It Gets Betterish Serves Up A Refreshing Slice Of Gay Life
By Thoughtis
People often think gay men are all the same. If you’re someone with a penis who enjoys other penises, it’s assumed that you also like to listen to Lady Gaga, work out at the gym, and have vacuous sex with strangers off Manhunt. And if you don’t identify with those stereotypes — if it turns out that you don’t care for Gaga, have a few rolls on your stomach and haven’t had sex in six months — people will scrunch their noses up in confusion and say, “Wait, but I thought you were gay?”
It doesn’t take a bleeding liberal to realize that this kind of thinking is problematic. Even though the media might seem more homosexual than ever, there’s still a startling lack of diversity when it comes to depictions of gay life. These days, you’re either sobbing between showtunes, or you’re pissing rainbows and pooping out copies of Tori Spelling’s latest memoir. Those are your options, Gay Dude. Pick one.
What if neither of those options felt applicable to you though? What if you’re someone who feels proud to be gay but also acknowledges that it can sometimes be a weird bummer? Well, then have we got the perfect webseries for you! Enter your knight in shining (and possibly bejeweled) armor, It Gets Betterish — a series created by comedians Eliot Glazer and Brent Sullivan that dares to examine the nuances of modern gay life in a hilarious fashion.
In It Gets Betterish, Glazer and Sullivan portray two gay best friends who are dealing with all sorts of homosexual dilemmas. Throughout the season, they battle annoying girls who are in dire need of a Gay Best Friend, well-intentioned but ignorant co-workers, and most of all, their own neuroses. It’s hilarious, touching, and sometimes painful to watch which to me also accurately defines the modern gay experience.
Because the series takes place present day in New York City, their conflicts aren’t about being gay bashed or hiding their sexuality. It’s more about having to grapple with people’s perceptions of what it means to be gay and how that, in turn, affects your own perception of yourself. Sometimes it’s the friend who claims to be the most progressive who says things like, “Does my ass look fat in these jeans? OMG, YOU’RE GAY. LET’S GO SHOPPING AND TALK ABOUT DICKS.” Comments like these might seem harmless but trust me. After hearing them 10,000 times, you start to resent them and want to crawl into a big gayless hole.
Glazer and Sullivan just posted their hysterical season one finale (which you can watch below) about an unglamorous and mildly homophobic drag queen who performs at a birthday party. Take a look and prepare to laugh/ relate. I never connected to characters like Will Truman and Kurt Hummel. However, I do see so much of myself and my friends in It Gets Betterish . Finally.