# Queer Eye 8/19 - John V **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270 "2003-08-19T20:09:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/41 "2003-08-21T15:53:33Z")
NEW YORK (AP) – A Port Authority police officer who went on national television for a style makeover is under some scrutiny for allowing his uniform to make an appearance - on somebody else. Officer John Verdi, 29, went on the Bravo network’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” in the hopes of changing his image with the help of the show’s five gay style consultants. During the show, which aired on Tuesday, two of the “Fab 5” put on Verdi’s uniform while on a tour of his Staten Island apartment, the Daily News reported Thursday. Port Authority officials said Verdi didn’t get clearance to say he was a police officer on television, and that he shouldn’t have let a civilian wear his uniform. “We are looking into the matter,” Port Authority spokesman Greg Trevor told the News. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/42 "2003-08-21T17:39:57Z")
Oh.my.Gawd. If the Staten Island Port Authority has nothing greater than that to concern themselves with then they must be the best run state agency in the world. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/43 "2003-08-21T18:47:47Z")
And yet, they’re not bothered by him bouncing around like a 3 year old. Glad I’m not the only one at a complete loss as to what she’s doing with him. ---
**Author:** ![saramamalana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@saramamalana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saramamalana)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/44 "2003-08-21T19:24:15Z")
Yup, I caught the shrimping line, too. Have to add my favorite quote, which was when John was getting sappy with the girlfriend and saying how much she mattered, and he said: “I feel…a spark in my pants.” Ooooooh yeah. So romantic. I’d slap the guy and walk away! ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/45 "2003-08-21T19:32:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*NEW YORK (AP) – A Port Authority police officer who went on national television for a style makeover is under some scrutiny … \*\* My wife and I watched QE last night and I was having trouble explaining why the Air Force would not like it if I went on this show. I think they might even prosecute under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, article 133: Conduct Unbecoming an Officer. Or article 134: General, which prohibits “all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces…” FTR, _I_ don’t think appearing on the show would constitute “conduct unbecoming” nor do I think that it would bring discredit to the Armed Forces. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/46 "2003-08-21T20:13:11Z")
The cop’s Port Authority supervisor went public with his opinion that there was nothing wrong with what the guy did, and he didn’t portray the department in a bad light. It’s in Yahoo News but I’m too lazy to dig up a link. The girlfriend was lava hot, but I cringed at the “boobages” line. But to be honest, I wonder how often I’ve irritated my own wife with similar Cro-Magnon crudities. Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/47 "2003-08-21T20:53:22Z")
I found his near meltdown with Kyan to be hysterical. His whole “Tough Guy” facade was so thin. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/48 "2003-08-21T21:06:42Z")
**DeskMonkey** , high five! I didn’t like this guy either. He was so **on** after the makeover, all self-conscious and loud, clowning. Ick. My favorite line was from Carson, when he was getting everyone together in the bedroom to look at the new clothes: “Come on, it takes a village, people.” Get it? Village . . . people? I missed the first half hour. Just got the satellite and haven’t gotten used to having more than 15 channels. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/49 "2003-08-21T21:27:47Z")
[He’s OK, folks!](http://www.advocate.com/new_news.asp?id=9650&sd=08/21/03) > [@](#): > > “Our police superintendent watched the show and enjoyed it thoroughly,” Pasquale di Fulco, a spokesman for the Port Authority, said Thursday…Di Fulco said it’s OK with the Port Authority for its cops to be stylish when they are off the clock: “The officer did this on his own time. We have no issue with this.” ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/50 "2003-08-22T05:16:09Z")
My only question is why is it that Kyan is the one who the straight guys have to get all thugg-y, my-boys-would-kick-my-ass-if-they-saw-me-do-this with? Are grooming and spa treatments really so earth-shattering (and I’m speaking as a straight guy who uses a shampoo-conditioner)? Or is it that they don’t hate gays, they just hate the ones that turn them on? ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/51 "2003-08-22T07:53:38Z")
Hmmm… maybe we are a little too hard on this guy as far as the homophobia thing. > [@](#): > > The Advocate: At first you were worried about being too rude? > Ted: We’re not polite anymore. It’s like a SWAT team. We did a Sicilian cop who lived on Staten Island who was a little uncomfortable around us at the beginning. You could tell he wasn’t used to having five gay men sort of fondle him. > Jai: I kind of liked him because I walked in and he was like, “Zanna! Yo, what’s up, Zanna?” I was like, I have an in, I have an in. > Ted: He had seen Jai’s show. But I don’t think he’d spent a lot of time hanging around gay men. And he was clearly nervous at the beginning. That was one of the coolest episodes for me because you could see him totally get comfortable with us in the very first few hours. By the end we’re like his best friends. > Carson: I was licking his arm at Lord & Taylor. > Ted: Yeah. > Carson: They edited it out. Can you believe it? > Kyan: They edited it out? > Carson: Yeah. > Ted: No way. > Carson: The lick that changed the world has been edited. He was still a tool though: he’s gonna have to take that experience as a starting point for some real change if he wants to hold onto that fine, fine lady! ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/52 "2003-08-22T07:58:58Z")
Anyway, I meant to include: I really have yet to be all that impressed with Carson’s fashion sense. I mean, what he’s wearing is always beyond silly, and what he gets these guys into is kinda trendy, but it also a little off-kilter. Thom’s design though… it’s just amazing what he does with these places. He really does all that in a single day? I don’t believe it. Not even with a crew backing him up. If he does, then every remodeling crew I’ve ever hired has totally bilked me for days of work on what seems to take Thom (and unseen crew) hours. Ted’s cooking looks cool, but I still cringe thinking about the foie gras. What was he thinking?!! ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/53 "2003-08-22T13:19:10Z")
From _The Advocate_ (print edition) > [@](#): > > So, truth be told, do the Fab 5 really work all that magic on the striaght guys in one day? > > “No, that’s gay time,” [Executive Producer David] Collins quips. > > “It takes four days to shoot an episode,” [Executive Producer David] Metzler says. > > Thom - who has the most labor-intensive job - has a small staff that helps with the painting, carpeting, tiling or whatever else needs doing. “After we’re done with our initial de-straightening,” he says, “which is when we go into someone’s home and rip everyting apart, I have a big meeting with them in the space and we pick the colors and really fine-tune exactly what it is we’re going to do, what it is we’re going to keep, what we put in storage for them. We don’t really throw anything out.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/54 "2003-08-22T13:49:15Z")
Saw a few minutes of this show for the first time ever. Why don’t they just call it “Let’s Perpetrate Some Stereotypes!” and be honest about it? Maybe they can have some spinoff show, “Black Men Teach White Men How To Jump” and “Chinese Guys Do Math.” ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/55 "2003-08-22T16:05:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*Saw a few minutes of this show for the first time ever. > > Why don’t they just call it “Let’s Perpetrate Some Stereotypes!” and be honest about it? Maybe they can have some spinoff show, “Black Men Teach White Men How To Jump” and “Chinese Guys Do Math.” \*\* Lesbians teach the straight women how to …? That was running through my head last night when I watched Queer Eye for the first time last night. The only thing I could come up with is 5 lesbians go to a straight woman’s house and throw out all the back issues of Cosmo and Jolen bleach kits we keep scattered around. :rolleyes: Even though there’s something distinctly strange about the premise I did like the makeover. They made him look like a well groomed ugly man and it gave me a feeling of satisfaction. That man was sad. I couldn’t muster any admiration for the girlfriend because of him. I shouldn’t say it but I got the vibe that she is a codependent type and gets off on taking care of a drooling fool because he’s a somewhat nice person and she doesn’t want him to be all alone and unloved in the world. She feels that if she leaves him for a melanoma-free, non-babytalker it will prove that the universe is indeed a cold and unloving place in which shallow human beings are isolated from each other and no one is ever truly loved. So she gives him her love as a way of assuring herself that God _does_ exist and we really _do_ live in a world where such unconditional acceptance is possible. Loving John allows her some peace from her unceasing existential depression! Oops wait that’s my relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/56 "2003-08-22T16:20:54Z")
I am really beginning to lose patience with people who **don’t watch the show** criticising it for perpetuating stereotypes. How exactly would you know since you **don’t watch the show**? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/57 "2003-08-22T17:13:28Z")
I admit that I thought it was a dumbass idea for a show that would perpetuate stereotypes when I first heard about it. After the first episode I was hooked, though, and ended up being like the priest in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE who was cheering loudest at the end of Romeo & Juliet. To me the cool thing is that there really is gay-straight male bonding; the gay guys really are on-edge and nervous hoping that she’ll accept the proposal or that the wife will like the song, and the straight guys really are grateful for the changes. Ultimately the gay/straight thing is a gimmick- this is an extreme makeover show, pure and simple, but I actually like the fact that the gay straight theme is a gimmick rather than the point of the show. Jai was particularly defensive about the stereotype issue in one interview, saying something to the effect of “We’re not playing characters, we’re being ourselves… when you say it’s a negative stereotype, that’s a very personal attack…” But the point is that Kyan is dreamy and, I honestly believe, the most recently sired progeny of Zeus. And he will be mine one day. Oh yes, he will be… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/58 "2003-08-22T17:42:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*I am really beginning to lose patience with people who **don’t watch the show** criticising it for perpetuating stereotypes. How exactly would you know since you **don’t watch the show**? \*\* 1. But I DID watch the show. 2. Are you denying it perpetrates stereotypes? You have a pretty difficult argument to make there. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/59 "2003-08-22T17:51:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*1. But I DID watch the show. > > 1. Are you denying it perpetrates stereotypes? You have a pretty difficult argument to make there. \*\* Umm not really. In your own words. > [@](#): > > Saw a few minutes of this show for the first time ever. So given the many episodes of an hour each, you have seen “a few minutes” on a single episode and yet you make this mighty pronoucement of fact. And these actual people, _being themselves_ and delivering their own expertise to the show are perpetuating stereotypes just because they are gay? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270/60 "2003-08-22T17:57:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*I am really beginning to lose patience with people who **don’t watch the show** criticising it for perpetuating stereotypes. How exactly would you know since you **don’t watch the show**? \*\* Reminds me of the people who were very, very upset about how horrible the show was before it aired, because they’d seen the one commercial and heard the title. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-eye-8-19-john-v/196270.md?page=4)