“Heated Rivalry” gives queer athletes a voice
“Heated Rivalry,” a series about two young hockey rivals who fall in love, has skated to popularity and won the hearts of all kinds of fans.
As a bisexual man who is a boxer and a mixed martial artist, a participant in a sport famously lacking and unaccepting of queer members, I have known that on the mat, I am not the same man I am around my school friends. When watching “Heated Rivalry,” I saw myself in each fight, each tear and each hug, capturing the life of being closeted in a masculine sport.
The HBO special stars rising actors Hudson Williams as Canadian hockey player Shane Hollander, and Connor Storie, our very own Denchfield’s former student, as Russian hockey player Ilya Rozanov. “Heated Rivalry” is rated TV-MA for sexual content, and although much of the show takes place on the ice, the show is hot.
But despite what many critics say, the show is so much more than its sex scenes. The forbidden romance between Shane and Ilya is captivating, emotional and beautifully written.
There is a moment when a successful hockey player in the side plot gives a speech after publicly coming out. He describes that, “When I was a teenager, I realized that I may be that thing that hockey players like to throw around as an insult. The kind of language that I heard on the ice and in the locker room every day was a constant reminder that I was different.” His monologue captured a feeling that many queer men experience but have not heard expressed: the isolation of hiding who they are.
The representation of queerness in “Heated Rivalry” is important because it strays from the typical storyline of gay romance and flamboyant, hopeless characters that end in heartbreak. Instead, the main characters come across as authentic and human, and their struggles to be true to themselves while surrounded by people who will not welcome them. Further, the storyline recognizes that although this generation may be more tolerant of queerness than our parents’, grandparents’, and previous generations’, many queer people still face a harsh reality of fear in being who they are.
“Heated Rivalry” has had a significant impact on many since its release in November. Hudson Williams has shared that closeted professional athletes from the NHL, NFL and NBA have reached out to him and other members of the show, expressing their appreciation.
Overall, the writing behind “Heated Rivalry” gave way to queer representation that connected not only to me but was impactful and emotionally captivating for audiences of all backgrounds.
