Tue. October 14, 2003
Chicago, IL -
By now, every person in the US has heard of Bravo’s newest reality show, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Enjoying record breaking ratings success on the cable channel, and even some well-received runs on the parent broadcast station NBC, the show follows five openly gay men as they give aesthetically-challenged straight men a complete makeover. Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, here’s a quick rundown of the show’s basic premise. The Fab 5, as they have dubbed themselves, consists of fashionista Carson Kressley, food and wine expert Ted Allen, culture vulture Jai Rodriguez, interior designer Thom Felicia (one of the top 100 American interior designers), and stylist Kyan Douglas. There is nothing subtle about these guys. Each week they sweep into the life of some shlubby, unspeakable dirty and disorganized hetero, and in the course of three days (which by the magic of television appears to be only one) transform his life. Amid snappy one-liners and witty repartee, they teach him how to dress, how to eat, how to decorate, how to apply hair product, and even how to dance...sort of. In short, they teach him how to be fabulous.
TV critics and viewers alike seem to have fallen all over themselves to praise this show. Mainstream media has embraced it like a long-lost child. The Fab 5 even snagged the cover of the August 8th issue of Entertainment Weekly. Critics love it because it’s pure, witty fun. Viewers love it because it’s a welcome relief from other mean-spirited reality shows--these guys really seem to care about the men they are making over...or as the guys on the show prefer to call it, a make-better. Many gay rights activists are lauding it as another step in mainstream acceptance. I have to admit that I’m a huge fan myself.
But not everybody loves the Fab 5. Some gay rights activists feel that it’s a step backwards. They believe that the show simply perpetuates gay stereotypes and simply makes gay men the butt of jokes. As author Hutton Hayes puts it, “The gay man can lend a supporting role to the starring role of the straight man who, though otherwise proficient, can’t quite get it right when it comes to the lesser things—the superficial—at which gay men are so good.” Then there’s New York Post’s Linda Stasi who argues that the show proves that Americans are “afraid of gay men who act normal.”
I say lighten up people. There is such a thing as reading too much into something. Predictably, the boys have a lot to say about those criticisms as well.
“We always get the stuff about us engendering every gay stereotype,” Carson says. “And one thing: Hi, it’s a reality show. We’re not cartoonish and we’re not pretending to be supergay or superstraight or whatever. We’re just being ourselves, and I’m not going to make any excuses for who I am, and I don’t think any of these guys are either.”
“It’s rude, because you’re commenting on who we are as people,” adds Jai. “We’re not playing a role.”
“Just to play devil’s advocate,” inserts Kyan, “even if we are embracing a stereotype that gay guys are effeminate or whatever, so what? A gay guy can be effeminate. It’s OK. If somebody has a problem with it, they need to lighten up, and they need to open up their minds.”
Personally, I’m pretty darn offended by Ms. Stasi’s comments. Who is she to decide what is or is not “normal”? This opens up a whole new can of worms. Maybe it’s time we face the fact that there is just as much homophobia within the gay and supposedly gay-friendly community as there is without. Kyan said it best in their recent Advocate.com interview: “This whole stereotype issue may force the gay community to look at our own homophobia. I’m all for guys being butch and guys being men. I identify with that and appreciate that. But if I’m going to stab my gay brother in the back who isn’t butch and who maybe acts a little bit more effeminate, what good is that? If being gay is only OK if you’re straight-acting, why are we letting them set the standard?”
Predictably, the show’s sharpest opponents are coming from the Religious Right. Organizations like Focus on the Family, led by the self-righteous and rabidly anti-gay “Dr.” James Dobson (I used the quotes because while the good doctor still uses the title, he was booted from the American Psychiatric Association for his homophobic views), and the American Family Association (who’s motto is “Promoting Traditional Family Values”) have called for boycotts of the companies that advertise during the show. A conservative Montana group is planning to launch a campaign against Queer Eye, calling it trash that should not be on TV. Much like Focus on the Family and AFA, the Montana Family Coalition will target advertisers who air commercials during the show. "To me, that's not a reality show about gay people," Julie Millam, the coalition's executive director, said. "A really good reality show for gay people would be five gay men dying of AIDS." Nothing like showing your true colors, eh, Julie?
With enemies like that, do we, as the gay community, really need to be picking at one of the few shows on television that actually features a cast of real, honest-to-goodness, normal gay people? What are our other choices? Will & Grace? Come on, as much as I enjoy that show, there’s no denying that its days of being cutting edge are long past. It’s become an annual tradition for the producers to announce that this is the year Will finally gets a boyfriend. And Jack? Well, that’s too easy (no pun intended). Queer As Folk? Does anyone watch this besides gay people and a few straight women known in the community as fruit flies? Boy Meets Boy? Don’t even get me started about the fact that they threw in a bunch of straight guys for James to choose among. When was the last time they had lesbians among the women on The Bachelor?
Okay, so TV did give us one other major coup this season: Chip and Reichen’s million dollar win on Amazing Race. Not only were they the first gay couple to ever win the big prize, although they were the eighth and ninth openly gay contestants, but they were also the first gay couple to ever be referred to as “married.”
Right now, Queer Eye is catching a lot of positive buzz. As far as I’m concerned, they deserve it. As Bruce C. Steele says so eloquently in his review, “By playing into gay stereotypes, the Fab Five, paradoxically, lay them to rest. They’re so personable and sharp and real that the clichés they embody are magically reconstructed as richly human, without the tiniest swatch of shame.” And who, besides the religious nuts, can find fault with that? Certainly better than a stick in the Queer Eye!
by Josh Aterovis
© Josh Aterovis, All Rights Reserved
Josh Aterovis is an artist and author of the Killian Kendall Mystery Series as well as numerous columns and articles.
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