Sense8 is a science fiction/ drama show that is distributed by Netflix and has managed to form a strong audience that understand the true meaning of emotion and acceptance. The show is about eight people who have the ability to connect with each other mentally and emotionally, even though they are in different locations around the world. For example, some characters are based in Mexico, Nairobi, South Korea, India and many more locations.
Sense8 was cancelled, but then bought back because the fans reached out on social media to Netflix, which then reversed Netflix’s decision to cancel the show and create a two hour Special that will be released in 2018. Thanks to all the petitions that made Netflix re-evaluate their decision, I get to enjoy two seasons, plus a special, that has helped me to understand human emotion, and hopefully will help you understand it too.
Viewers were pessimistic about the show as it is something that no other programme has offered before, which is diversity. People are afraid of diversity and the ‘damage’ it can cause to society as it’s not ‘normal’. However, Sense8 breaks this ideology and reverses what it is deemed to be acceptable. This is why the show is exciting for people like me.
The show helps us understand the importance of emotion and expression, and how we communicate with one another. Each character can feel what someone else is feeling whether it be pain, sadness, love etc. Yet they’re not actually with each other, physically. The show portrays a positive message that when we connect with each other mentally and understand a particular emotion, then the world becomes a better place because ignorance is ignored and broken by the simple task of understanding and having compassion towards another human being. It’s a message about working together and crushing negativity that compels people to conform to pre conceived ideologies that actually don’t make sense in a contemporary world.
Labels are what limit our society in discovering what kind of person we can be if we weren’t so caught up in what kind of person society wants us to be. The greatest battle we have as human beings is within ourselves and by saying ‘fuck you’ to the norm, we are achieving a lot more, personally and collectively, by encouraging difference and not normality. These limitations are broken in Sense8 and it encourages viewers to not be afraid of the person that is locked up inside their own body, but to express it and be proud of who you are.
The show encourages diversity. For example, the fluidity of sexuality is promoted through sex scenes that include every character. You see women experience connections with other women and men experience connections with other men AND IT’S COMPLETELY NORMAL! These orgies that the show have filmed emit a strong sense of passion and love through the art of sex and acceptance. There is a line that Sun says which is “we exist because of sex and it’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s something to honour, to enjoy.” When watching these scenes you can’t help but feel the love that is being portrayed, which is exactly why this show has been created. There is no room for hatred and division, for only love and unity is the most important.
We see different ethnicities connect and experience no form of hierarchy and self importance. Instead, they connect and help each other. When all the characters meet they all approach calmly and aren’t freaked out by the fact they hear voices and see someone else standing in their own living room. They connect as if there was nothing separating them in the first place. Distance is just air between two people. However, an emotional connection is a mental feeling that will never be broken. It gives off a message that we shouldn’t be scared because everyone looks different, acts different etc. It promotes the idea that we should accept difference and think positively of it. We see this in the show when Kala and Wolfgang fall in love even though they are both from very different backgrounds. Wolfgang is part of a violent, yet vulnerable, background, and Kala is due to get married to a man that is so in love with her yet it means nothing because of the emotional connection that her and Wolfgang have for each other.
Everyone on the show are portrayed to be emotional and to not hide the fact that sadness is a weakness. In society, men are stereotypically portrayed to conceal their emotions and not release any signs of weakness. Why? This show breaks that ideology through characters such as Will Gorski. Women are portrayed to be strong, independent, clever through characters like Sun, Nomi and Amanita. Why is it so difficult to represent real life and not create a fake reality that everyone struggles to confine with? Traditional ideologies are broken and re-sculpted by the influential team who worked on the set of Sense8.
Modern TV shows focus on cynical events and views on humanity which allows us to only think about the depressing side to human kind. This doesn’t do anything. Although, it does allow us to appreciate great shows like Sense8 that enlighten humanity and what we can do to make the world a better place just through the art of connection and emotion.
I suppose the audience for Sense8 are misfitted in society, which is why this show helps them, and myself, to understand that they are beautiful and aren’t outsiders. People like me and many others don’t fit into societal expectations, but this show gives us hope and determination to change matters that affect us in a negative way. Love and struggle is something worth fighting for when I watch a show like this and it shouldn’t be compressed into a dark definition that everyone is afraid of.
Difference is something we fear and turn into a comical subject for bullying and to dehumanise people that have felt dehumanised their whole life. However, this show TEACHES people that we should embrace difference and not divide. So I urge you to watch Sense8 and feel inspired by the amazing work, and the risk that Netflix took in order to promote acceptance and love through the art of cinematography.
Thank you Sense8.
These are some great scenes from Sense8:
Nick Dibble 