“The original show was fighting for tolerance, our fight is for acceptance”
This line uttered in Netflix’s Queer Eye, highlights not only the different approaches used in both iterations of the show but also the different times they exist in.
When I was between the ages of 11 and 13, I remember how just before supper I’d be sitting in front of the TV, as a family while waiting for our daily soap opera to come on, there would be an episode of the show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy that would play.
In South Africa, the show would be on in the late evenings while families were getting ready for supper, and I found the show fascinating. I did not know what queer meant then -other than thinking it meant odd-, and I didn’t really examine the premise of 5 guys who would makeover someone every week. However, I really enjoyed the show.
The show existed in the era where reality shows were growing and becoming popular. In our household, we really liked makeover shows and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy really fit into that genre.
It was just another makeover show in my young eyes.
It’s quite humorous when I look back at that and realize, that the original show with food and wine specialist Ted Allen, grooming consultant Kyan Douglas, interior designer Thom Filicia, fashion expert Carson Kressley, culture expert Jai Rodriguez was my very first experience of gay men and queer culture.
Cast of Queer for the Straight Guy: Thom Filicia, Ted Allen, Carson Kressley, Kyan Douglas and Jai Rodriguez
That show had been my unknowing introduction to what gay men looked like, and I only realized this fact years later while watching the Netflix reboot of Queer Eye – especially as an openly gay brown man from South Africa.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was that show that made me laugh and smile.
It was the show that was so exciting to see the transformations that people went through and just how it impacted them.
Years later, having gone through my own inner transformation, as I watch the brilliant reboot from Netflix, I marvel at the love and heart that is poured into the show.
There have been episodes in this reboot, that have left me wrecked, and have left a mark on me.
Original and New Cast of Queer Eye
The new Fab Five food and wine specialist Antoni Porowski, interior designer Bobby Berk, grooming consultant Jonathan Van Ness, fashion designer Tan France and culture expert Karamo Brown reflect the strength and courage that is necessary when you’re gay.
They go into areas where they are sometimes the first and only representation people have of what gay men look like, and it noticeably affects them too. The new reboot is phenomenal in how it fits in with the times.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was the fun, glam and light makeover that showed people what gay men looked like.
Queer Eye is the emotional, healing, and introspective show (that’s damn hilarious too) but really digs into the human experience in ways that force us to examine how and why we are the way we are.
These new Fab Five, are men with their own pain, their own challenges, and that is what makes this new iteration so powerful is that the show doesn’t hide away from it. The show is having really difficult conversations.
Cast of Queer Eye: Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France
In Season 1 I felt my heart break when the show tackled a gay black man named AJ dealing with some of his internalized homophobia, something I still heavily struggle with, and how difficult it is to come out to those we love.
The show also really made my heart stop by showing Karamo, a black gay man get pulled over by a police officer, and how traumatic that experience can be. While the show did play it for laughs, it was still one of the most terrifying moments, especially in light of knowing how often those situations end up in death for black men.
The conversation that happened between Karamo and a white police officer was one of the most profound and affecting conversations to witness. You have two people who could not be more different talking about their respective views and managing to reach a middle ground.
In Season 2, Pakistani-Brit Tan France is speaking to a transgender man and he is not scared to explain that he has been ignorant of the Trans experience and some of the struggles that they face.
That chat had been one of the most honest conversations I’ve seen happen between queer men because it shows that not everyone within the queer community is aware of the struggles that other people in our community face.
In many ways, their talk has mirrored a conversation that has been happening in my life with one of my friends. As a cisgendered homosexual man, I’ve recently learned from my trans friend, and how he said that it does get tiring having to answer people’s questions, but so long as it is respectful and comes from a place of wanting to learn, he doesn’t mind.
As a gay man, I grow tired of having to educated people on the gay experience, I can’t even imagine how tiring it must be for him as a trans man to have to constantly educate people because there is more ignorance around trans issues in general.
It’s crazy looking at the mark Queer Eye for the Straight Guy left in my life, and how that is tying in with the new Queer Eye. The show has existed in my life in the same way that Tan explained:
“The original show was fighting for tolerance, our fight is for acceptance”
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was fighting for tolerance, not only in how it was teaching straight people to be more tolerant of gay men, but also in how it was showing young boys like me, who didn’t even realize they were gay, that they were not alone.
The new Queer Eye, in just two seasons, has had me fallen in love with the beautiful and powerful way that acceptance is being shown. Queer Eye isn’t just about showing people acceptance of the LGBT+ community, but also acceptance of themselves.
We’re all works in progress, and we all have to learn how to handle that.
I really did not expect or was looking for a show to make me think and examine my own emotions in such a way, but I’m glad it did.
Theo. Over and Out
The Lion Mutters 