Brit phenom Michaela Coel hilariously explores sex and topples stereotypes in Netflix’s Chewing Gum. Jazmine Hughes takes a bite.
When we meet Tracey, she can barely complete a sentence without being interrupted by one of her own sex fantasies: She straddles her boyfriend, he’s groping her chest, her lips are attacking his face. (The Netflix closed captioning just says, “[both moaning].”) But back in reality, when we meet her boyfriend, Ronald, he’s on his knees thanking the Lord for preserving the couple’s virtue: “We will wait until we die, if it brings you glory.” Although she too was taught to “save herself” for marriage, Tracey turns to the camera with a look like she might vomit—or, worse, remain a virgin forever.
This is the world of Chewing Gum, the British comedy series that quietly arrived in the U.S. last year and will begin its second season on Netflix this month. Adapted by 29-year old Brit Michaela Coel from her hit 2012 play, Chewing Gum Dreams—which garnered her last year’s BAFTA for best female comedy performance—the show stars Coel as Tracey Gordon, a 24-year-old London shop clerk raised in a restrictive household and dreaming of a bigger, flashier life. Tracey is blindly confident, lovably misguided, and the most wonderfully libidinous woman on TV.
This story is from the March 2017 edition of ELLE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2017 edition of ELLE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Rebel Hearts
The best fashion is served family style. Model siblings-slash-fashion royalty Lily McMenamy and Eddy and Arthur Aldridge share an unbreakable bond. Here, they team rocker-chic staples with equally timeless Cartier Trinity jewelry.
Nicole Kidman
At Least We Can All Agree On Whether she's confronting the toughest emotions onscreen, raising millions to support women's causes, or putting on a pinstriped suit to help save the movies, the Expats star brings people together.
WOMEN OF IMPACT
Write a poem. Build a business. Use your megaphone with no apologies. As our 2024 honorees show, there are endless ways to make positive change.
Breast Surgery, Augmented
Is \"internal bra\" surgery the stuff that braless dreams are made of?
BRITISH INVASION
Kit Kemp's signature hotel design, a madcap take on English tradition, is taking over New York.
FULL CIRCLE
As Tory Burch celebrates 20 years, her sense of mission is stronger than ever.
CACTUS FLOWER
The minds behind Desserto are spinning the desert plant into (eco-friendly) gold.
MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION
A new book gives an inside look at fashion's most ardent archivists, from Michèle Lamy to Azzedine Alaïa.
MORE IS MORE
A maximalist season kicks off with embellished bags, intricately decorated vases, and high-flown takes on ceremonial jewelryas seen here in the medals and aiguillettes of creative director Claire Choisne's latest high jewelry lineup for Boucheron. High Jewelry Collection Histoire de Style, The Power of Couture, Boucheron, boucheron.com.
La Nuova BELLEZA
Confident, sexy, and at the height of the fashion world. Italian supermodel Vittoria Ceretti demonstrates how to dress for seduction in spring's sheer.feminine slipdresses and body-conscious looks from luxury labels in Italy and beyond.
