ENGL 421HR: HEATED RIVALRY QS PC

California State University, Northridge

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Preparatory: ENGL 313. As US political turmoil and fallout continued to marginalize Queer people in 2025, the end of the year brought about one of the largest and highest-to-rise fandoms in recent history with the Canadian Crave six-episode streaming series Heated Rivalry. By utilizing other queer films, music, and literature, this course will trace the trajectory that got us to Heated Rivalry as one of the highest streamed series of 2025. This class will do an in-depth exploration of the six book MLM series by Rachel Reid, the streaming series by Jacob Tierney, the music to that series as a form of queer literature, the fanfic based on the series, and the fandom around it. We will look at the idea of gay joy and how this body of work engages with common tropes in queer literature and media such as "bury your gays" and the "age gap." Using a queer theory lens, we will look at the ideas around fandom, fetishization, rainbow capitalism, and queerbaiting. Class assignments will include discussions, presentations, workshops, and a culminating research paper. Available for graduate credit.