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It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Watching “Heat Rivalry” on HBO Max is also super sexy.
The Canadian ice hockey drama (new episodes available Fridays through December 26th) has been heating up TV screens in recent weeks, focusing on the hot secret romance between rising professional hockey players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storey). The two engage in a cat-and-mouse game of sexual tension, sneaking into each other’s hotel rooms every time they fall into each other’s orbit as the hockey seasons pass over the years. There’s some nudity, and sex scenes are a must.
Most TV series cut out sex, especially gay sex. If a series depicts too much sex, it risks being accused of existing solely to titillate viewers or that the show is exploiting the actors’ bodies. If you can’t focus sufficient When it comes to sex, some would argue that we treat it like something to be ashamed of. It’s a fine line.
But the fact that a highly graphic series featuring gay characters is garnering so much interest (from a primarily female audience, according to the series’ director) suggests that perhaps we’re not as sexphobic as some parts of the internet have led us to believe. As of December 10th, it is ranked 3rd on the HBO Max Top 10 chart, up from 6th place a week ago. Series of this nature have burst into the zeitgeist before, including Queer as Folk, True Blood, and most recently, Fellow Traveler, but never before has this kind of meme-worthy content flooding social media feeds sparked popularity, nor has it coincided with the rise of trad wives and more reserved youth.
According to Gallup, Americans’ overall moral views on topics such as unmarried sex and divorce have remained stable or slightly declined in recent years. And while 68% of Americans still support same-sex marriage, that number is down from a high of 71% just a few years ago.
Does “Heated Rivalry” signal a new era in which it’s acceptable to buck these trends by showing and talking about sex, especially gay sex? It’s too early to tell, but experts say the only way to combat concerns about gay sex in particular is to learn about it.
Where does the prejudice against gay sex come from?
Anal sex has long been demonized, but its origins can be traced back to religious texts. But “it has been expressed in art going back thousands of years, including in Asia, South America and Europe,” Debra Lynn Herbenick, a professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health and author of “Yes Your Kid: What Parents Need to Know About Sex with Today’s Teens,” previously told USA TODAY.
In any case, moral prejudice persists. “Religious discourses that specifically demonize homosexuality and non-reproductive forms of sexual intimacy also shape the public’s view of anal sex,” Cornel Gray, assistant professor of gender, sexuality and women’s studies at Western University in Canada, previously told USA TODAY. “When we talk about the stigma against anal sex, we also have to face homophobic bias.”
What our obsession with “heated rivalry” says about us
“Heated Rivalry” exposes the contradictory conversations about sex in today’s society. Data doesn’t lie. According to a 2022 Kinsey Institute study, one in four Gen Z adults have never had sex with a partner.
But anecdotally, social media users can’t get enough of the “heated rivalry.”
“I was hoping I wouldn’t fall into the gay porn pipeline, but my eyes aren’t deceiving me,” one X user wrote. “The characters are multifaceted, the plot is intense, and mean? Yeah, we need more.” Another added, “They need to slow down with this heated rivalry content, but I’m worried they can’t address this all at once.”
Explicit sex scenes and romance scenes between two men are acceptable to viewers. something“It’s not as simple as a cultural condemnation of the growing presence of conservative elements and ideas in our social and political culture,” said Michael Blonsky, a Harvard professor and author of “Queer History of the United States for Young People.”
“That may certainly be an aspect of it,” he says, but “it is probably a mistake to ascribe a single reason or influence to any aspect of popular culture, because the very nature of popular and media culture is based on a wide range of emotions, impulses, ideas, and ideologies.” It is also an outlet for desire and curiosity, something that some people cannot, will not, or are not allowed to enjoy.
No matter how you look at it, there’s no denying that “Heated Rivals” sparks a rich and diverse conversation about queerness, sexuality, and the queerphobia faced by queer professional athletes, says Melvin Williams, associate professor of communication and media studies at Pace University. Additionally, these online reactions to sex scenes confirm that many people are accepting of queer sex, despite the rise of a more sanitary culture.
And people aren’t just in it for the sex. “People love to talk about the spicy scenes in Rivals, but what really speaks to me is the genuine tenderness of Elijah and Shane’s relationship,” wrote one X user.
Not only is this the sexiest time of the year, but it’s also probably the most thought-provoking.
