About WE'RE HERE on HBO

 "You are a product of some strong-ass people." That is a quote from a reality show episode that truly moved me. It's a show in its second season on HBO, a show that -- at first -- you'd think would be solely about three openly gay male entertainers on the road with fashion and make-up tips. Well, it has those tips while also blending in powerful moments of social acceptance and social issues. The show is called WE'RE HERE and the hosts are professional -- and talented -- drag queen performers. They are Bob the Drag Queen, Shangela and Eureka! Here's a short taste of the series.

True, this is a show that came through the door opened years ago by the calculatedly festive QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY, the show that made Carson Kressley a celebrity, For the majority of that show's network TV run, there was no queer Black guy in the group. On the hit sitcom, WILL & GRACE, there was no regular or semi-regular gay Black character even though the show was set in an area of New York City below 23rd Street that had gay Black folks galore. I know because I lived a few blocks away from where Will and Grace did. When both shows were rebooted, you just knew we'd be seeing Black representation to make up for the lack of it in the shows' original runs. And we did. There is a Black member of the QUEER EYE group in the Netflix reboot. (Wait till the SEX AND THE CITY reboot airs. I bet columnist Carrie Bradshaw will have discovered that there are lots of upscale Black people in Manhattan. She didn't seem to know any 20 years ago.)

QUEER EYE, the original and the reboot, are driven by marketing. Essentially, the shows sell top-notch product -- hair care, clothing, home accessories, cookware and such. Some of the products can be pricey. WE'RE HERE goes to towns and visits people -- straight, gay, bi, etc. -- who are working class and would go to a barbershop or neighbor beauty parlor instead of a ritzy salon. The WE'RE HERE trio goes to towns and, at the end of each episode, put on a drag show that includes some of the local folks they've met. They talk to people about the personal emotional and/or public social barriers they've had to break through to establish a true sense of themselves. The three drag queens are extremely funny. They also draw people out with their down-home, real people charm and compassion. They really give their attention to people with broken hearts. They listen, They help where they can. That quality hooked me into the first season. I did wonder if the COVID crisis would cancel a second season.

I was happy to see that it did not. The WE'RE HERE trio visits cities that may not be on the list of fabulous vacation travel sites, but that adds to the gravity of the show. They reach out to and find a common bond with strangers. They meet and talk to folks who prove that some of the most extraordinary poets in the world are the ordinary people around us. The second season shows that. The queens travelled to a Texas border down and introduced us to the queer Mexican son of a very macho, very loving father. Their story put tears in my eyes. The episode took place in Del Rio, Texas.

I really cried watching the trio's visit to Selma, Alabama. We're reminded that the Black Civil Rights Movement and the LGBTQ fight for acceptance have a definite kinship. The trio met Black women who were foot soldier in the famous "Bloody Sunday" Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965. From that episode came the opening quote of this blog post. It is a moving, memorable episode.

There's fun and frivolity in the last act of each episode. There's surprise and substance before the fabulous last. WE'RE HERE is a show worth watching. Visit the show's website. You can meet the queens and find a clip from the Selma, Alabama episode. Click onto this link:    www.hbo.com/were-here.