Karamo Brown of 'Queer Eye' sets the record straight on all the 'What's his job?' questions
Like any super-group, each member of the Fab Five of Netflix’s rebooted Queer Eye has his own specialty. Karamo Brown is the designated culture expert, and, well, some people are puzzled about what exactly he does on the show. Culture is a broad and somewhat intangible subject compared to say fashion or design, but Brown happily defends his domain. He recently spoke to Yahoo Entertainment about the depth of his cultural consultations and what viewers can expect from Season 2.
“A lot of people don’t get it,” Brown says. “They’re like, ‘What’s his job? What’s culture?’”
He added, with a hint of frustration, “I’m the guy that does the inside!”
“My background is social work and psychotherapy,” says Brown. “So it’s about while everyone else [on Queer Eye] is fixing the outside, I’m fixing what’s happening [inside].”
The evidence is in abundant supply. In Season 1’s breakout third episode, Brown has a heart-to-heart with their makeover subject, Cory, a Trump-supporting cop, about police violence and the Black Lives Matter movement. In Episode 4, he helps a nervous man named A.J. come out to his family. Elsewhere, he repairs broken relationships and reignites romances. Sure, he’s not renovating a room like Bobby Berk, but he’s certainly rebuilding something.
Season 2 will continue to pull at your heartstrings, Brown says, especially during the episode in which they make over a transgender man. “There’s going to be a moment on the field trip where I take our trans guy that I think is going to really open up a lot of people’s eyes,” says Brown, “and help them to really see the trans experience in a new way.”
But the new season will also turn the focus inward, on the members of the Fab Five, Brown says. “You hear me talking about my kids, about Ian — I refer to him as my boyfriend, but he’s my fiancé now,” says Brown.
One thing that will stay the same, thankfully: There’s still going to be a lot of crying.
Season 2 of Queer Eye debuts on Netflix on June 15.
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