Sex Education: 5 Ways The World Of Sex Education Is Ideal (& 5 It’s Not) – Screen Rant

Netflix's Sex Education takes a microscope to the intimate lives of teenagers living in a small town, but is it an ideal world?

Netflix'sSex Educationtakes a microscope to the intimate lives of teenagers living in a small town. The intricacies of the characters make for an enthralling and genuinely educational show, creating an atmosphere that is sex-positive and encourages viewers to be more open and accepting of unfamiliar ideas.

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What is less talked about are the qualities of the very world that the characters exist in. What is it that makes this world different from that of the average viewer, and what things are the same? Is the world of the characters an ideal one, though?

The setting of the show is stunning. The town is made up of winding country roads lined with lush forests, everybody's house is tucked away in some charming corner, and even the High school is a classic, dignified look that makes it look welcoming. It's a dreamy, idyllic backdrop making even the most stressful storylines feel as though they are occurring in a utopia.

The teens in the show are known to get into just as bad of antics as those in real life, often turning against each other for the sake of themselves or making fun of other kids in school out of fear of been seeing for theirtheir insecurities, as with Eric and Adam, or when one girl pretends a photo going around isn't her and instead pretends it's her friend.

The show boasts a spectrum of people from varying racial and sexual backgrounds. There isn't much as far as gender expression goes, but it's likely that will come with season three, knowing the show's track record for introducing more and more types of identities.

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However, characters do challenge binary gender expression by dressing in unconventional ways while still identifying as men and women.

It seems like every character comes from a loving, supportive, cozy upbringing, but Maeve's character breaks this trend, and then Isaac follows after her in the second season. One could almost forget that class is an issue until Maeve or Isaac come on screen and remind other characters as well as viewers that there are issues beyond identity expression and sexual frustration.

One of the best parts of the show is watching the progression of the characters as they open their minds to new ways of thinking and actually apply them to their lives.

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Otis's assistance almost always works, something that's unrealistic considering he's just a teenager, but it's also an unusual thing for people to actually take advice well in the first place, and have their change in actions accepted by those around them.

The high school cliques in the show are familiar because they are the same that can be seen in most teen TV shows and movies, and often in real-life high schools. It's an aspect of reality that reigns rampant on the lives of teenagers and provides one of the greatest sources of stress and isolation, and without it, people's lives would be a lot more peaceful.

For living in what appears to be a pretty spread-out country town, the kids in the show get around pretty easily. Otis's mother does drive him around pretty often, but even then it seems like she doesn't have to go very far. It's a small town offering the benefit of privacy, but also the easy access to the community when people want it--a happy medium.

An aspect of the show that rings very familiar is the persistence of corrupt authoritative leaders. The principal of the school is a prime example.

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He embodies the prejudice, selfishness, and toxic insecurity that is a regular combination of traits for many villains, particularly those in real life--and he wreaks just as much havoc as the wrongful leaders of reality in similarly nightmarish ways.

It's subtle because viewers grow accustomed to it the more they watch the show, but the aesthetic atmosphere of the entire show is touched with an artistic quality of charm and whimsy as if the creators curatedit to be a retro dreamland.

Perhaps it's fitting that a show based on the intimate lives of teenagers features mostly disappointing adults. The parents are barely involved, or if they are they are too involved, like Otis's over-protective mother or Eric's moralizing mother and father. Or if the adults aren't disappointing exactly, they are at best just as flawed and confused as the teenagers, which is actually more honest than trying to make them out as any better than young people, which, in reality, they usually aren't.

NEXT: Sex Education: 10 Best Friendships On The Show

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Glenna is a Glasgow-based writer from New England. She studied English Literature and Music and loves babbling about pictures.

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Sex Education: 5 Ways The World Of Sex Education Is Ideal (& 5 It's Not) - Screen Rant