If you're anything like me, after you finish a television series you seek out your friends' advice for what to watch next. I few of my friends had posted things about Queer Eye. It seemed interesting, but not the type of show I was looking for. After I finished Girlboss, another Netflix Original Series (that I highly recommend), I decided to see what else Netflix had pulled out of their creative closet and Queer Eye popped up. Lying in my bed for the fourth straight hour I figured I had nothing better to do so I clicked on the show and gave it a shot. And let me tell you; it was my best post-midnight decision. My life has been changed since I've watched Queer Eye.
Maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about, so let me explain. Queer Eye is the newest Netflix Original Series that is a continuation of the early 2000s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The premise is that five gay men make over another dude to improve his life. The cast of Netflix's Queer Eye is Antoni Porowski, food and wine expert, Tan France, fashionista, Karamo Brown, culture enthusiast, Bobby Berk, interior designer, and Jonathan Van Ness, hair stylist. The show is based out of Atlanta, Georgia and they travel around the South changing mens' lives one episode at a time. Think about it as What Not to Wear meets Extreme Home Makeover.
Besides the hilarious one-liners dished out by any one member of the Fab Five, this show will teach you how to love yourself and how to love everyone else.
The first part of this show that is shocking is that every man they makeover lives in a small, southern town. In today's political climate, you'd imagine they were greeted by some "MAGA" hats and guns, but they are actually welcomed with open, but slightly reluctant arms. However uncomfortable the participants are at the beginning of the show, they allow the Fab Five to take over their life for the time being. As the makeover goes on, the relationship between the man and the Fab Five grows into a real friendship. By the end of the episode, the man is telling the Fab Five how much he loves them and how much he will miss them. If you take away nothing else from this show, please learn from these people's acceptance of each other. Gay, straight, liberal, conservative, everyone involved in the episode is able to offer so much compassion to the other person. They don't judge each other, they don't try to change each other (besides the makeover, but that's different), they just love each other for who they are. We could all learn from their ability to love unconditionally.
Queer Eye teaches you how to love other people, it teaches you how to love yourself. The Fab Five does an amazing job at ensuring the participant knows that they deserve the best and that they are perfect the way they are. Tan teaches them how to dress to the nines and that dressing well boosts your confidence and self-love. Antoni helps them understand that their bodies deserve care and that eating healthy is something their bodies need and deserve to be happy. Jonathan lets them know that it is okay to take some time for yourself. Karamo changes their perspective on the world from something against them into something rooting for them. And Bobby gives them a comfortable space to be their best self. The Fab Five is a self-love machine and they dish it out like lollipops on Valentine's Day. After the makeover, the men love themselves and are confident in what they have to offer to the world. And why shouldn't you feel the same way? Queer Eye teaches us that we are the only person like us there is, so strut your stuff and feel good about what you've got.
Besides giving you the tools to love yourself, the Fab Five makes you want to be as fabulous as they are. And from what I've seen, they are fabulous because they are unapologetically themselves. They don't care that people stare or that people don't accept them. They know who they are and love themselves and it makes you want to love yourself. I have never been more confident than I am after watching an episode. It makes me want to let all my walls down and be who I am. I hope that after watching it, you feel the same way.
Now, I know that what I've just said seems like your basic self-love information session, but you really need to watch the show to know how I'm feeling. Early in the season, they say that the first Queer Eye was fighting for tolerance, but this time around they are fighting for acceptance. This show will change your perspective on how you see yourself and others. Watching it is well worth your time--all you need is a day (if you binge watch it like I did). Let the Fab Five teach you a little something.
