Schitt’s Creek is the Perfect World We Desperately Need Right Now
The real world is a tough place to be sometimes. We’re living in an exceptionally polarized time, where everything seems to be a topic for debate, even basic human rights.
In the last few years in the US, we’ve seen a noticeable uptick in hate crimes. Scrolling through twitter or turning on the news, it’s hard to avoid stories of people being targeted for their race, religion, or sexuality.
It can be hard to feel hopeful in a world so filled with hate. It’s hard to comprehend the darkness that lives in the hearts of some and it seems impossible to imagine a world free from this kind of bigotry and violence.
Enter Schitt’s Creek. This Canadian comedy brought to life by father-son comedic duo Eugene and Dan Levy is the antidote we all need for our shattered spirits.
What starts out in Season 1 as a delightfully hilarious story of rich socialites forced to live out of a motel in the show’s titular town morphs into a heartwarming exploration of love in unlikely places.
Show creator Dan Levy has spoken publicly about his conscious choice to make Schitt’s Creek a place free of homophobia and bigotry. The simple idea is that if we remove all judgments surrounding love, it’s incredible to see what can blossom even in the most guarded individuals.
Levy’s David Rose describes himself as ‘damaged goods.’ He wears layers upon layers of armor shielding his heart from possible pain and making it nearly impossible for true emotion to penetrate. When David meets Patrick (Noah Reid), a man who really truly sees him, the layers begin to melt away.
It’s not a new concept in television tropes: previously tortured soul finds new hope for love when the right person comes along. But the simplicity of this relationship is refreshing precisely because it is such a common theme — we just haven’t seen it so effortlessly portrayed between two men.
Schitt’s Creek is one of the first places on television that doesn’t feel the need to present the gay experience to us as one side of an antagonistic symbiosis. Instead, Levy wants to show the beauty of what can come from pure love.
When Patrick meets David, he has never before been in a relationship with a man. He later explains that with his longtime girlfriend something always felt off, but he never knew why. Meeting David and having the opportunity to explore his feelings for another man has finally given Patrick the understanding of what’s been missing.
Allowing Patrick to discover his own truth in a world as safe as Schitt’s Creek is remarkable to watch. He can be completely and utterly overcome by the pleasure of his revelation without any concern over how it may impact his life or other relationships.
Imagine a world where teens and young adults could examine their attractions and emotions without wasting a moment contemplating what the world around them will think.
When customers walk into the store that David and Patrick work in together and catch an intimate moment between them, nobody ever blinks an eye. When Patrick gets up to serenade David in front of the whole town and announces that he’s dedicating the song to another man, not a single person reacts with anything other than admiration.
By removing the struggle that often exists in stories of gay relationships, Schitt’s Creek has provided us with proof of something that should be obvious but, for many, still isn’t: love is love is love and the joy it brings has nothing to do with the genders of the people experiencing it.
In most cases, hate is borne from extreme ignorance. Without exposure to something, it becomes easy to ‘other’ it and fear it and hate it. Schitt’s Creek is bringing this beautiful same-sex relationship into our lives and giving people a reference point who previously didn’t have one.
A 21-minute episode of television isn’t necessarily going to heal the world of all of its ills, but each week it does a tremendous job of reminding us all what life could look like if we truly just loved and accepted each other. If you’re not already watching it, now’s a really good time to start.
Schitt’s Creek airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on PopTV. Seasons 1-4 are currently available to stream on Netflix.
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Tamar Barbash
Tamar Barbash is a TV-loving mother of three. She hosts the Shipping Room podcast where she has the opportunity to take advantage of her social work degree and dive deep into relationships portrayed on television. Tamar loves nothing more than to overanalyze the lives and experiences of fictional characters and she's so excited to be able to do that as part of the Tell-Tale TV community.