. The show has a really uncanny valley feel to me as a Brit. It's not quite British enough, not quite familiar enough, it clearly has a high level of American influence. It was really weird. I'm glad someone's gonna talk about it 😭😭

[@Paint_The_Future]

Something I've heard from a former swimmer is that a crowd of people attending a school's swimming gala is very strange.

[@Giruno56]

I expected a simple video but got a deep look at cultural differences and SRE policy, thank you! I think you are absolutely right in saying that the creators probably didn't choose the American esthetic to appeal to an American audience, but to be enjoyable for most people that have come into contact with the American high school genre. Awesome explanation!

[@Jordacar]

As an American, it's quite eye-opening to read up on the Ameri-English design elements of Sex Education after watching it. I never pick up on the strangely non-British elements because I don't know enough about what it's supposed to look like in Britain. So when it comes to things like letter jackets, lockers, and pools, my reaction is usually "You guys really don't have those? Seriously? Huh."

[@narrgamedesigner2747]

Not Every UK school has a pool though, I grew up in Scotland and we don't even have a six form we just have to wear uniforms til we leave. It's not til college or uni we have the freedom of clothing choices. Not only that it shows an incorrect view of classism and a small minority experience overall. Alot of people in the UK won't feel like it's relatable. You'd have to plonk the cast in a city/or suburban area surrounding a school with bus links going everywhere as well as train station bearing near by or easy to get to. Yeah it's way more American than British.

[@entertain7us148]

i just cant handle how maeve lives in a trailer but every other character basically lives in a castle on a huge estate in the mountains.

[@user-fy8ed6xj8k]

such a great video; i liked your literary theory framework insert

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you! Even when I'm making these videos which I hope have a slightly broader appeal than some of my more intentionally educational stuff, I still like to try and sneak in the odd bit of theory!

[@hatorigirl1202]

I definitely noticed the Americanized school pretty quickly, but took it as perhaps some kind of new learning model-type school. While uniforms are very much the norm I always imagined there were at least some new-agey schools who'd done away with them. Especially in rural areas. Like in the US you get schools in the middle of the woods where the students call teachers by their first names and shoes are optional. What threw me most was the swim team, because a one-off school who does things differently is one thing, but a swim team implies schools they can compete against.

[@sebmorgan2886]

I personally feel that netflix purposefully makes their shows timeless through the setting and how they dress their characters, this seems to make it popular around the world no matter where it is actually set.

[@tommohan273]

They’ve fused the aesthetics of the 1980s high school movie with the dichotomy and attitudes of modern post 16 UK education and I love it

[@FreyaEinde]

I also love that the fashion and interiors is a mosh mash of 70’s and Current fashion. But yeah I thought it was interesting to have essentially an American high school in the Uk. It’s a fun anachronistic setting.

[@Misting-hu8qm]

I loved this video, it was so good to have my "huh this is odd" moments addressed That being said my GOODness whenever the screen was just showing your face there was an ad on your computer screen that kept changing and it was driving me crazy, I kept zoning out and missing things you were saying

[@crazymoe8494]

Interesting video, but my school was a Comprehensive and we had our own Swimming Pool, and a lot of 6 form pupils don't have to wear a school uniform, but I agree the show does have an American feel.

[@graceelizabeth130]

Crazy MOE Yeah my brother goes to a state school with a pool and my sixth form had no uniform.

[@crazymoe8494]

@@graceelizabeth130 I think the guy making the video needs to get out more ;)

[@graceelizabeth130]

Crazy MOE Maybe...

[@bethanysargent2824]

In my opinion the school is a sixth for college which is part of a secondary school, which is influences by the school system in the south of England, especially the south east. It's clearly meant to be set in a Six Form college which is part of the secondary school, which is quite a popular style of school in the south of England as many schools around me have a Sixth Form attatched. This is obvious when paying attention to the announcements that mention both the 'year 9s' and the 'sixth formers'. Most state run Sixth Form colleges allow their students to not wear a uniform and in many cases the sixth formers don't mix with the younger years (especially in a school of this size), they often have multiple assemblies for each year as the main hall isn't large enough for each all the students. This would explain why we never see anyone under the age of 16. Due to high number of students many groups of students form and these groups don't often mix, which would explain why many students in the school don't talk to each other. The school also has a swimming pool which is not unusual in the South East as many secondary schools, and even some primary schools, have a public swimming pool attatched to the side of the school. If the school has access to the pool then swimming competitions would be something that would go on regularly. Even on schools that don't have pools, swimming galas are popular, this is a concept that is seen in other British School shows such as Bad Education.

[@eiosti]

Something major that is missing from the premise of this video is the little known fact that no American school is actually like this. Super rich ones, kind of. But the blending of regular ol folks and these fancy, weirdly cultured schools is actually..... only present in these pieces of media.

[@DreyriAldranaris36]

Yeah

[@SamanthaBartonYAY]

A problem I had with analysis is that it is assumed this is THE high school experience for Americans, and for most, it is not. Sure this show is more accurate than older sitcoms, but it still has the idealized romanticized version of the american high school experience. I find that this is seen by a lot of different people I know. The american high school seen on TV and in movies is separated from reality and I’ve heard countless times that there is a disconnect. Just making an american high school and putting the teenage tropes in doesn’t make it representative or helps Americans relate. We know these tropes and this setting because it is what we see on TV and in our lives not to mention this type of school experience is fitted for suburban schools not rural or urban schools. I see the show as drawing more upon what we see in films and TV instead of actual experiences of teenagers across the globe which gives it familiarity to all english speaking audiences because most have seen this type of high school experience before.

[@Cherri_Stars]

Two things that always strike me in Sex Education that weren't mentioned in the vid: 1. A majority of the relationships are interracial, and it feels like it takes place in a magical post-race world bc they rarely mention cultural differences within those relationships. I'm American and I dont really know how teens and their parents view race in Britain, but Im surprised there's never an off-handed comment about someone's parents wanting them to stay within the culture. 2. WHAT SEASON IS IT? Otis is always wearing his puffer jacket, standing next to Maeve wearing fishnets. Its like every character lives in their own bubble of weather, and yet the overall season never seems to change.

[@DMAC143]

Really well done! Thanks for sharing this very important perspective and answering a lot of the questions I've had since I started watching the show. I was born and raised in the Caribbean watching American tv, went to college in America and I now live in England. The creative decision made with regard to the setting initially felt slightly jarring but immediately switched to comforting. That universality they were aiming for really came through. At one point during the first few episodes my question wasn't so much about "where" they were but "when" they were. The presence of cellphones generally sorted that out pretty quickly but it was things like these that made it all the more intriguing to watch.

[@vabylala8504]

FINALLY SOMEONE IS TALKING ABOUT THIS!!!!!

[@ezmiljosky]

i’m british and i didn’t actually pay that much attention to the fact they didn’t have uniforms as while we have them in primary and secondary it’s very common to not have uniform in sixth form which is from 16-18 and i just assumed that was when the show was but the team varsity jackets and lockers seem very american to me but idk

[@SuperPancakeLord]

I’m from Australia and I just assumed it was American, and when it felt off I just assumed it was Canadian

[@tarakbouacida746]

I am neither American nor British, and I didn't think of the setting as being typically American, I though of it to be kinda "neutral", "out of place". I remember finding the non urban setting particularly unrealistic for a high school with this many students, but I thought that it was a cool choice from the creators to only focus on the subject of teenagers sexually coming of age. So the subjects of race, social class, and even politics are barely touched upon, while I remember in my high school these subjects definitely had an impact on the social life. Thanks for your very interesting analysis, for some reason KZbin algorithm decided to show me this video and for once the channel behind the video is an amazing discovery. I hope this will happen to many users and you will gain suddenly a huge amount of subscribers! It would be well deserved!

[@Emma-zi4bd]

btw, Ncuiti’s name is pronounced “shoo-tee” 😊

[@AtlanticGRW]

I was aways personally confused by the setting, what is weird is that the American high school aspect never struck me as anything out of the ordinary, as someone from Brazil I've just grown up so sorrounded by american high schools in media, that I never even thought to question it as something not British, it was almost like I subconsciously thought "that's what school is like in movies" and carried on.

[@MrBean729]

I loved the show, (British here) but I have to admit I'm confused, my school was just as stuffy about the topic, went as far as letting us know about STDs & how to put a condom on a banana but I never found eduction a problem. This day and age you learn by doing and if you have a question you google it. I've never looked back and thought wow I had no clue and I wish someone would have told me. Is it not more the recklessness of sex & the basic lack of regard of consequences that comes with youth that people have misconstrued as youngens not knowing?

[@ClikcerProductions]

There are definitely a lot of young people that just don't know much at all about sex. If you don't know enough to know what questions to ask then you can't just turn to google. Yes in situations where the education is poor kids will work a lot out before things go too wrong, but better education would help fix those minors wrongs and help the kids who never get off the ground

[@GhGh-ci8ld]

American here, never did the condom banana bit. :(

[@adriandurn5903]

Whilst American school appears to prepare its students to network, make friends and find their niche in society, British school aims to destroy indiviualism and encourage conformity. Instead of brightness, happiness and nostalgia, British school years are more akin to the factory scenes in Pink Floyd's the Wall.

[@palmo9823]

I used to think caravan parks were predominantly holiday accommodation too until I wound up living in one 😂 I'm in Aus but I suspect it's similar in Britain (the caravans and chalets in SE are *much* nicer than the ones I've lived in lol)

[@rahmodin9209]

Genuinely the vast majority of caravan parks that are set up for permanent living are Gypsy Camps

[@knockitoffhudson3470]

I had to look up where this was filmed after a few episodes because I was so confused at how it was clearly a British cast and British roads and signs but everything is sunny and americanised.

[@qqqqqqqqqqqq121212]

I’m glad you showed Boris Johnson when you mentioned inadequate governments

[@shushia1658]

As a New Zealander I never questioned it. I'm so used to watching American and British things I didn't question the comingling of the two.

[@Louise.fraser]

I go to a British high school and we don’t have a uniform and we do have lockers just not as many as in this show

[@mikeciul8599]

Just watched this on Nebula... I'm an American who went to school in England for GCSEs and A-levels. I noticed that the setting of Sex Education didn't look like my school but I didn't know much about other English schools, so I didn't give it more thought. But I was a fan of John Hughes films and other teen movies like "Better Off Dead" and "Pump Up the Volume," and I had the sense that I was missing out on something cool. I love how you describe the American high school experience as "joyful." I suspect that this is a fantasy, but in comparison, I had nightmares about being back in school in England. For decades.

[@samsepiol7736]

you pronounced both Asa and Ncuti wrong by the way. great video though.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Dammit, I looked both up in order to try to get it right so the attempt was there...

[@samsepiol7736]

@@Tom_Nicholas haha, good effort. For future reference it's ay-sa (Asa) and shoe-tea (Ncuti)

[@AleehFM94]

Just finished first season yesterday and being neither american nor brit, I was really confused at the beginning. The accent seemed british, but they didn't wear uniforms at school. What gave it away is that they used pounds as currency. EDIT: The currency, and the fact that Jackson was a swimmer, not a football player.

[@onlyhousestarklivesmatter]

Okay but my school had our own swimming pool. Lol 😅 although it wasn't as glamorous as the one in the show.

[@mind-of-neo]

The not wearing a uniform thing i think is only a thing at like certain public schools that are pretty upscale, but not at lower end public schools or at private schools

[@joshuaboelsche7684]

I love this take, because it reminds me of schitts creek's clearly deliberate decision to blend canadian and american culture. the show is made by canadians and filmed in ontario, but they specifically avoid any mention of where they are and avoid any language or cultural references that would confuse americans. i feel like this would be obvious to most canadians, but to an american (like me haha) it feels like a really eye-opening realization when you notice it

[@daniellewardd]

- I loved how everything was so colourful and their 80s inspired fits especially Ola's outfits. I liked how the characters repeated an item of their clothes. - I loved how the inclusivity didn't feel forced just natural. like how they let us figure that Jackson's parents are 2 ladies and not him telling us this in a preachy way. - I wished they would have ran with the narrative of Maeve keeping the baby and deciding not to do the abortion. I've seen time and time again where they always made the woman chose to abort and wanna see from the other side now.

[@clandestiiine]

it wouldnt of fit maeves character to keep the baby. She is aware and knows she was in no position to take care of a child.

[@ubjahajnsja1871]

Danielle X to be fair a lot of shows also have had high school girls drop out bc of their pregnancy. I do assume it would take the story on another roll, however I think they also chose an abortion to make a political statement. Just my observation.

[@geministargazer9830]

Juno

[@geministargazer9830]

Ubja Hajnsja or they chose it because it’s a common choice that many women make when faced with an unwanted pregnancy.

[@capavaloae]

Thank you for a brilliant video! It made me think about a show I genuinely love in a new and more critical way and it made me realise that, like a lot of films and TV, Sex Education is dealing with a very serious, systematic issue through a lens of personal responsibility. As you've pointed out, they've divorced the setting from any real location and therefore any real government that would be responsible for policies that would affect the students in the show. Just like lots of high-school dramas that deal with issues of race and class, this focus on individuals like the headteacher means that we think of the problem as a personal one which can be overcome by the characters in the show growing, maturing or being turfed out. In reality, these problems are systematic and overcoming them requires not only changes in policy, but also in deeply-rooted cultural norms and mores that are exceedingly hard to shift! Having said all that, I still love the show and think it's a great model of openness for young people. I think there's something utopian in the setting which a lot of the commenters in this thread have pointed out. While we shouldn't expect young people to go out and educate themselves on these issues, I'm sure this show has taught many secondary schoolers an important lesson or two! And more importantly, I'm sure it has made some young people who felt weird feel more normal. I think this show and the kind of sex and discussions around sex that we're seeing right now in pop culture are a step in the right direction.

[@rdd02]

Haunting in Bly Manor is even worse!

[@Laladust]

The only actual Brits on that show were Hannah, Rebecca, Peter was actually English doing a BAD Scottish accent, Owen, and YOUNG Jaime. Literally everyone else was American. But then you have a series like The Queens Gambit, where the main castmembers are Brits playing Americans. Edit: or the Nose Dive episode of Black Mirror. 99% of the cast for that episode were Brits playing Americans.

[@dyscotopia]

Watching dramedies does not require they have documentary fidelity to the subject matter. Creative license, omg! The important thing is that the characters are vividly drawn, have relatable experiences, and be funny. It's almost like they wanted to appeal to as wide an audience as possible! And of course there's the homages, which you mention.