Aahana Swrup
The FX sitcom ‘English Teacher,’ a blend of workplace and high school comedy, presents an intriguing premise as it follows the life of a gay teacher who works at a Texan high school. Evan Marquez, the only openly queer educator at his workplace, constantly finds himself in unique situations, forced to navigate tricky cases where he has to please the faculty, his students, and their parents. In terms of support, he has the well-meaning, if often confused, Principal Grant Moretti, the stereotypical “straight bro” gym teacher, Markie Hillridge, and Gwen Sanders, the history teacher.
Evan’s identity, passion, and geographical setting inevitably intersect to create fantastically scholastic chaos. The show, created by Brian Jordan Alvarez, retains an inherent political center even as it maintains all the levity and whimsy of a classical sitcom. Therefore, the narrative reflects socio-politically relevant themes regarding education and youth culture. As such, fans might find themselves curious about the story’s origins and potential connections to real life.
English Teacher Celebrates Queer Stories Through a New Lens
As a sitcom that prioritizes its punchlines, ‘English Teacher’ solidifies itself as a fictitious story, with relatable scenarios and plot points crafted to chart a humorous yet authentic story. Consequently, even though the characters and their experiences come across as realistic, their origins remain almost entirely fictional without a firm counterpart in reality. However, instead of real-life counterparts, the characters retain a connection to reality, which ultimately informs their presence within the narrative.
Evan Marquez, the story’s nucleus, occupies a distinct space as a queer educator in contemporary Austin, Texas. Naturally, his sexuality ends up coinciding with his profession in unexpected ways, creating space for authentic representation as well as off-beat, comedic narratives. For the most part, Evan’s authenticity as a character stems from Brian Jordan Alvarez, the show’s creator, who also embodies the titular teacher’s character. Alvarez is a comedian, actor, and filmmaker, who is known for bringing various queer media to the screen, be it through his recurring role in ‘Will & Grace’ or the 2016 web series, ‘The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo.’
As such, Alvarez’s inherent knack for storytelling within queer spaces—backed by his own experiences as a gay man—continue to inform the relatability factor behind Evan, the on-screen high school teacher. Speaking about the same in a conversation with USA Today, the filmmaker said, “What I love about that is it allows us to write from this insider perspective, and we get to make jokes that really only make sense from that angle. So people can sense authenticity.”
Brian Jordan Alvarez Found Loose Inspirations in Reality
Although Evan Marquez’s character remains a product of his fictitiously crafted universe, he also has connections to reality, even if by a few degrees of separation. Brian Jordan Alvarez, who created Evan, attended St. Andrew’s-Sewanee, an English-forward high school in Tennessee, during his three years of high school. During that time, he had a teacher named Claire Reishman, whom he credits as an educator who taught him how to serve his purpose as a writer for any project in a meaningful way. Years later, he went on to work on numerous writing projects in the show biz, from ‘Grandmother’s Gold,’ and ‘How to Be a Slut in America,’ to even his content on TikTok, which has earned him notoriety and fame as an internet personality.
Through it all, Alvarez always remembered his high school teacher, Claire Reishman, whose impact on him was invaluable. Naturally, as he helms the role of an English teacher—both as the actor and the writer behind the scenes—he is bound to think back on his former teacher. In an interview with ABC Audio, he touched upon the same, saying, “Now I’m out here playing a high school English teacher. I always think when I’m writing, I go, maybe that’s (Claire Reishman’s class is) where I learned how to write because I didn’t formally study screenwriting or anything.” Thus, even though he didn’t draw directly from a real person in his creation of Evan Marquez, his old experiences remain an indelible influence on his current writing.
English Teacher Maintains a Light-hearted Approach to Political Comedy
One of the more refreshing and fascinating things about ‘English Teacher’ emerges from the relationship it builds between the students and the teacher at Evan Marquez’s workplace. Since the show sports a high school as its central location, it naturally deals with numerous young characters, which can often be a tricky aspect of shows like these. Nevertheless, Brian Jordan Alvarez succeeds at walking the precarious line between pandering and relatability. In his own words, the same can be credited to his existing online presence, which allows him to have a certain insight into the contemporary youth culture.
“I’m very online,” Alvarez shared. “I spend a lot of time scrolling TikTok (and) scrolling Instagram, and I feel relatively up to date with where things are—the vibe of how people talk now. And what you see a lot on Twitter is how young people feel about old people (and) how older people feel about young people.” Thus, his own self-proclaimed terminally online habits have significantly shaped the realism behind his writing.
Additionally, another crucial aspect of maintaining authenticity stems from Alvarez’s willingness to create a politically relevant show without being overtly didactic. Paul Simms, the executive producer behind the project, expanded upon the same in an interview with Vanity Fair. “We don’t want the show to feel like we’re preaching at anyone or that we have any political agenda: Both sides have their points,” he said. “Both sides act idiotically at different times,” Simms also added, “The show is welcoming, the show is for everybody—and something I’ve often thought about is: This show isn’t mad at you,” Alvarez says.
Read More: FX’s English Teacher: Exploring All Filming Locations
