Netflix has officially resurrected Queer Eye, as the streaming service unleashed the reboot on Wednesday. The new "Fab Five" (Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk) go on an incredible journey each episode as they travel the states and find a straight guy who they can makeover in more ways than one.
On the surface level, a casual fan or someone not so familiar would think that this would be a gay (or gayer) version of What Not to Wear or Project Runway, where the focus is simply making a shlubby guy look more "fabulous" or "fierce" but it goes way beyond that. After only watching the first two episodes, its very clear that each of these guys take their respective jobs seriously for each candidate, and the results overall will leave you at times feeling very emotional for everyone involved.
Take for instance their first subject, a good ole southern boy by the name of Tom. He's 57, collects classic automobiles, lives in a small town and enjoys an alcoholic beverage with Mountain Dew in it. The stereotypes here are screaming, however those are immediately washed away within the first ten minutes as you get to the core of what Tom has become at his age and what the guys are truly trying to uncover: that life is far from over yet.
Tom is in a rut, as the guys clearly point out. Not just a style rut (they playfully make fun of his "jorts" throughout the episode) but a life rut indeed. He lounges on a stained chair of sorts, doesn't put much into his clothes and seems content on being single as he classifies himself as ugly, which is so not the case.
This is where each of the guys really gets into how they can get him out of whatever he's in and focus on the betterment of his life. As the show progresses, Tom opens up about how much he misses his ex-wife, his battle with lupus, and so many other things that gets you into a very emotional state for this guy. I remember when the original fab five did a makeover on a guy during an episode of Oprah, where he said something along the lines of "I feel alive again," then started crying hysterically. Tom's situation is similar, he just needed five amazing gay men to figure that out for himself.
By the end of the episode, Tom's basement apartment is completely redone, the chair is gone, his beard is trimmed and he's cooking a lot healthier, but that once again really isn't the focus. The focus is when he brings his ex-wife over for the big reveal, and she can't stop smiling and be happy for him. This, in turn, makes him happy, and thus a successful makeover happens.
The rest of the season looks just as exciting, and I can't wait to see what these guys have in stores. All I'll say is this: before you judge, watch. A lot of the comments on social media tend to give the show a negative tone as people think its just a bunch of gay "stereotypes" but that couldn't be further from the case.
For more info on Queer Eye, click here.