People talk about summer love; during Fall Break my television and I began to spend some serious time together, and I was introduced to five fabulous gay men. Kyan, Ted, Jai, Thom and Carson, better known as the Fab Five from the new, hit television show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” have done what every woman in love with a man who lacks style, sophistication, class, culture, culinary skills etc. wishes she could. They take him from slob to stud. The supposed inner beauty of “Queer Eye” is that in the process of changing a ship wreck into a love boat they open the eyes of homophobes everywhere to the wonderful, fashionable, attractive world of gay men.
Several shows paved the way for “Queer Eye” to be widely accepted. Among them are “Ellen” and “Will and Grace.” Ellen was the first hit television show where a character came out of the closet, and “Will and Grace” is the first primetime show to feature a kiss between homosexuals. On the one hand it is wonderful that shows like these have opened the eyes of millions of people to the gay community.
Queer Eye has been praised in the heterosexual community as a tool to bridge the gap between homosexuals and homophobes. But on the other hand, is it really? It is possible that “Queer Eye” and “Will and Grace” do as much to open people’s eyes to homosexuality as “Good Times” and “In Living Color” did to introduce people to minorities (for those who have not yet picked up on the sarcasm, those shows did not do much).
Instead of making the world more accepting to different cultures and lifestyles, the aforementioned programs present a very narrow, extreme and polarizing view of a particular community. Not every gay person is white, well-dressed and male. In fact, the gay community has as many differences as every other group on earth.
If “Queer Eye” makes people more accepting to gay, white men, great, but what about the females and the minorities? Will it ever be chic to be a lesbian, aside from a random physical encounter with another woman in a wet T-shirt, for the viewing pleasure of a man? If being gay is chic then shouldn’t everyone be able to come out of the closet and expect the same warm welcome? Do they have to be interior designers, fashion gurus, corporate attorneys or a constant source of amusement to be accepted? What about the gay man who is as culturally, fashionably and socially misguided as the average straight man? With the images we are fed of gay men, if a man says he is gay but does not fit our preconceived notions, will we even believe he is gay? What would happen if the “Queer Eye” guys were not really gay? Would we still take their advice? If the only exposure one has to a community of which they are not a part is on television, that person will be inclined to make assumptions about the entire group based on their interaction with that one group or individual. That is stereotyping, and it is not fair.
Though Fall Break is over, my affair with the Fab Five is just beginning. As much as I love Queer Eye, the show should not be viewed as anything other than entertainment. Carson, Kyan, Jai, Thom and Ted are actors. They are not factual representations of an entire community. So enjoy the show, but do not expect that every queer guy will be just like the ones on “Queer Eye.”