HBO finds it with 'Looking'

There’s a scene in the first episode of HBO’s new “gay” comedy-drama series “Looking” that you don’t have to be gay to relate to.

It’s the main character Patrick, played by Jonathan Groff, staring into a broken mirror after encountering his ex-boyfriend Jason in the bathroom at his bachelor party.
“What the hell am I doing here?” his expression says as he stares blankly at his reflection in the shattered glass.

Nobody’s having sex in the stall next to him.

Nobody’s snorting coke  while Scissor Sisters plays at an inappropriately loud volume.
It’s a normal bathroom at a gay club devoid of leather and phallic symbols hanging from the ceiling.

Why is this important?

Because “Looking” shows what gay life is really like, not what straight people think we do behind closed doors.

“Will & Grace,” although funny — and without it, “Looking” probably wouldn’t exist — was ridiculous.

“Queer as Folk” was a 50-minute soap opera of bad gay porn.

“Looking” is revolutionary because you forget that you’re watching a series about gay characters, because it’s really not a gay series. It’s a drama series that happens to center around gay men.

“Looking” follows Patrick and his two pals Agustín, played by Frankie J. Alvarez, and Dom, played by Murray Bartlett, as they look for love on the streets of San Francisco.
The discourse between the three friends is nothing like the gay discourse we usually see in mainstream American cinema or television.

Neither of them say the words “sassy” or “girlfriend,” nor does anyone make “Sex and the City” references.

I think “Looking” is a symbol for the shift in mainstream American culture’s acceptance of homosexuality.

We had nothing until the ’90s, when we got “Will & Grace,” which was a good start.
Then we got “Queer as Folk,” which was better, but still not good enough.

“Looking” finally hits the mark.

It normalizes gay culture. It incorporates it into mainstream society. Gays have many of the same problems as straight people, and “Looking” finally gets that.

Let’s return to that broken mirror.

It can mean many things within the context of the premiere like the loss of personal identity that Patrick feels upon seeing his ex and former “love of his life,” possibly spending the rest of his life with this new guy.

But what I think is more prophetic and most true is this — the shattered mirror is a metaphor for the broken prejudice that took a lot of years and a lot of lost lives to finally crack.

And that’s something to really get excited about.

­— zipperr@indiana.edu
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