TV Obsessive
Welcome to What’s the Buzz, 25YL’s feature where members of our staff provide you with recommendations on a weekly basis. In our internet age, there is so much out there to think about watching, reading, listening to, etc., that it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, filter out the noise, or find those diamonds in the rough. But have no fear! We’re here to help you do that thing I just described with three different metaphors. Each week a rotating cast of writers will offer their recommendations based on things they have discovered. They won’t always be new to the world, but they’ll be new to us, or we hope new to you. This week, Abbie Sears celebrates the return of Queer Eye, Hawk Ripjaw checks out the new Looney Tunes on HBO Max, and Vincent Greene recommends One Strange Rock.
Queer Eye
Abbie: On June 5th, the fifth season of Queer Eye was released and brightened up our Netflix homepages. I can’t express how much we needed this fix of love and positivity in the world today. Queer Eye inspires, loves and motivates every one of it’s viewers. Each season we are treated to the stories of a new group of heroes that with the assistance of the fab five, turn their lives around and start to love their true selves from the inside out.
Where I am in the UK we are still under lockdown, as with many other parts of the world, and it’s gotten a lot of us feeling down and really facing our own realities. That’s why it was so important to me to see this new season when I did because it really installed a new sense of hope in me. At home we’re all looking for new things to try to improve ourselves or our personal space, evidence of this is all over the internet, and the fab five are full of incredibly helpful tips in all aspects of life that I’m sure we’ve all already tried to introduce to our own lives this past week. I love cooking, and I have definitely tried out multiple new recipes by Antoni since bingeing the season, especially the homemade pizza. It’s a very relaxing time to spend creating delicious food for loved ones.
We were told some really emotional stories this season, and met some amazing people. In the tenth and final episode we were introduced to Nate McIntyre, whose story really spoke to me because I think it’s one that we can all relate to. Nate was losing things that are important to him and that’s because he didn’t understand that he could ask for help from others to make sure that his life was kept on track. I’m like this too. I am someone who lays alone at night worrying about my problems and letting problems get to the point of no return because I don’t know how to turn to others. What’s so special about the fab five is that as we see them give the heroes such life-changing advice, we hear it ourselves and can apply it to what we’re currently going through. While making us laugh and making us emotional, Queer Eye manages to be a real self-help experience that I’m so grateful to have.
Every story in all seasons of Queer Eye will speak to some aspect of your life. In fact, right from the beginning of this new season I was invested fully, because we are thrown in at the deep end with the wonderful Noah Helper. Noah is an openly gay pastor at The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Atonement. If you weren’t aware, Queer Eye is released in June, which is pride month for the LGBT community. As a member of the community, I can say that a huge problem we face is having to defend ourselves against a number of religious believers. I attended a Church of England school where I faced bullying and ignorance because of my sexuality and gender identity. So many others face the same, which is why I can only hope it speaks to people when they see such an open and accepting church.
Perhaps one of the most eye-opening moments of this season was to hear Noah speak of Bible verses that do talk about gay culture in a very casual way, and that this is ignored in the church. This is an episode that I have shared with friends, because I know people who are Christian and afraid that being gay will bring them shame or cause drastic consequences. It’s such a hard thing to hear, and it meant so much to me to witness an openly gay Pastor and a warm, welcoming side to the religious community.
I urge everyone to watch Queer Eye from the very beginning. Every episode is available on Netflix and every scene is full of love, full of confidence, full of education and full of fun. It’s such a beautiful experience to have and you will be so glad you discovered the fab five. At the moment we all really need to be surrounded by a group as loving as they are.
