Looking, a series featured on HBO from 2014-2015 is both a television show and movie. After the series was cancelled after only two short seasons, the network decided to offer fans the next best thing to the shows continuation, a film taking place eight months after the finale of the second season. The show follows three bestfriends, Patrick (Jonathan Groff) a late 20’s video game designer, Augustin (Frankie J. Alvarez) a struggling artist in his early thirties, and Dom (Murray Bartlett) a waiter soon to turn forty, as they navigate life, sexuality, and friendship in modern day San Francisco. As this is my first post, I feel that I should let you know that it is not my intention to analyze every aspect of the shows queer-ness merely to judge it’s validity to stand under the umbrella of Queer TV/Cinema. Though always important to recognize, I believe sometimes able to do more harm than benefit. No matter the mistakes and non PC jokes, Looking offers representation to a group of men that cannot find it easily. I do not hope to appear as an authority on Queer culture in any regard, all I can say for sure is that when little 17 year old David saw the series for the first time, I saw more than just a slice of a life different than my own… I saw possibility. Patrick, the main character of the show represents exactly what it is I did not get to see growing up; a confident, openly gay man who doesn’t live his life according the binds society has put on male homosexuality, in fact, he lives in spite of them. He works in stem, he has heterosexual male friends, and most notably, he lives comfortably within the confines of 21st century masculinity. He is both gay and masculine. Patrick is a place in which homosexuality and masculinity are proudly fused together, which is the most impactful element for me personally, and one of the most unique aspects of his character. Patricks two best friends, Augustine and Dom, are both traditionally masculine presenting as well, which is where to some the writers may have fallen short. There is little representation of femme presenting men in the series, which could have been beneficial. However, I acknowledge that it is not fair to assume that the writers did not purposefully exclude his (the femme male) presence for use as commentary on the inner workings of the gay community itself… what do I know? I would love to hear from you the reader, your thoughts and feelings about the opinions I have put forth in this inaugural post, as well as your general thoughts of the series and film following. Please send suggestions for things to watch and review next time!
Warmly,
Your friend,
David