I wonder how gay men feel about Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I was introduced to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy by one of the most important people in my life, who happened to be a black gay man, but was not openly gay so he shall remain nameless. When he introduced it to me, he always reminded me that there was originally supposed to be a black man, but he was fired, which was not a conspiracy theory, but true, if you watch the first episode! This man, Blair Boone, was not ostensibly fired for his race (I hope). So Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was definitely problematic from a race point of view-it left out a huge part of gay male culture in NYC that was largely influential in all parts of society (for example, Madonna’s Vogue would not exist without black gay men).
But is it problematic for other reasons? Obviously every gay man is not innately excellent in fashion, dressing, interior design and grooming, but Queer Eye for the Straight Guy largely presented those gifts as innate except for one episode. I thought about this when a show called “Girlfriend Intervention” was introduced as the new Queer Eye for the Straight Guy makeover show for white women and immediately cringed. I defer to other gay men on their critique or praise of the show.
I don’t have cable so I only got to watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy when it was broadcast on NBC as part of a promotion. I loved it because I got a lot of helpful tips that were applicable regardless of gender and because of the memories of that person who introduced me to the show. I only got to watch the majority of the series when it appeared on Netflix (Netflix only had up to Season 4 episode 7, but it actually goes up to Season 5).
I think that without Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, marriage equality would not exist in this country. I loved Will & Grace too and it definitely contributed, but Queer Eye for the Straight Guy constantly featured gay men making families, couples and straight men’s lives better. Occasionally one of the five men, usually Jai Rodriguez, would wistfully say, “I wish that I could get married” or allude to his life as a young Christian fundamentalist. The implication was clear. Gay men made everything better literally, but what have you, straight guy/couple/family, done for them lately. I don’t think that was the main goal, but it became glaringly obvious that the benefits were one-sided.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was not always excellent. It occasionally felt like a mish mash of Extreme Makeover, Extreme Home Makeover or a series of ABC shows. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was also problematically based on consumption. Without money or being in the marketplace, you are less than your best self. Certainly Queer Eye for the Straight Guy reflected more realistic budget choices as it progressed by going to stores like Target and H&M, but consumption was king.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was at its best when dealing with less mainstream coming out scenarios: nudists, transgender men, cosplay. You could see that the hosts were challenged, but still treated their protege with the respect that they would have wanted. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy taught its audience how to appropriately interact with the unfamiliar.
Carson Kressley is widely criticized for being a ham and a fame whore, but if viewers paid attention, he also gave a lot of excellent, practical, human advice outside of clothes. I think that it is unfortunate that a lot of viewers missed it, and I don’t think that it is a coincidence that some viewers felt comfortable deriding the one host that was closest to the stereotype of how a gay man acts.
As a completist, I hope that I can find and watch the rest of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is definitely tv that you can do something else to.