Diksha Sundriyal
A new year in the Minerva Military High School begins with the arrival of first-year cadets who will be tested beyond their limits in Netflix’s ‘Minerva Academy.’ While others focus on their studies, Salvo Fusco enters the school through an extracurricular activity that requires him to get to the bottom of the truth about his friend’s mysterious disappearance. The thread of evidence leads him to a third-year senior, Diego, who is struggling with his own issues. By the end of the season, some surprising things about him and Francesco come to light, which pose a huge question mark on his sexuality. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Diego Might be Bisexual in Minerva Academy
When we meet Diego, he is in a relationship with his batchmate, Rachele. At the same time, he develops an attraction to the new cadet, Camila, which, when reciprocated, leads them to a passionate night together. It also becomes clear that Diego feels more than simple attraction for Camila. He actually seems to like her, but his already being in a relationship and the cadets’ rule against romantic relationships make things a bit tricky. In any case, this love triangle with two girls makes Diego look like a straight playboy. However, it later turns out that his attraction is not limited to girls, and he learns this with Francesco. When everything was fine, Diego and his batchmates went out to a party where they got pretty drunk.
Diego and Francesco went into a photo booth to take pictures, but they ended up kissing. For Diego, this was a new and surprising experience. All this time, he thought he was straight, but something had always felt different with Francesco. He later confesses to his sister, Paola, that while he had not felt any attraction to any boy before, things were different with Francesco. With him, Diego felt freer and happier, and he never thought these feelings extended beyond anything platonic. But the alcohol tore down his defenses, and the close quarters of the photo booth forced him to confront his feelings for his batchmate. This, however, does not mean he is gay. Since he had genuine feelings for Rachele and Camila, it is fair to assume that Diego’s sexuality exists on a wider spectrum, and he is either bisexual or pansexual.
Following his kiss with Francesco, he would have liked to explore this new side of himself. He would have liked more time to think about these confusing feelings, come to terms with the conflicting emotions, and find out what he wanted and whom he wanted before he could share it with his friends and family. But this timeline was messed up when Francesco’s love letter to him ended up in another boy’s hands, who started making fun of it. This is when the fear of being found out sparked his survival instinct, and rather than trying to handle it with tact, he turned towards violence. This cracked his relationship with Francesco, but at the same time, it sent him deep into his closet, with the doors of shame and guilt locking him in.
Diego Embraces His Sexuality After a Series of Difficult Choices
Had Diego talked about his feelings for Francesco with someone like Paola, things may have turned out differently. Perhaps, given more time, he would have found someone he trusted and felt safe with to share this secret. Instead, the reaction of his peers convinced him he could never come out to them. If they ever found out he was attracted to Francesco, they would treat him exactly how they treated the boy he secretly liked. Worse than this, he feared what this revelation would make his father do to him. He was already under enormous pressure to be his best. And if his father found out that he was not straight, he couldn’t fathom the reaction.
This shows that his relationship with his father was driven by fear and a misplaced sense of honor and duty rather than actual love. Eventually, however, all the facades break down. The truth about Francesco’s whereabouts comes to light, and Diego realizes how deeply his father has duped him all this time. Instead of telling him the truth and putting his conscience to rest, Achille let Diego believe Francesco had killed him, for which the boy kept blaming himself. Now, it wasn’t just the burden of excellence, the shame of his sexuality, and the fear of being shunned by his peers. The guilt of being responsible for his friend’s death weighed on him to the point of a complete breakdown.
In the end, Diego decides that he is done letting his father’s expectations rule his life. All this time, the thought of not letting his father down pushed him to be at the top, even if it was at the cost of his friendships. But the whole fiasco of lying about Francesco’s death and then throwing him under the bus when the truth threatened to undo the school opens Diego’s eyes. His sister also makes him see that their father’s love comes with conditions that have always held them back. So, he decides to break out of it completely. He fires a shot at his father, which turns out to be a blank, but it serves as a symbolic gesture of him putting the whole conflict to rest. The last scene has him happily driving around town, proving that the shame, fear, and guilt are gone now and that he is ready to embrace life and love in whatever shape or form they come.
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