Stars: 4/5
The new Netflix Original “Queer Eye” is a reboot of a 2003 show by the same name with a similar premise. A squad of gay men dubbed the “Fab Five” give a man nominated by someone in his life a makeover, aiding him with improving not only his appearance, but also his lifestyle in key ways.
The show delves further than expected into the lives of each man. Every one of them has an issue with his personality or outlook, and the process of applying more seemingly superficial aspects of the makeover provides a pathway for working on the issue.
The season’s strong first episode clearly states the thesis of the show: self-improvement is as emotional as it is physical.
The subject of each episode’s makeover is a man nominated by someone in his life who feels he needs more help the average individual can give to grow.
At the beginning, I didn’t feel anything for the first nominee, Tom Jackson, a perfectly average-looking older man who told anyone who would listen that he had the ugliest mug around. Unkempt, sure, but he wasn’t scaring babies in cribs.
By the end of the episode, the Fab Five had helped Tom with the physical things that needed changing and set him on the path for emotional growth, as well. In the process, my viewing partner and I had grown attached to the sweet old man who was head-over-heels for his ex-wife. We had watched a real person make real progress with five strangers who treated him like a treasured friend.
The show continued on like that, with the other standout being A.J. from episode four, which follows the makeover of a closeted gay man who wants to come out and feels stifled by the measures he’s taken to present himself as straight.
It’s an emotional ride. I didn’t care much for him or his mossy edges at first, but by the time his reveal event rolled around and he sobbed into his stepmother’s arms, I had to fight to keep my composure.
Just like the others, he was just a random man on a T.V. show to start, and by the end he was a real human person whose problems I absolutely wanted to see solved.
The concept of “Queer Eye” nestles itself neatly in people who don’t proclaim it but admit they enjoy making a night out of watching. With the presentation of its bubbly cast of extroverted gay men, it almost seems like that’s all it is, but it certainly goes deeper than a “Say Yes to the Dress”-type show.
The Fab Five say A.J. is unfashionable and hairy, yes, but why? Oh, it’s because he’s afraid of rejection so he doesn’t let anyone get close. Of course, not every episode digs in so deep, and there are a lot of laughs to be had.
Netflix’s “Queer Eye” is a very fun show if you’re OK with making 45-minute emotional investments in men who’d come off as weirdos if you met them pre-makeover.