HEAR ME OUT - Stuff that I've Watched in Private (and Enjoyed) 🤫
A confessional
I recently became acquainted with the HEAR ME OUT trend [Buzzfeed]. Gen Z rizz kids and adults share their unique and sometimes unexpected crushes on social media with a playful attitude and 100% shame-free. Many of these have to do with cartoon crushes, of which I’m sure we can all think of a few. Nick Wilde in Zootopia, anyone? Yes, I know he’s a fox. Shame-free, remember?
People bake HEAR ME OUT cakes to celebrate this trend. My baker daughter recently made one, and I highly recommend it for the splendid conversation it sparks.
In the spirit of HEAR ME OUT confessionals, I’ve decided to highlight my former show and film crushes. This is stuff that I binged in private but never publicly talked about in this format until now. That’s right. I’m having a HEAR ME OUT moment.
But first, what’s one of your HEAR ME OUT shows or cartoon crushes? C’mon you can share, here.
I’ll show you mine, regardless! And no, I won’t do the paywall for this. Tempting, but no.
In no particular order, here they are:
Maestro in Blue on Netflix | (2022-2024) | [Trailer] | Country of Origin: 🇬🇷 | In Greek, with English Subtitles
Logline: Older man - Teacher + Younger Woman - Pupil Romance; Murder, mystery, and family relationship drama. The old world meets the new world, a clash of generations.
Themes: Multigenerational love, Unconventional romance, Grief & Loss, Material Wealth & ties that bind, Homophobia, Family, Greek culture
Basic Plot: A middle-aged classical musician and conductor, Orestis (Christopher Papakaletis), with a traumatic past event, travels to a Greek island from Athens during the pandemic to set up a music festival. There, he has a fresh start and begins a romance with a much younger musician, pianist Klelia. The island’s inhabitants’ stories are front and center, and as an outsider, Orestis quickly finds himself embroiled in their problems.
IMDb Rating: 8.1/10
Spicy Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Interesting Fact: Christopher Papakaletis is the show’s creator, director, and star.
Testimonial: YouTuber @BlueStranger1:
I didn't know the Greeks were so Romantic. This series surprised me. It grows on you. It is very well written, and each character is narrated well. Highly Recommended, Must Watch!
Valeria on Netflix | (2020-2025) | [Trailer] | Country of Origin: 🇪🇸 | In Spanish, with English Subtitles
Logline: Sex(er) & the City, the millennial edition glow-up.
Themes: Spicy romance, Work/life balance for women, Romance, Dating, Finding your people (chosen family), queer representation
Basic Plot: Valeria (Diana Gómez) is a 30-something writer who seeks inspiration for her novel while simultaneously going through a rough marital patch, which leads to self-discovery with the support of her three good friends. The show delves into the lives of Valeria and her friends equally, and while all her friends’ backstories are fully fleshed out and interesting, I found myself speeding ahead to scenes with Valeria and Victor (Maxi Iglesias).
IMDb Rating: 6.7/10
Spicy Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Interesting Fact: Valeria is based on the novels by Spanish author Elísabet Benavent, who has a cameo in the 4th and final season.
Testimonial: Googler “s”:
It’s just a good time, so relaxing. It has a great soundtrack (some songs you'll recognize, like Silversun Pickups), Great lighting, and angles. Interesting and real apartments. Nice wardrobe. Everything feels refreshing, like you wanna be there. The characters all have a really good sense of realism, except for the girl with the bob; she’s the more quirky, over-the-top character. The main girl is regular but not annoying. The sexy love interest is alluring without being a fantasy. There's LGBT+ representation, a disabled person. I give five stars cause you won’t regret it or be upset at it, and that soundtrack👌🙌
💡 Insider Bonus: If you like Valeria, you’ll probably enjoy "An Astrological Guide for Broken Hearts" (Italian: Guida astrologica per cuori infranti). Watch it in Italian. It’s funny, heartwarming, and full of eye candy. The protagonist dates men based on the astrological signs.
After on Netflix | 2019 | [Trailer] | Country of Origin: 🇺🇸 | In English
Logline: This isn't West Side Story, but you feel the cultural clash of worlds between the leads in this twisted romance of the good girl/bad boy variety.
Themes: College life, broken families, temptation, unhealthy relationship patterns, exploring attraction, addiction, British 19th-early 20th Century literature
Basic Plot: The beautiful Tessa (Josephine Langford), a scholarship student who works hard and has a seemingly perfect boyfriend, conveniently back home and whom she feels no passion for, comes to college from a small town. There, she meets the reckless, emotionally complex, rich British kid Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin). Their attraction ignites in a fearsome frenemies way, but can they contain it enough to make it sustainable, or will it consume them? Hardin quotes Thomas Hardy, naturally, because of “Tess of the d'Urbervilles,” and the character names are Tessa and Hardin.
IMDb Rating: 5.3/10
Spicy Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Interesting Fact: This film's success led to sequels based on Anna Todd's popular “After” series. I don’t recommend any of the others, and I’m not sure I’m fully co-signing on this one. I haven’t seen this in a minute.
Testimonial: Googler “Dion S”:
This was a relatively sweet movie with such a well-adapted cast - especially and obviously Hero (Fiennes) - and was well scripted however, the plot line was seemingly quite familiar- dark and twisty boy meets a good girl who eventually makes him a better person- yet it had minute details of variation from the norm of expectation a teen romance might reckon. Thus establishing a whole unique perspective on the common matter.
💡 Insider Bonus: If you like After, you’ll probably enjoy Through My Window.
Maxton Hall on Prime | 2024 | [Trailer] | Country of Origin: 🇩🇪 | Default: Dubbed English. It works.
Logline: Young Adult Saltburn-type school with rich kids and some poor, smart kids. Another variation on the theme of a cultural clash of worlds between the leads in the good girl/bad boy with a heart-of-gold romance.
Themes: High school prep life, coming of age, family, expectations, la noblesse oblige, Romeo & Juliet romance minus the death, career and ambition
Basic Plot: Scholarship student Ruby Bell (Harriet Herbig-Matten) falls for the rich and entitled James Beaufort (Damian Harding) against the judgment of their friends and families.
IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
Spicy Rating: 🌶️
Testimonial: YouTuber @izzygrowney:
its giving dramione
Interesting Fact: "Dramione" is fandom slang for the pairing of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. It is often used to describe fan fiction and fan art featuring the two characters in a romantic context.
Culpa Mía (My Fault) on Prime | 2023 | [Trailer] | Country of Origin: 🇪🇸 | Default: Spanish, with English Subtitles (Yes, Prime got me with their YA algorithm - I’m the audience)/ Do not watch the dubbed version
Logline: A recently blended family brings together a beautiful stepsister Noa (Nicole Wallace), with a rich and dangerous bad boy Nick (Gabriel Guevara), her new stepbrother. Both have a passion for driving race cars, but mostly for each other.
Themes: High school life, coming of age, family, expectations, la noblesse oblige, race cars, parental trauma, getting with your stepbrother, unconventional romance & dysfunction
Basic Plot: See Logline
IMDb Rating: 6.1/10
Spicy Rating: 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️
Interesting Fact: If you Google this movie without appending “Prime,” and are inclined to mix up the order of words, writing “Mea” before “Culpa,” the sexual thriller (Mea Culpa) starring Tyler Perry and Kelly Rowland (former Destiny’s Child singer) will rank at the top of the search results. It's very different.
Don’t watch the sequel to this film or the British adaptation (My Fault: London). None of those are as good.
Testimonial: YouTuber @thewonderfullifeofliza:
You know it’s good when you need to rewatch right after finishing. Literally 11/10!!
💡 Insider Bonus: If you like Culpa Mía, you’ll probably enjoy the romantasy adaptation of The Tearsmith (Italian):
And…We’re Out, But One More Thing…
Speaking of romantasy crushes, HEAR ME OUT. You get one more of mine.
Xaden Riorson from Rebecca Yarros’ The Fourth Wing series. He’s courageous and action-oriented and chooses his love for Violet over everything. Plus, he’s all-powerful as far as signets go.
Now that you’ve been exposed to all my YA romance dysfunction guilty pleasures, are you ready to tell me your HEAR ME OUT show/tv/character?
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
If you like romance recommendations, [bookmark this link] 🔖
Your daughter is a gold mine of info. Thank you and her for informing us older folks.
Nothing like teen angst movies. Love how the bad boy always comes from a wealthy family.
I wasn’t the target demo for “Gilmore Girls,” but the writing was so good and I had a massive crush on Lauren Graham. Or maybe Lorelai. It’s tough to tell. The first crush I can remember having was Morticia Addams (Carolyn Jones) from the show, not the movies. An unusual choice for a very young boy, but I stand by it.