Put off by Putting On
02 Jul 2020. -

The second season of Putting On arrives via Revry Originals. It is a reality series about a cute young Israeli underwear designer named On Mekahel who is trying to marry his boyfriend and launch a successful line of men’s briefs at the same time. How does he juggle so much drama? Apparently, On started as an Instagram model. What passes for dramatic tension on this show are moments like when On appears on some horrible Drag Race aftershow even though he didn’t even watch the previous night’s episode!!!

It’s hard for me, a 60-year old homosexual, who lived through AIDS and other horrors, to watch a show about little darlings droning on in those relentless gay voices that my generation did its best to suppress. Truly, this is the perfect depiction of gay privilege, a privilege in which the worst thing that happens to On is that his models aren’t diverse enough. The larger conflict is that the boyfriend, David Cederberg, who just got out of jail, is still married to a female BFF who will not return his requests for a divorce. The boyfriend is as cute as On but he has those horrid ear lobe implants that totally distract from his face. If his face was actually on fire, you would still only be looking at those ear lobes.

Even the post-production style irks, with these fake sprocket holes grafted onto the B-roll footage. Ultimately, it’s the lack of dramatic conflict that made me lose interest. Watching people fuss over waistbands or leg length is a far cry from the life-and-death experiences many of us cope with in our lives. I realize this is a bit unfair, but the only reason my attention was ever engaged was when there was a hot guy onscreen. 

When I was a kid, the biggest insult you could hurl at an acquaintance would be “You are so shallow,” but the millennial incapacity for embarrassment renders that moot. On gets Botox not because he is wrinkled but because he wants to prevent those wrinkles so he can look young forever. Good luck, dear. Putting On, which I suppose is a pun about wearing underwear and on the protagonist’s unusual first name, is the kind of show meant for people who scream “Omigod!” in public when they see something they like in a shop window.