Between Stereotypes, Awkwardness, and Queer Utopia

Serial Uncertainty and Adolescence

Abstract

Television series provide a rich terrain for exploring the complexities of adolescence as a transitional period, especially because of the uncertainty they are made of, and because they are able to create what I call “minor passions.” This paper aims to contribute to an “affective turn” in television studies by tackling the ways TV fiction portrays the paradoxical moment of adolescence—when one is no longer a child and not yet an adult—through both stereotypes and alternatives to conventional gender expectations. Queer theory helps us frame this process not as a linear one, but as a constant transition made of multiple, minor passions. These include frustration, injustice, and boredom, which are not simplistically resolved. Instead, they become intertwined with characters’ everyday lives, challenging the societal imperative of “growing up well,” as well as the injunction to “happiness”—the idea that everything is in place for anyone to thrive (Ahmed 2010). This paper focuses on the awkwardness tied to gender expression and identity, highlighting characters who challenge binary norms and confront embarrassing or painful scenarios, in the course of their “sideways growth”. The case study is the French series Chair Tendre (2022), available on France Télévisions’ Slash platform. Launched in 2018, the platform targets high-school students and young professionals. It seeks to foster a deeper and more nuanced understanding of sexuality and gender by challenging stereotypes and offering viewers alternative models of development and self-understanding. By proposing alternatives to conventional expectations and linear developmental paths, Chair Tendre stands out as an intriguing project. While it may not be a “successful” series in traditional terms—and perhaps precisely because of this—it allows us to engage with dissonant emotions and uncertainties that mark both adolescence and serial narratives.