Who is popular today?

Who could have guessed that a mullet-wearing, polyamorous exotic animal owner would become TV’s most talked-about gay star?
In the early 2000s, the most popular queer characters on TV were Jack McFarland and Will Truman of the sitcom Will & Grace. Will and Jack were so beloved, Vice-President Joe Biden once theorized the show had played a major role in shifting views on marriage equality. The characters were also the start of a trope that would prevail on TV for years: the cosmopolitan gay male. The image would live on in shows such as Queer as Folk, Looking, and the reality competitions Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model. Who could imagine that 20 years on, a mullet-wearing, gay, polyamorous exotic animal owner from rural Oklahoma would become TV’s biggest talked about gay star?
Joe Exotic, the eccentric subject of the Netflix docu-series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, has amassed a fervent following in the short time since the show’s premiere on Friday. The rapper Cardi B live-tweeted her reactions and expressed a desire to start a GoFundMe campaign for Mr Exotic, whose full name Wikipedia gives as Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage (né Schreibvogel). Fans have taken to dressing up as Joe, slapping on fake handlebar mustaches and blond mullet wigs. And actors such as Dax Shepard and Jared Leto are pitching themselves to play the gun-loving zookeeper in a forthcoming scripted miniseries. Amid the anxiety of the coronavirus pandemic, we are finding humor and relief in an imperfect, self-described “redneck” queer who owns more than 200 tigers. He’s the furthest cry from the affable, anodyne queer men who typically win America over, such as Cam and Mitchell of Modern Family and the “gay best friend” cast of Queer Eye. But unlikely times call for an unlikely hero. Continue reading...