It isn’t easy being gay. The Avenue sets out to prove that in 2012, in the city of Toronto, there are still people trying to bring the gay man down. It’s a comical proposition for this show, considering the protagonist, Gregory Gorgeous, is not only super-comfortable being a homosexual, but also perfectly fine strutting down the main thoroughfares of Toronto wearing a sheer, skin-tight polka dot one-piece and a face full of make-up.
The message isn’t a bad one: being a homosexual clearly isn’t wholly accepted, even in a major city like Toronto. But the severity of the message is diluted when Jay, Gregory’s closeted boyfriend, complains that his major qualm is that he’s not sure how GG’s fans or his own grandma will react to him when they stumble upon Greg’s makeup tutorials on YouTube. No note of what the world will say when they come across The Avenue, but that’s obviously an attempt to keep things ray-ull (cause this is ray-ull talk on a ray-ull show). So, in an attempt to discuss something substantial, The Avenue turns it into a plug for Gregory’s fame-whoring, and a namecheck for Jay’s grandma. There’s also a rather long conversation about how Jay is still so new to real estate that he has to co-list properties. Whatever.
The gay-hating does continue though, with Claire’s boyfriend Chad getting angry with his girlfriend for hanging out late (12:10 am) with “those fucking freaks” (Gregory Gorgeous and gay men). What we didn’t know until this episode is that Chad voluntarily sleeps over at his girlfriend’s Church and Wellesley condo, which is the gay village. So, here’s the thing Chad: if you’re gay and you’re finding your girlfriend’s condo too close to the gay fun zone, deal with that and stop taking it out on Claire. But Claire is also at fault, because even though he makes another homophobic rant–for whatever reason–she submits to his ways, and seals her commitment to him with a kiss. The one instance where we see a woman standing up to a man on this show in a non-catty way, it is used as an opportunity to portray Claire as docile.
As much as the show may have tried to elevate its content, it ultimately failed. Which is why halfway through this week’s episode, it reverts to its this-doesn’t-make-sense model: Claire calls Gregory over to talk about Chad, but doesn’t; Claire insists that Gregory should have a boyfriend, so Gregory outs his closeted boyfriend (to her and the show’s 38K+ viewers); and Gregory, Arta and Claire go to a club playing LMFAO loudly so they can have a frank conversation about why Rachel is kind of the worst these days. The latter is perhaps one of the more awkward scenes to date, which begins with Gregory asking Arta inside the club if she’s upset with him for bringing Claire along–Claire, who can hear everything because she is with them and actually part of the conversation. This is followed by an incredibly awkward group hug, showcasing the fact that these people are not actually friends in real life, and the three leave the club to, of course, be spotted by Rachel, who they intentionally didn’t invite. Scandal in the House of Gorgeous!
And remember how Rachel casually mentioned she wanted to do some modelling (because lol)? Well, things are really starting to happen for her. On a dark, empty street in the city of Toronto, Rachel and Connor are approached by a blurred-faced gentleman (his face is actually blurred) who claims to be a model/model scout from L.A. And of course, no alarm bells are set off (smooth move, Connor), and the two listen attentively as this weird guy who wears sunglasses at night (so L.A.!) tells Rachel she has the “specific body type” that L.A. goes for. And it just so happens that Arta, contributing editor for Verve Girl magazine, has been tasked with finding a fresh new face for a magazine spread. What a coincidence/perfect timing! (In case you weren’t aware, Verve Girl magazine has been responsible for breaking such names as Linda Evangelista, Jessica Stam, Alek Wek and Cindy Crawford. Except, I’m lying, because that’s obviously not true.)
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Kevin Naulls is a Toronto-based writer and former editor of The Goods and The Hype at Torontolife.com. Follow him on Twitter @kevinjn.
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