Kinja reply list

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Jerry-NetherlandRich Juzwiak
1/21/14 1:45pm
It is boring as hell. As a 50ish gay, I lasted 20 minutes with these overtly heteronormative bores; they aren't believable. I lasted no more watching Girls. I guess HBO thinks reflecting 30-somethings (both gay men and spinsters) as dull s dirt is progressive. It isn't, and it isn't honest. Any 30-something gay group should have some witty repartee and zingy one-liners, because they've lived awhile in gay culture, (whatever aspects appeal to them) and because in any gay group there is a lot of humor and, yes, certain cultural touchstones (incidentally, the critic, I suppose guarantees his hetero bona fides by misspelling BARBRA's name).
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  nevermindJerry-Netherland
  1/21/14 1:54pm
  Is it really heteronormative to be dull? This comes up on occasion in my social circles and I don't really get it. The successes of the gay rights movement in general have allowed people who would have remained closeted in previous generations to come out. And they're just average. I'm glad they can be honest and authentic to themselves even though they don't live a lifestyle (ha! Correct word usage!) I would choose.
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  deadkittensJerry-Netherland
  1/21/14 2:01pm
  You know what's the worst? They really are that boring now.
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ClioRich Juzwiak
1/21/14 2:31pm
I'm going to call a partial bull shit to the general disappointment surrounding this show. I have it, too, but it's not because it's "boring." It's because the characters are not emoting...anything. There's no empathy grabbing on my part. And worse, there's an artificial lowering of stakes around "gay sex culture" plot points that could induce loads of emotions. I don't care what anyone says, a couple's first threesome (immediately after deciding to cohabit!?) is a fucking big deal. It's not something to be had lightly. But in the effort to make the audience think threesomes (or public park cruising or blatant sexual harassment at work) is as normal as bread in gay culture, it's simply swept under the rug. Great agenda setting guys! Terrible storytelling.
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  cousinblehClio
  1/21/14 2:40pm
  So you didn't notice the foreshadowing that couple's first threesome is apparently going to be a big fucking deal?
  
  And you didn't pick up on the fact that cruising the park turned out to be a joke about how gay men used to look for sex? His cellphone falling into litter of condom wrappers was not a daft enough metaphor?
  
  To me, the first episode felt like setup to exactly what you're demanding of the show.
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  Cliocousinbleh
  1/21/14 2:56pm
  The foreshadowing bit: you seem to imply that human emotions themselves may be delivered in a foreshadowed fahion in real life. My whole point is that their emotional reactions are not equatible to the plot points. A threesome whether perfect or gross or portending future break up means something to me RIGHT NOW. I need to feel their reaction to what it means IN THIS SCENE. That's called good storytelling-not throwing importance to an off screen, later event.
  
  As for the park cruising, of course I gleaned all the tongue-in-cheek "you think this is going be about one thing but it's not" opening scene. And again: horrible storytelling. You start your entire series on a gag? You literally blue ball your main character and by extension your audience into thinking it's watching something interesting that then turns into nothing? It wasn't even witty, it was a placeholder of a joke. Your labeling it as a "daft metaphor" is likely the highest praise it has received. However! It still needed to convey emotions if it is included. And obviously, it was thrown out instead for the agenda setting of the show.
  
  'Downton Abbey' is approximately 45 times more boring than this show, and yet why do we love it? It's because every single mother fucking misplaced napkin is a world crisis. Every action has stakes for their characters. In Looking, nothing matters to them.
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auxarcsRich Juzwiak
1/21/14 1:36pm
I watched the first episode last night and I was pretty unimpressed. The guys on the show are kind of lame- overly neurotic/sensitive, semi-boring, and frankly not that cute (lesbihonest).

I'm a gay guy living in SF and I'd much rather hang around with me and my othe 20 something friends. Not sure if that's what you want when you craft a show like this- making people at home feel like their lives are actually better and more fun than the ones shown on tv...

I'm probably going to keep watching so I can have fun noticing the locations shot around town, tho. I'm also hoping to spot my bare ass in the crowd when they show the Folsom episode :)
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  dogmaticequationauxarcs
  1/21/14 1:43pm
  See attached rant: http://gawker.com/well-san-franc…
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  medsy3auxarcs
  1/21/14 1:58pm
  "I'm a gay guy living in SF and I'd much rather hang around with me and my othe 20 something friends." Give yourself a decade. The boredom will be palpable and glorious.
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CitizensnizzipsRich Juzwiak
1/21/14 1:42pm
Considering Jack from Will and Grace is still the de facto media reference to gay folks, I welcome humor like this. It's so true - people automatically assume they "love the gays" because they're always so fabulous and interesting!! When in reality, not all of them really are, because they're actually people like everyone else, not mythical unicorns with a penchant for show tunes.
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ChallahbackRich Juzwiak
1/21/14 1:40pm
Meh. If you can't find a way to make an interesting television show about members of a minority that only recently began to enjoy the same rights and privileges as most of HBO's viewers, you aren't trying very hard. "Sex and the City" was successful by being a frank, story-driven exploration of relationships, set in an amazing city.

Just make "Sex and the City" with gay characters, it's not rocket science.
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  corvidaeChallahback
  1/21/14 2:24pm
  'It's called 'Nookie in New York'. It's about a group of women friends who act like gay men!' — paraphrasing The Simpsons. I always thought that was an accurate take.
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  tsuchinokoChallahback
  1/21/14 6:34pm
  Make sex and the city with gay characters? So basically every other show about gay characters? Whether the creators failed in the excecution of not im sure thats exactly thetype of show they didnt want to make.
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TRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)Rich Juzwiak
1/21/14 1:41pm
Aw, we can't treat gay people as guaranteed sideshow entertainment anymore. What a shame.
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PopChipsRich Juzwiak
1/21/14 2:24pm
I'm a gay dad living in the burbs and straight people tell me all the time, "You're kinda boring for a gay guy. We thought you'd be more exciting."

Well, excuse me. We all can't have great fashion sense. That's why I look like a slob. Trust me. I wish I'd been born with the ability to match outfits but once I outgrew the Garanimals clothing line, I was screwed.

I also have two small children who suck all the time and energy out of me, in only the way that kids can, leaving me mostly too exhausted to remember if I even brushed my teeth let alone able to keep up with current entertainment news. (I now understand The Ransom of Red Chief from the perspective of the parents.)

So, yes, gay people can be exciting or boring. And this boring gay dad wishes he were a bit more exciting. Maybe in my next life.
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  BlackIvyGPopChips
  1/21/14 2:32pm
  Yay for the Ransom of Red Chief reference! Haven't thought of that story in years. Mom read it to us when we were little :)
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BethWinshipRich Juzwiak
1/21/14 1:42pm
What I don't understand about the screenshots I've seen of this show (too cheap to subscribe to HBO, and too disinterested) is why the two ancillary characters dress like it's 1979 and the main character pulled his wardrobe from 1999.
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  MizJenkinsBethWinship
  1/21/14 4:08pm
  YES. If you want to talk about breaking stereotypes let's talk about how this show (of all shows) got styled so poorly.
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ClioRich Juzwiak
1/21/14 2:30pm
I'm going to call a partial bull shit to the general disappointment surrounding this show. I have it, too, but it's not because it's "boring." It's because the characters are not emoting...anything. There's no empathy grabbing on my part. And worse, there's an artificial lowering of stakes around "gay sex culture" plot points that could induce loads of emotions. I don't care what anyone says, a couple's first threesome (immediately after deciding to cohabit!?) is a fucking big deal. It's not something to be had lightly. But in the effort to make the audience think threesomes (or public park cruising or blatant sexual harassment at work) is as normal as bread in gay culture, it's simply swept under the rug. Great agenda setting guys! Terrible storytelling.
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clockworknovakRich Juzwiak
1/21/14 1:45pm
I guess I'm alone in kind of enjoying the show? I hated Weekend, so I didn't hold out much hope for this, but I like the laid-back pace the show has taken. Granted, I've only seen one episode so far, but that's enough for me to say I like it enough to keep watching.

Groff's character and his Pollyanna attitude have the potential to become irritating if he doesn't grow believably though. Otherwise, I like it.
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