Looking S01E01

It’s the Girls for Gays, insomuch as it has a central cast and is on HBO. Comparisons with the ascendant HBO Lena Dunham comedyrama (I don’t like the word dramedy) are obviously inevitable, but probably unfair. It’s a lot more leisurely in establishing itself than Girls was (so leisurely that I’m a little pressed to name any of the characters or anything that happened). The San Francisco setting is the most notable aesthetic difference. The city-scape is frequently shown covered in a thick haze of smog, perhaps obscuring something, perhaps the male gaze (of the male gays) that this show is so eager to convey as its central theme. It’s pretty interesting that there’s now a show about the gay perspective on and experience of the male gaze. I’m not really sure yet what the ultimate comment on that is going to be, but I’m willing to watch the rest of the first season to find out.

Anyway, yes- male gaze. Looking is what this show is all about. There are vast swathes of the show where the characters sit in silence, watching others or being watched- the most noticeable of these is Jonathan Groff’s character’s experience being flirted with on the train. It’s interesting to watch this under-used actor (previous credits include Boss and Glee, Looking will hopefully be his proper breakout) finally get to play gay after so many years as a straight man and I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of material he gets. He’s not as charming a presence on-screen as Lena Dunham was in the early episodes of Girls, but the rest of the ensemble gathered here are definitely promising.

As expected, there are different gay subcultures represented here, but that representation is subtle and not as screamingly advertised as it can be on other shows. Nobody is the overt bear type, the gaybro, etc. This is to be expected from a HBO drama, I suppose, but it’s certainly refreshing to encounter an ensemble as potentially diverse as the Girls girls. Gay men have been more and more prominent on television in the last fifteen years but nobody has delivered on the promise of Six Feet Under’s David Fisher. I expect the journey of these men will be quite different from David’s journey of self-acceptance in 6FU, though. These men all seem to be fully out, and I expect the show to focus a lot more on the sex part of sexuality. It’s not as daring a statement as the opening of Russell T Davies’ Queer as Folk, but the potential is definitely bubbling away. I’m going to stick with this show for a while and see where the similarities with Girls stop and to see how it all plays out.

One last thought- laughs are a little thin on the ground. There are a few funny bits like Dom’s exchange with his doctor roommate and Paddy pretending to be a doctor (so much medicine based humour!), but it leans far closer to the drama part of the comedy-drama spectrum.

Truthfully though? I’m mostly here waiting for Russell Tovey.