Queer Eye season 2, streaming on Netflix, continues the campaign by the fab 5 to make everyone they help feel better about themselves and make improvements in their lives.
The 5 gay men at the heart of Queer Eye are Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, and Bobby Berk. Between them, they help their clients with culture, food, grooming, style, and design. What they really do, however, is help people find their best selves and bring it out where everyone (including themselves) can see it.
The show’s premise is the same in every episode. Someone is nominated for a makeover by the Queer Eye men. They swoop into town and in mere days help the person (or sometimes a whole community) bring order and beauty to their lives.
This series is so heartwarming and full of love, I usually need Kleenex to get through the episodes because they always make me cry.
My favorite episode this season is 2.4, “Sky’s the Limit.” It’s about a transgender man named Skyler. When we first see him he’s just waking up from top surgery. Six weeks later, the Fab 5 visit him and help him find a look that fits his new body profile. They also bring his apartment into the modern age. This episode was close to my heart. It was moving to hear how important it was to Skyler to get top surgery, get the right gender on his driver’s license, and be addressed with the right pronouns.
Skyler was alienated from his family of birth. However he found a large and supportive family of choice that helped him raise money for his surgery and celebrated with him when he showed them his new look.
Other episodes dealt with the more common type of makeover for this show: some guy who was a slob and needed to be shocked out of his rut to a)improve his life, b)propose to his girl, c) look his age, and more.
In one episode they helped a woman – a first for Queer Eye. She lived in Gay, Georgia. Yes, really. She needed help getting her church’s unfinished community center ready for a church homecoming. A secondary plot in this episode involved the woman’s gay son, recently back home after living in the big city.
I love what the Fab 5 do. It’s full of heart and teaches acceptance and self-worth. All 5 of the men are fantastic role models for young gay men who might be watching. They are each so different. As we get bits and blurbs about their backgrounds it makes them even more interesting and important as role models.
I do wonder where all the money comes from for the new furniture, remodeling, and clothing that they provide. I hope the people they help aren’t somehow indebted after it’s over.
This is a wonderful series. Watch it if you can. If you’ve seen it, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.