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Nick DentonRich Juzwiak
1/28/14 3:15pm
I agree with you the show suffers from its empty central character, Patrick. And that it's too quick to cut away from sex scenes. But you do underplay the most novel aspect of the show: the normality of the lives on display.

Sure, you concede: I have more in common with these gay guys than any I've seen on TV before. They smoke pot; they get along with their platonic gay friends without bitchy backstabbing; they hook up casually on Grindr; they frequently exhibit an apprehensiveness and/or amusement over greater gay culture that they are supposed to relate to but for whatever reason don't; they say things like, "God I'm such a cliché...thinking that sex will make me feel better. I mean it does but still..."

For a population that does not often recognize itself on television, relatable characters are a revelation. Finally, a show about us. Or people we know. Or people with some recognizable characteristics. The drama is the drama of everyday life: the search for love; a job with some meaning; a match. It's such a relief to see gay lives that aren't doomed to end in suicide, murder or AIDS.

I know that doesn't give a gay critic so much to write about. And the dialogue is almost aggressively conventional. There's no drag-queen wit on display. But for the majority of gay guys who don't see themselves as tragic figures destined for unhappy ends — or drag queens, or wits, for that matter — a show like Looking is revolutionary.
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  Rich JuzwiakNick Denton
  1/28/14 3:31pm
  I don't know if "underplay" is fair, Nick—I discuss the "normality" of these people throughout, returning to it at the very end, and finding symbolic worth in it:
  
  Looking is made in and for a world that's more accepting of homosexuals than ever. As much as it seeks to shape the culture, this show is also a product of it. Things aren't perfect, but they're getting better—for most of us—and acceptance opens a lane in the middle of the road. Looking's mediocrity is ultimately a reminder of something wonderful: our advancement.
  
  I'd say there's no any kind of wit on display, and that's the biggest problem. And believe me, given my knowledge base of gay portrayals in pop culture, I would have much to write about this show even if I loved it.
  
  I don't need to see myself on TV. I've done fine without that, but like I said, if it works for you, that's great. Even in these times of heightened tolerance, being gay isn't easy. Go to whatever lightens the burden.
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  Nick DentonRich Juzwiak
  2/20/14 5:08pm
  By the way, here the makers of Looking explain why the show is meant to be boring. Apparently, you fall into the "minority trap".
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Bitch PuddingRich Juzwiak
1/16/14 4:06pm
A conversation about this show between my (gay) roommate and (straight*) me:

"Finally a show about gay beard culture."
"That's not a gay thing; you having facial hair doesn't add a letter to LGBTQIA."
"Does too! It means different things for us."
"That is goddamn ridiculous."

Then he called me a breeder and I said something about his mom. We get along great but do settle this for us, internet.
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  Turbo60657Bitch Pudding
  1/16/14 4:14pm
  "Gay beard culture." Oh, you mean how every other gay man has a beard now, because they think it makes them look really edgy and hyper-masculine? That "gay beard culture?"
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  sizor_sisterBitch Pudding
  1/16/14 4:18pm
  Its like a Castro Clone 2.0
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MsxHRich Juzwiak
1/16/14 4:12pm
As a woman who identifies as queer I can tell you that I watched every episode of The L Word no less than five times. Those ladies didn't reflect my reality in any way whatsoever. I have no personal experience with being a highly paid art curator (Bette) or a lesbian Don Juan (Shane). I was mostly just interested in seeing fancy women simulate sex, and in that they did not disappoint. Also, I'm interested in any nonstandard sex that primetime television is willing to offer.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that my standards are quite low, and I'll still probably lap this show up like a fanatic, too.
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  sizor_sisterMsxH
  1/16/14 4:20pm
  I just finished my 3rd L Word marathon over the weekend.
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  MsxHsizor_sister
  1/16/14 4:36pm
  That final episode is so weird. Lesbian soap opera turns murder mystery, cliffhanger to be left unanswered indefinitely.
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Rich JuzwiakRich Juzwiak
1/16/14 3:41pm
A suggestion of a recent gay show that I adore: Josh Thomas' Please Like Me, which ran on Australian TV and Pivot here in the States and on iTunes. It is not just routinely hilarious but it manages to be focused on being gay and yet about so much more. Though I see absolutely nothing of myself in the particulars of that show, it still manages to generally encapsulate my gay experience better than most gay pop culture including Looking, which is that being gay is both the biggest deal and not a big deal. Sometimes these forces surface simultaneously, sometimes they alternate. Paradoxical, but no one said that being gay is easy.
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  Gary-XRich Juzwiak
  1/16/14 3:59pm
  Did you ever write about the movie Weekend, Rich? This review made me wonder what your opinion was/how something like that contrasts with Looking. Google's turning up nothing, but I thought I'd ask.
  
  (Edit: Beyond just mentioned it here, I mean.)
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  DunnoboutthatRich Juzwiak
  1/16/14 4:41pm
  Please Like Me is brilliant. Mostly because it does not try too hard.
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Turbo60657Rich Juzwiak
1/16/14 4:01pm
So it's Queer as Folk, but with beards. Thanks for saving us all a lot of time, Rich.
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  A House In VirginiaTurbo60657
  1/16/14 4:12pm
  which means that, in 2014, it's SO very, very unnecessary.
  ...this kind of "gay portrayal" makes me yawn.
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  GregSamsaTurbo60657
  1/16/14 4:33pm
  I detested everything about the US version of Queer as Folk. For some reason, however, the BBC original was charming and seemed much more heartfelt. I think the US version suffered from Sex and the City-itis.
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sizor_sisterRich Juzwiak
1/16/14 4:15pm
One thing I've noticed about gay men is San Francisco is how much they skew towards older white men. There is certainly other types of gay people there, including younger men, but I've always gotten the sense that what is there now is middle aged white men who are increasingly well off financially. I don't think San Francisco is really the gay mecca people think it is or was, it may really only be a mecca for a certain type of gay man.

I'll always argue that a show about queer people living in Oakland would be a lot more interesting and "real." For a real taste of how transgressive queer culture can be; come to Oakland, that's where a lot of interesting things are happening. From "DL" guys in East Oakland, to FTM pornographers in North Oakland. Not to mention the diversity (in all its senses) you can find.

I think that might be my hesitation to this show, it just seems so forced. Setting it in San Francisco is making a statement and I'm not sure if it'll live up to the statement. It does seem to get one thing right though, gay people can be very boring.
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  Dear Zeussizor_sister
  1/16/14 4:44pm
  I sort of agree about the SF bit. I went to school in SF and you could just tell who came in from out of state/SoCal/whatever because they automatically assumed SF = gay Mecca. It eventually led me to just not date anyone in college (at least from school) because they all seemed so desperate to be a part of a culture that wasn't as in-your-face as they had likely assumed. Hell, your bit about them wanting older white guys was even true in some cases. I knew a guy who, in sophomore year, was dating a much older white guy and was pissy about it the whole time.
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  dogmaticequationsizor_sister
  1/16/14 5:15pm
  I'm brown and my parter is white - and we have noticed this too... but it might just be because the daddy culture is starting to come out of the shadows of SOMA a little more and more each year - also we've noticed that most older white dudes are usually with MUCH younger asian or brown dudes.
  
  Also - that show sounds amazing. Can we make it. I live in SF and I've always wanted to make a show about trans street youth.
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SowhatisthewhatRich Juzwiak
1/16/14 4:20pm
I saw the trailer and I have never seen San Francisco so white. It is like the city relocated to the Midwest or something.
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  Jerry-NetherlandSowhatisthewhat
  1/16/14 4:39pm
  I noticed in Rich's review there's a couple of white guys, a black guy and a latino in the principal cast. So, San Francisco without Asians? On what street?
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  iopsoJerry-Netherland
  1/16/14 5:15pm
  The same street that connects to Girls' Brooklyn and SATC's New York. It's very narrow and filled with dildos.
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PoopiesAFRich Juzwiak
1/16/14 4:07pm
Can we get a gay pop culture review for Little Horribles? http://littlehorribles.com/ That show is hilarious (though, it's premised on an awkward 20 something lesbian - but fucking hilarious in that awkward way).

edit: Oh, didn't realize Jez already reviewed. http://jezebel.com/uncomfortable-…

Uncomfortable-Funny New Webseries Is a Lesbian Version of Girls Uncomfortable-Funny New Webseries Is a Lesbian Version of Girls Uncomfortable-Funny New Webseries Is a Lesbian…

Backed by the illustrious Issa Rae of Awkward Black Girl fame, new web series, Little Horribles,… Read more Read more

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PopChipsRich Juzwiak
1/16/14 4:53pm
If the sex scenes are tamer than the ones on Queer As Folk does this mean it will be easier or harder for one of the stars to transition to playing the dad on a TV show on a kid's channel?

Yes, I'm still taken aback every time I watch Lab Rats with my kids and Hal Sparks pops on to the screen. It's a little awkward.
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dogmaticequationRich Juzwiak
1/16/14 5:07pm
Well.. San Francisco faggots are boring. I say that as one of the many.

Being queer in SF is normalized - no longer do people stare at you when you're making out with three guys on top of a blue Honda Civic at 10 am in front of a restaurant while waiting for a taxi to take you home after an all mimosa brunch.

Seeing a man with a beard in full drag is almost as common place as seeing a tranny from Divas blow an unsuspecting out of town businessman in the alley next to the KFC in the Tenderloin.

It's fashionable and hip to be queer. You no longer have an outsider status that gets you into all the filthiest clubs.

Take Pride SF for example.... There are more straight people that come to the event than gay people. And the gay people that do are from out of town, usually from place where people still throw rocks at them.

As a culture and a group we have lost who we are. We drive minivans and we attend PTA meetings that aren't about the dangers we pose to the precious children.

The show is boring because we are boring. I was at the premier - and honestly I could have sat out in Dolores park and seen something more interesting people watching. Even the other queens at the premier were milk-toast shadows of the proud faggots that used to give each other coked out handies in that theater.

The other issue I noticed is that you can drop any race / gender into any of these characters and it wouldn't matter. They are just so bland. It's like watching milk warm to room temperature in a glass.

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  BethWinshipdogmaticequation
  1/16/14 8:07pm
  I would stop and stare at you if I knew you were done with brunch by 10 AM.
  
  I was once at a fairly restrained Saturday evening wedding up in New England and overheard some of the locals making plans for the next day. "Brunch would be good! How about 8?" "OK, but let's make it 7:30. I've got kind of a busy day." I turned to my friend and asked, incredulously, "Did they just say what I think they said?" My friend was familiar with the place they were going to. "The restaurant stops serving brunch at 11. After that they serve lunch." I can't stand to even look at solid food before noon; my friend might as well have told me that they serve dog meat and the greyhound is a house specialty, so horrified must I have looked.
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  dogmaticequationBethWinship
  1/16/14 11:18pm
  Done / asked to leave... it's the same thing.
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