He is hilarious, energetic, annoying, caring, and confident. He exhibits his favourite gay porn scenes to alien erotica writer Lily, and at a house party he hosts a 101 dick-sucking workshop with a banana.īy refusing to solely frame him through the lens of shame, the writers of Sex Education provide space for Eric to experience and express a multiplicity of moods and emotions. He is proud to have given exactly two and a half handjobs over the summer. Though it would be easy for a series which centres on the sexual awakening of high school students, there is no exhausted bildungsroman format attached to Eric about overcoming sexual shame – Eric is confidently homosexual. Eric, played by British-Rwandan actor Ncuti Gatwa, might be the best friend of the central protagonist, Otis, but to me he steals the show.
In an age where we’re allowed no rest from television’s often shallow attempts at ‘diversity’, Netflix’s Sex Education offers an impressively multi-layered and relatable portrait of a black queer boy through its ebullient character Eric Effiong.
Note: Some spoilers for Netflix’s Sex Education below
