HBO’s ‘Lookg’ Offers an Excgly Frh Portrayal of Gay Life San Francis – IndieWire

Contents:

• HBO’S ‘LOOKG’ OFFERS AN EXCGLY FRH PORTRAYAL OF GAY LIFE SAN FRANCIS
• 7 HBO TV SHOWS THAT FEATURE PROMENT GAY CHARACTERS
• HBO GREENLIGHTS GAY-THEMED DRAMEDY SERI
• HBO ENDS ‘LOOKG,’ S ‘BORG’ SHOW ABOUT GAY MEN
• JONATHAN GROFF HBO SERI ABOUT GAY MEN SET SAN FRANCIS GETS SERI ORR
• HBO PICKS UP MICHAEL LANNAN’S GAY-THEMED SAN FRANCIS-SET DRAMEDY TO SERI
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

HBO’S ‘LOOKG’ OFFERS AN EXCGLY FRH PORTRAYAL OF GAY LIFE SAN FRANCIS

2 Seasons | 18 Episos | TV-MAWATCH NOWHBO MaxMeet Patrick, Agt and Dom: three 30-somethg iends livg San Francis explorg the excg, sometim overwhelmg, optns available to a new generatn of gay men. In the first episo of Lookg, —HBO’s lovely new seri about a group of gay men livg San Francis created by Michael Lannan and directed by Weekend’s Andrew Haigh—Patrick (Jonathan Groff), a vio game signer, fds himself on a first date wh an onlogist who never plays vio gam.

7 HBO TV SHOWS THAT FEATURE PROMENT GAY CHARACTERS

Here we are, simultaneoly pletely faiar and unfaiar terrory: the bad first date that is, also, the bad, gay first date—and a bad, gay first date that is not the B storyle, will not be followed by scen starrg straight people, and do not feature stereotypilly mpy gay men. It’s 2014 and there have been—as Ey Nsbm observed her glowg review for The New Yorker—a number of shows by gay men, but none as lmly, sularly gay as Lookg, which ntas ls than five (small) speakg parts for straight people. Lookg featur three gay men who are, as the tle suggts, searchg: for partners, for reers, and, mostly, for themselv.

When the Amerin “Queer as Folk, ” the last big scripted ble seri to foc on gay men, premiered 2000, opened wh the mera zoomg through a big nightclub full of shirtls dancers gyratg to “Let’s Hear It for the Boy. Alvarez) and Dom (Murray Bartlett) live is portrayed as largely, if not perfectly, post-gay, and they’re all secure and open about their sexualy, the issu they face on of datg, monogamy or reers rather than g out cris. While the primary characters are gay, they move fortably through a larger world that isn’t explicly, one which they’re as likely to go out the Missn as the Castro,  which Patrick’s straight -worker Owen (Andrew Law) teas him about the amount of time at the office he spends lookg for guys on datg s,  which their orientatn is only one of many intifyg quali about them.

HBO GREENLIGHTS GAY-THEMED DRAMEDY SERI

“Lookg” feels, bracgly, like a show about a llectn of gay characters rather than one that treats their sexualy as s own uniform subculture. For a show that so many ways feels new, “Lookg” is vgly mellow — don’t set out to fe gay life 2014, but tstg s characters and the different paths they’re on, ptur a sense of how the world has and ntu to change.

HBO ENDS ‘LOOKG,’ S ‘BORG’ SHOW ABOUT GAY MEN

The cln of gay characters mastream televisn and film has been an ongog procs for the dtry — one that has ma the the current generatn of TV shows some of the most progrsive to date.

As such, the goln age of TV is also a goln age for gay characters and televisn seri — wh gay-iendly work HBO leadg the work has featured proment gay characters several of s seri — though, admtedly, wh mixed rults th far.

JONATHAN GROFF HBO SERI ABOUT GAY MEN SET SAN FRANCIS GETS SERI ORR

Here are seven shows om HBO's lp, both prent and past, that promently feature gay characters their storyl. Read more: The Depictn of Gay Teens on 'Amerin Crime' Is Unprecented on TVSix Feet Unr: The premise is a b somber — a fay owns a funeral home — and morticians generally don't personify warm and fuzzy feelgs. Dave wants to n the funeral home that his father left him and his more reluctant brother, Nate (Peter Krse), but Dave also stggl wh a closeted homosexualy.

Patrick) — a gay black police officer — and Dave fds a lot of acceptance and strength to unrgo such a big change to his life.

"Between the two, David and Keh helped break down stereotyp about homosexualy and race, offerg a realistic portrayal of two men love, " Stacey Lambe wrote for Entertament Tonight. "While wasn't always pretty, the uple broke down barriers and beme one of the first gay fai reprented on TV.

HBO PICKS UP MICHAEL LANNAN’S GAY-THEMED SAN FRANCIS-SET DRAMEDY TO SERI

" Lookg: Lookg foced on three close iends, all gay, as they searched for love and life San Francis. ""It's rehg to see a seri about gay men that isn't actively urtg ntroversy and which ftly modulat the drama stead of keepg at a fever pch, " Keh Uhlich wrote for the BBC. As such, 's not surprisg that the HBO seri and s large st has troduced gay characters on-screen, mostly adapted om the books.

In the show, the Sparrows fd homosexualy sful and punishable. However, neher the Loras storyle nor the sect's disda for homosexualy exists the novels.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

"The show has created a narrative where Loras is arrted for beg gay — a plot that do not exist the wrten seri, " Kim Reno wrote for Bs Insir. It seems anti-progrsive to have a gay character who is overtly fed by the fact he is gay.

" Girls: Gay characters are a fixture on Girls, specifilly related to lead character Hannah (Lena Dunham).

In the first season, her ex-boyiend — and current roommate — Elijah (Andrew Rannells) out as gay, though he later scrib himself as bisexual after sleepg wh Hannah's iend Marnie (Allison Williams). "You know, I've had dus who, any other scenar would not want to be around openly gay men, but then they see me and then they see Omar and they got their arms wrapped tight around me, and 's, 'Yo, I love you!

"I thk what the character Omar did for the homophobia my muny was let people know: You n agree to disagree. " Te Blood: Though the vampire drama Te Blood has featured gay characters throughout the seri, what stands out as progrsive isn't a specific person the show. He vampir relatn to social progrs to make an oft-paralleled allegory to the gay rights movement.

The untled entry will revolv around the three iends San Francis who explore the fun and sometim overwhelmg optns available to a new generatn of gay men. The gay-themed edy also at a pivotal time for the LGBT muny, which recently lost sr of gay characters on TV last week’s wave of work ncellatns. Sure, there were exceptns — that gay gangster on “The Sopranos, ” or that gay vampire on “Te Blood, ” or that gay p and that gay stick-up man on “The Wire.

” But for the most part, the work offered, as some might put , Adam and Eve, not Adam and now, the work’s foray to programmg about, if not explicly for, gay men is over: “Lookg” has been nceled. If the seri broke ground, was bee was a gay show that didn’t really sn, as the cril theorists say, as a gay show. “By unburng self om any obligatn to be a story about gay rights and gay issu, ‘Lookg’ mak even the most banal personal cris seem hly tragic, ” The Washgton Post’s Hank Stuever wrote.