For many people, the new reboot of Queer Eye on Netflix has been a far more socially conscious version than its predecessor. Not that the original wasn’t informative, inspirational and fun (who could ever forget Carson Kressley’s lighting speed comedic one-liners), but the new Fab Five seem to be on a different mission altogether.
Take for example, just in recent months, how the new Queer Eye team (Antoni Porowski, Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, Jess Guilbeaux, and Bobby Berk), introduced the world to Jessica Guilbeaux – a lesbian, college student, disowned by her parents because of her sexuality. Her world had come to an end, basically losing her family and academic financing when they shunned her. The Queer Eye boys came to her defense, launching a Gofund me campaign, which raised over $100,000, and turned Guilbeaux into a media sensation.
Now, keeping in the tradition of the new, powerfully emotive Queer Eye, cast member Tan France is set to release his new memoir in June. His book “Naturally Tan,” reportedly will share some of the darkest moments in France’s life, including struggles with depression and contemplation of suicide.
In an excerpt from France’s book at RadarOnline, he shares, “The truth is, I was starting to feel depressed, which I had never felt before. I had been blue, but this was different.” His book further details how he called his husband one day, in a deep state of depression, revealing he was moments from driving his car off of a bridge to end his life.
Thankfully, his husband was able to convince him otherwise and avert such a tragedy. The end result actually was a positive one, in which France looked at his life and got the help he needed to take better care of himself. The biggest realization was that much of his stress and life’s pressures were self-induced. Once he assessed his life with more focus, he came to understand his own lack of self-care.
Many people experience what Tan France describes and let’s face it, most of us will not hit the jackpot of landing a lucrative, hit TV show. However, that is not really the point France conveys in his memoir. Because of his personal experience with overcoming depression, his role on Queer Eye has emerged somewhat as a grief counselor who shares with subjects, his own life’s tales in dealing with darkness.
His message in his new book is clear: No matter the walk of life, background, or personal aspiration, we are all susceptible to depression and many of us share the commonality of putting the wellness of others before our very own need of self-love.
