English Teacher’s Brian Jordan Alvarez Satirizes School Culture Wars — & It’s Worth Streaming

Evan Marquez loves his job, but his job doesn’t always love him back. In FX's TV series English Teacher, Marquez works in a high school in Austin, Texas, where he delights in being a mentor to teenagers that are just learning about the world. But as an openly gay man working in a largely conservative state, during a time when simply existing as an LGBTQ+ person is under attack, Marquez’s sexuality is often a point of contention in his daily life.

While navigating his passion for teaching and mentoring teenagers as well as his admittedly messy love life, Marquez often finds himself negotiating personal, political, and professional issues all at once. This description almost makes it sound like English Teacher, now streaming on Hulu, is a very serious drama where Marquez is constantly having difficult and sobering conversations about the meaning of being queer in the current political climate — but the show is one of the funniest heartwarming shows I have watched in years. 

Created by Colombian American actor, comedian, and TikTok content creator Brian Jordan Alvarez, English Teacher brings queer Latine representation to the screen during a time when representation is scarce or superficial. Alvarez’s English Teacher is based on the comedian’s own life as a Latino gay man navigating a conservative U.S. society, delivering a semi-autobiographical eight-episode storyline that feels authentic, profound, and — just as importantly — really funny.

Marquez’s struggles are relatable to any queer professional who is out of the closet, but his story is particularly relevant to the current zeitgeist because of the current censorship queer artists and authors are experiencing in public schools across the U.S. At a time when openly queer teachers are being accused of indoctrinating children into being gay, English Teacher bravely tackles this fear-mongering myth and transforms it into art that is inclusive, incisive, and challenging of the status quo.

I have been following Alvarez’s work since I came across his self-produced YouTube Web series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, an evident precursor to English Teacher that tells the story of a diverse group of queers as they navigate dating, sexuality, one-night stands, and more. Alvarez has created his own weird niche online since then, going viral on TikTok by posting a myriad of eccentric characters of his own creation, making the best use of the platform’s filters and the leeway of low-budget social media productions. With English Teacher, Alvarez has the opportunity to elevate his work with the resources of a studio, maintaining his uncanny talent for comedic writing as well as introducing educational and heartfelt conversations about sexuality, workplace discrimination, and belonging as a queer man. 

Alvarez is one of the funniest comedians out there right now — if you haven’t dived into the Brian Jordan Alvarez TikTok Universe, I highly recommend that you do — and it’s really exciting to see him gaining space in the entertainment industry with the kind-hearted, hilarious art he wants to create.

In an interview with The New York Times ahead of the show’s premiere, Alvarez revealed he didn’t want English Teacher to be preachy. It’s annoying to have to admit that many TV shows that purport to have Good Representation™ often come across as holier-than-thou, more often than not shoehorning marginalized narratives that feel forced to make the viewer learn something about diversity and living with people who are different from you. With the caveat that any diversity can be said to be “preachy” by people who don’t like it, it’s really important that diverse representation is written into TV shows and films in ways that make narrative sense rather than filling up an on-screen quota. Alvarez’s Evan Marquez humanizes a very taboo subject in U.S. politics — the way queer educators are currently under attack.

The thing about being a queer educator under attack is that, as a functioning adult, Marquez also has other problems to contend with in his life. Marquez has a class to teach, an ex-relationship to figure out, a camping trip to chaperone — and he is being investigated by his employer because the mother of one of his students saw him kiss his ex on campus. But his life doesn’t come to a halt when he suffers discrimination; he just has to keep going and take strength from the community around him. Treating the topic of queerness in schools with levity, Marquez’s storyline shows how discrimination is an everyday worry for LGBTQ people. But it also demonstrates the ridiculousness of the charge: how can queer educators be teaching kids how to be gay when they barely have a grasp on their personal lives?

That’s the heart of English Teacher. The show excels in humanizing its queer characters as flawed human beings with a multitude of problems, insecurities, unfinished business, and also as people who are being marginalized for who they love. In addition to Marquez, the show also features a host of hilarious characters like Stephanie Koenig as Marquez’s best friend and coworker Gwen Sanders, who supports and calls out Marquez in equal measure (though I wish Gwen’s character was more developed and explored). Marquez often clashes with Markie (Sean Patton), the resident straight guy and gym teacher who is often inappropriate toward everyone but gets away with it because heterosexuality is the norm. Trixie Mattel makes an incredible appearance as thieving drag queen coach Shazam, tackling the controversial topic of drag queens in schools with humor and intricacy. And all the while, Marquez is hooking up with his ex Malcolm (Jordan Firstman), trying to figure out what he wants out of his love life. 

There’s an authenticity that is achievable when people who inhabit marginalized identities are allowed to create what they want without the pressure of studios trying to sell representation. This authenticity usually results in success, but it also requires that studios and streaming platforms take on some risk in supporting a less-traveled path in the entertainment business. In addition to Alvarez’s obvious comedic talent, English Teacher carries an undeniable authenticity in how it tackles some of the most important issues of our time. In treating its characters with complexity rather than vehicles for symbolic diversity and representation, English Teacher succeeds in questioning the undeniable conservatism that is currently sweeping the United States. The TV show is not preachy, but it humanizes populations that need to be seen and breaks taboos around topics that should be discussed like gun violence in schools, sexuality, and workplace discrimination. 

The cast is more diverse than most, which I appreciated, but the main characters are all white (Marquez is white Latine). I also wish there had been a bit more discussion of Marquez’s ethnicity and heritage.

Most of the characters are queer, but I would have liked to see more queer women included in the main cast. I loved to see Marquez’s best friend Gwen’s neurotic storylines, but I want to know more about her and her life. Let your female characters thrive, BJA!

Featuring Trixie Mattel as a thieving drag queen stealing things from a public school was pretty genius. Parents may fear that drag queens like Trixie are turning their kids gay, but she just needs to steal some school material to buy cigarettes. 

I had a lot of fun watching English Teacher, and I recommend that you stream it right now.