The (2013-2016) Australian-made Please Like Me is an entertaining LGBT-themed series. An old series. Among the productions I watched and loved when it first came out. Years ago, in the days when blogs dominated the internet, I added it to the site. Years later, while updating the site for the last time, I did not forget this post either.
You know Asian productions, “boys’ love” dramas: heavily made-up actors, ultra-rich gay kids, always the same school love scripts… After a certain point, it gets boring. Here, Please Like Me is a distinct series breaking precisely this monotony. It has a unique language, style, and sincerity of its own. It should enter the radar of anyone who says “I want to watch something different.” It was an enjoyable series for me as well. A good experience. There is nothing like spending time with beautiful series. Now, without beating around the bush any longer, I will move on to the main topic.
👉 Curator Recommendation: LGBT series worth watching
Please Like Me Plot and Review
Josh dumps the girlfriend he is with. Because he no longer wants to act like someone else; he is a gay and is tired of hiding this. Telling his girlfriend that he is gay becomes a major turning point for him. Breakup is inevitable. Afterward, he moves in with his childhood friend Tom.
The two friends begin living together. Of course, Josh’s life does not calm down here either; new friends, boyfriends, love adventures… Life goes on. Tom also tries to experience romantic relationships in his own way, he is already a whole different world anyway.
On one hand, Josh’s mother, who has mental issues, constantly appears before us with new crises. His father, stepmother, and grandmother are also a part of the events. Throughout the series, we watch this family trying to understand each other. Josh, who has to take care of sometimes his mother, sometimes his father, and sometimes his sibling, also strives to put his own life on track. Within this chaos, the more he can be himself, the more he can survive.
What Does This Series Tell?
Josh’s process of making peace with his gay identity, his effort to find his role in life, and his internal journey are handled quite naturally. The series is emotional, but at the same time makes you laugh a lot. From the opening credits, it has a fun and energetic vibe.
Sex, sexuality, relationships… Everything is told openly, without the need for shyness. But just calling it an “LGBTQ series” and passing by would be unfair. This series also says something about the chaos of “being human”. It shows how we become lonely in crowds, the unbalanced bonds we establish with our loved ones, and the difficulty of being an individual.
Please Like Me is a production that both makes you think and makes you laugh. Sincere, simple, real. Every character has a different trouble, but their common point is this: Life is a complex adventure for everyone. Regardless of sexual orientation, this is a series where everyone can find a piece of themselves. It appeals to youth, young adults, and even everyone who remains young. A series that lovers of real, sincere, and authentic stories should not miss.
LGBT, Gender Roles, and Reality: A Neuro-chemical Commentary
Final commentary: Please Like Me, it will be a bit of a cliché expression, is a queer series that both makes you laugh and makes you think. Character development through Josh’s friends, love life, and relationships with his family is also realistic. It being semi-autobiographical felt more sincere to me. Because it is not an idealized story.
The level of humor, drama, and sincerity is in place, and for this reason, I easily got used to the series’ characters. The series explores LGBT themes naturally. It flows just as it is within life. I don’t know if I said it, this production is autobiographical. Josh Thomas makes this series inspired by his own life.
When autobiographical, series feel more sincere to me. Everyone has a life adventure. Whether we continue life as LGBT individuals or heterosexual individuals, we all have a separate life story. Our thoughts, our beliefs, our expectations from life are distinct, but fundamentally our expectations are all the same: to live happily and beautifully.
Yet the minds of all of us gain consciousness as a result of electrochemical reactions. We all hope, we love, we have longings, we have fears. Gender roles are not an obstacle before our being human. The obstacle is only in distorted minds that cannot develop themselves and walk in darkness…
I watched the series broadcast as 4 seasons and 32 episodes. I know there were many places I emphasized with “bold” in the article. It is good for people to live by their own values. Humans must be able to bring themselves into existence. It is good for the religious person to live religiously. The secular life of a secular person is good according to them. A heterosexual person finds the opposite sex attractive and has a life adventure in this direction. A homosexual individual continues with a sexual attraction in this direction. All of them are equally real, natural, normal.
Is everyone happy in their own world and reality? There shouldn’t be a problem. But seeing LGBT individuals always as the first group to be crushed and marginalized for political and religio-political interests is also a mental parasite. Everyone living in their own world in the way they are happy and not imposing a lifestyle on another is necessary for an ideal society.
In the series as well, Josh, for better or worse, is a gay youth in his own world. His life adventure is very ordinary but very familiar. We humans can exist with our emotions, our real and unsuppressed identity. In fact, all identities and reality consist merely of our brain’s neuro-chemical process itself. Even what we call “I” is actually a construct in our mind.
I hope there will always be beauty in our lives and we meet in beautiful series.
