The Fab Five
There’s a new Fab Five in town, and I’m in love with every one of them.
L to R: Bobby Berk (design), Karamo Brown (culture), Antoni Porowski (food and drink), Jonathan Van Ness (grooming), and Tan France (fashion)
On design we have Bobby Berk, creating the most lovely interiors (no shiplap yet that I’ve seen…). Since I’m an interior designer by day, blog writer by night (and also day sometimes, sorry boss!), I’m particularly invested in his contributions. So far he’s been able to strike the balance of creating an elevated living space while maintaining the personalities of the men living there. Next, we have Karamo Brown as our culture mentor. He’s had some of the most moving conversations with our makeover subjects. The third episode of the season focuses on a cop living in the heart of Georgia. Karamo, as a gay black man wasn’t too excited by this prospect. But they had an incredibly real conversation about police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement and came out on the other side unscathed. It’s the kind of open dialogue that our country needs and it’s amazing it’s happening on a makeover show where gay men makeover sloppy straight men. This isn’t just a surface level makeover, people.
Serving us food and dranks is Antoni Porowski. He was able to get a man who only drank “redneck margaritas” aka Mountain Dew mixed with tequila to drink normal human drinks. If that’s not amazing I don’t know what is. Aptly winning best hair is our grooming expert Jonathan Van Ness. If this man doesn’t make you glowingly happy with every word out of his mouth then there’s no hope for you. Last but not least is Tan France on fashion. Again, he’s able to elevate the style of these men without making them into metrosexual clones completely out of their comfort zone.
The Makeover
Like I said earlier, I wasn’t a huge watcher of the original Queer Eye, but I’d assume the format is the same. The Fab Five bust into these dude’s lives and shake it up from top to bottom. Each makeover has a goal in mind. In the first episode, sweet Tom is of the mindset that “you can’t fix ugly,” which is pretty heartbreaking. At the same time, he’s been alone for years and would love to reconnect with his ex-wife. Therefore the goal is to get Tom another date. And by the end of the episode, you see just that.
Another example is AJ who’s family doesn’t know he’s gay (yes, it’s not just straight men they’re making over). He’s terrified to come out but doesn’t want to wait any longer as he already missed the opportunity with his father as he passed away. If you don’t ball your eyes out when he eventually comes out, then you’re made of stone.
With this show, you get all of the gratifications of seeing someone get a much-needed makeover with the added bonus of seeing part of their soul transformed too, as cheesy as that sounds. The Fab Five genuinely love and support each other, and those feelings transfer over to the people that they’re helping. Even though these people think they’re at their worst, the Fab Five find the beauty in them and draw it out. They don’t just clean up some sloppy dude’s house or haircut, they get into the why of the mess. Why have you been neglecting yourself? Why are you afraid to open up? How can we help?
There’s such unexpected depth to this show. It’s so good and pure and truly HAPPY. They touch on religion, politics, family dynamics, and just general GROWTH. It’s an emotional cleanse – be prepared for all that sh*t you’ve been holding in to burst forth. You cheer when the old man who’s never used sunscreen slathers on not only sunscreen but a tiny bit of makeup too. You cheer again when he’s set straight about who’s the wife (NO ONE) and who’s the husband in a gay marriage, and he actually gets it. And then you cry when he asks the woman he loves to go on another date with him and she accepts. Watch with some tissues by your side. But don’t be scared, they’re (mostly) happy tears, I promise.
