It’s been no secret that gay men have been starved for representations of themselves on screen. What we’ve had to endure has been hit or miss, though largely miss. Let’s take “Queer Eye For the Straight Guy,” a show whose only real goal was to give a dumb haircut to shell-shocked heterosexuals all across the five boroughs. Then there was that abortion “Queer as Folk.” In one episode, if I remember correctly, Michael overacted in his search for a lost comb and Debbie found a condom in her meatloaf. Riveting.
Here to help turn the tide is HBO’s “Looking.” Debuting last night, the first episode opens with dopy, likable and all-American Patrick, played by Jonathan Groff, fumbling through a hookup in the park. The hand job comes to an awkward end when his cell phone starts ringing. It’s a call he has to take.
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On the line are his best friends, Agustin, played by Frankie J. Alvarez, and Dom, played by the Freddie Mercury-looking Murray Scott. The trio is an honest ensemble: Patrick is a 29-year-old videogamer searching for love in San Francisco via OKCupid, Agustin and his boyfriend are debating whether or not to become “one of those couples” after a drunken threesome leaves them to define their relationship, and Dom, coming to grips with turning 40, is still waiting tables and being left out of yet another silicon bomb. “It’s like it’s 1999. I hated them the first time around,” he says after dealing with difficult patrons at his job at Zuni Cafe, a real restaurant in San Francisco. In a bid for great authenticity, the show uses actual clubs and cafes in its filming.
We were treated to just 30 minutes, and no score or music whatsoever. A Hitchcock trait of sorts, the director here thinks we’re mature enough to know what’s going on without tacky jazz music cuing us in how to feel. We rely on dialogue and striking cutaways of San Francisco to convey emotion. Strangely, “Looking” also follows Lena Dunham’s “Girls,” a show that has been criticized for trying too hard and basically have too much feeling.
It was a deliberate and intriguing ride. Moving slowly, we saw gay men who rode the bus, drank bourbon, smoked pot, and gay men just being adults. Gay adults searching for love, identity, and just, well, living. What “Queer as Folk” was throwing in your face — “look, we have sex with more than one person at the same time. Aren’t we edgy, America?” — “Looking” states honestly and openly.
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I went over to a friend’s to watch because I can’t afford HBO. As I rode the bus home, I thought perhaps we finally have a real representation of gay urban life on television.
As for the show … I’ll look again.
