What a disaster (other than for Thom, of course, who each convinces me a little bit more that Jesus was not an only child). The guy had very little sense of humor, the girlfriend was a Frigidaire princess, Ted’s recipe was too complicated for somebody who has little cooking experience, I don’t know what Otto’s Sweet Sweet Kyan™ was thinking with the massage bit (and he kept his shirt on the whole episode… Excuse Me?), and even if poor cute-but-stiff James had excelled in hygiene and cuisine I don’t think Taebee would have thawed that much.
Carson: not every guy looks good in a pea-coat and skullcap. It’s just not so. Sorry.
One of the least successful, but not (in general) because of the Fab 5.
I think having the girlfriend nominate the guy is not a good idea; when the impetus to change comes from the guy he is more likely to really try to pay attention and implement the Fab 5’s advice. This guy was pissed at first, and even when he was thanking them I thought he must have been told by the producers to do that. I’m sure they tell every makebetter to do that, but in his case it seemed to ring very false. Also, he seemed MUCH more excited about the new TV than anything else. Still a frat boy.
Lemon curd is not that hard to make, I thought the guy got off easy. He must have NO cooking skills at all.
The girlfriend was a total biatch. Geez, she signs this guy up to be made over and then she disses everything he tries to do? I realize they can do a lot of editing to make people look worse than they are, but she WAS complaining a lot. Very high-maintence chick.
Sorry, guys, but James M isn’t so much a frat boy as he is a spoiled Korean man. The Korean culture turns out guys like this by the truckload: their mothers baby them into adulthood, then their girlfriends and wives continue the process so that the average Korean guy is always dependent on someone else to take care of him.
And, no, it’s not a “broad brush” comment–it’s as much a part of Korean culture as going to the noraebang and eating kimchi are.
And having the girlfriend call is definitely a bad move because it results in a sulky, resentful man being bullied into changes that he doesn’t want to make.
I think the key here was a comment James made about how a romantic night out was one where he spent a lot of cash.
I think the girlfriend was thinking that the Fab5 were going to make “him” over more so than his place. Like he’d be stylin’ in designer clothes; she could’ve cared less about his apartment.
She didn’t get what she expected and hence put on that piss-poor bitchy performance.
I said it in the other No Queer Eye? thread, and I’ll say it again:
I didn’t catch last weeks, but last nights episode was interesting only in that it was different from most of the other episodes I’ve seen. In most cases, I like the straight guy and his family and friends and I love the work the Fab Five do for him. Normally, you get to see a transformation in the guy, or his loved ones, and you think maybe the guy is turning a corner here.
Last night was completely different. The still-living-in-college, 24 year old guy was a complete knob. The only time he got excited or seemed to be paying attention was when he saw he got a new 50 inch plasma screen t.v. I didn’t like him. I didn’t like his dog. I don’t think he got anything, other than the t.v., out of it. He wasn’t that clueless in the begining, he just didn’t seem to care. And that didn’t change at all. He just didn’t care.
And, oh my god, his girlfriend is such a bitch! I don’t think I’ve disliked someone I’ve never met that vehemently since I saw Santa Sangre. Did she ever stop bitching about anything? She was absolutely horrid.
All in all, a very poor episode, not because the Fab 5 weren’t fab, but because the guy they picked was a complete knob, his girlfriend was a bitch, and the dog shoulda been thrown out with the sofa. The only thing good about it was I got to see what happens when the whole concept of the show just goes flat. No chemistry, no results, no personality. Interesting, but if every show was like that one, I’d never watch again. Unless I was in the mood to hate someone from afar.
And gobear, thanks for the generalization about all Korean men, James included, being spoiled. You were right, it’s as good a generalization as all Koreans eat kimchi and go to the noraebang. Or that all gay men throw sofas out of windows. Your ability to make sweeping generalizations once again reminds me of your dazzling intellect and stunning sensitivity.
I haven’t known enough Korean men to comment on accuracy, but it is a fact that all gay men throw sofa’s off balconies. I read it in a pamphlet by Paul Cameron.
That’s why Paul Cameron was kicked out of the American Association of Couch-Catapulters, the MakeStuffUpandLie Federation of Chaise-Lounge-Lobbers, the Federal Federation of Chesterfield-Chuckers, and the American Davenport-Discharge Association.
Hey, pal, I lived there for nearly a decade, I speak the language, and I know what the place is like.
In adigtion, you quote me as saying 'all Korean men, James included, being spoiled". I didn’t say all Korean men are spoiled, I said Korea turns guys like him out by the truckload, which it does. Saying that something is common is not the same as saying that it is uniform or without exception. Is it a stereotype? Sure, but like all stereotypes, it has some truth to it.
If you are a non-spoiled Korean guy, good for you. but that does not invalidate my comments. If you are just being one of the Offenderati lashing out mindlessly, then I suggest you learn more about other cultures before you criticize those who know more than you.
OK, I missed about half the episode due to unconsciousness. But in the part I did see, he did not strike me as coming close to Allen Corey, the gold standard of loser guys. Maybe I’ll think differently after seeing it, but so far, the comments seem to be suggesting that this guy was the most hopeless case ever, which I find kind of hard to believe given how low (or how high) Allen set the bar on idiot men. At least James seemed to be able to spend money on things and people.
When I saw the “rolling over the other person” massage technique, I knew that would be a disaster at the end. Sounds like it was.
Hey, pal, I lived there for nearly a decade, I speak the language, and I know what the place is like. Couch throwing is not a usual gay activity so your anaology makes no sense. A better one would be Americans and guns. Does every American own a gun? No. Do a lot of Americans own a gun? Is gun ownership a controversial issue? Or is it false and viscious sterotyping to suggest that guns are a problem in American society?
In adigtion, you quote me as saying 'all Korean men, James included, being spoiled". I didn’t say all Korean men are spoiled, I said Korea turns guys like him out by the truckload, which it does. Saying that something is common is not the same as saying that it is uniform or without exception. Is it a stereotype? Sure, but like all stereotypes, it has some truth to it. It’s like saying that Korean men drink a lot. Does every Korean man drink to excess? No., but I’ve dodged enough pools of vomit on Seoul sidewalks, been forced to down cups of soju to fit in at company dinners, and been dragged to drunken noraebang parties to know that drinking is a significant factor in many Korean social situations.
If you are a non-spoiled, non-drinking Korean guy, good for you. but that does not invalidate my comments. If you are just being one of the Offenderati lashing out mindlessly, then I suggest you learn more about other cultures before you criticize those who know more than you.
Hey, buddy. I wasn’t complaining about your lack of experience. I was complaining about you willingness to encourage and spread stereotypes.
Oh, I see. It’s the “I know a lot of Korean men so I can state that the stereotypes are true” defense. I’m sure that will serve you well the next time you step up to defend some idiot who says that the average gay man, in his experience, is a white, rich, professional who doesn’t have to worry about discrimination. My problem is not that you lack information about Korean men, it is that you are so willling to perpetuate stereotypes. I don’t much care that, in your experience, the stereotypes are true. I’m not offended, I’m not sure you could offend me. I just think it’s stupid and classless to state that the average Korean guy is always dependent on someone else to take care of him. To each their own, I guess.
Was Allen Corey the one who broke the brand-new bar martini shaker and was using his sweat-soaked towel to wipe off a dish of food he had just prepared? The same one who royally f–ked-up the mint julep and poured the future father-in-law a highball glass FULL of liquor and a couple of ice cubes?
No, it the “some cultural descriptors are accurate about a society as a whole” defense. See, your cluelessness it that you cannot ditinguish between a baseless stereotype and a common trait. There is no relationship between wbeing white and being gay or being rich and being gay, thus your example is invalid.
Let’s take anal sex. If you had said, “Every gay man likes anal sex,” that would be inaccurate, because not all gay men do. However, if you had said, “a lot of gay men like anal sex,” you’d be right on the money because liking anal is pretty darn common among gay men.
I’m going to have to open a GD or a Pit thread to explain this to you further and stop hijacking this thread.
Yup, that’s the one. Though what sticks out for me is that he hadn’t bought his girlfriend dinner in two years of dating, and she was still sleeping with him. This simultaneously shows that: 1) he’s a pathological cheapskate; and 2) that single straight men must be very hard to find in the greater New York area, because otherwise why would this seemingly normal, reasonably attractive woman remain with such a loser?
“He spends his money on books that tell him how to save money.”
Be my guest. I’m pretty sure I got your point, that it is fine to perpetuate stereotypes if they are, in your opinion, true. But feel free to let your shining intelligence regarding the propriety of perpetuating stereotypes enlighten those of us who disagree.
Yup, that was him. He’s also a stand-up comic (hence the witty repartee twixt him and his in-laws) and was a bus-boy at The Restaurant (another Bravo reality show).
