‘Looking’ Director Believes The ‘Fear’ Of The Audience Ended the HBO Show
Yes, of course we’re all still mourning the loss of seeing our Looking boys prance around San Francisco, but it seems some people are taking the show’s cancellation a lot more personal.
The show’s co-producer Andrew Haigh, who also wrote and directed several episodes, told Attitude Magazine that he believes that gay audiences pre-judged the show before allowing it to flourish.
“A lot of people seemed to talk about it without actually watching it,” Haigh said in the interview. “So many people said, ‘I didn’t watch your show, I didn’t like it,’ but they’d admit they barely watched the pilot.”
Haigh also believes that much of the gay backlash against Looking stemmed from “a fear where we want representation in the world, but only for the best of us.”
“Now, it is of my feeling that if we want true acceptance, then we should be accepted fully, as shitty people, who have emotional baggage and who do find it hard to be gay. I have no problem with those characters being on screen.”
Haigh isn’t the only one upset about the end of Looking. HBO’s gay president called the show’s cancellation “very painful” for him after the show didn’t gain the audience and viewers they hoped for.
“For years, I wanted to see myself represented on screen,” Haigh said. “But it is frustrating when you create characters, whose stories you are trying to tell, and you come up against all this anger and hatred.”
As for the potential movie to wrap up the prematurely nixed show, Haigh remained tight lipped, but did say it would be a “nice way for us to bring the stories to a kind of semi-conclusion and wrap some things up.”
Here’s to hoping we’ll see more Looking in our future…
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15 Comments
Sheldon Cooper
August 23, 07:26Biko, what is ‘HBO’? Pardon my ignorance.
Pink Panther
August 23, 07:31It’s a Hollywood film studio.
Dennis Macaulay
August 23, 08:18Hot Black Oreo
Kacee
August 23, 09:38Lol
BRYAN PETER
May 14, 19:16I had to literally laugh out loud in public cos of the response. Abeg its better to ask when in doubt. Carry go o jare @ Sheldon Cooper
Max
August 23, 09:54Home box office ** hope I’m correct
Dennis Macaulay
August 23, 07:59I didn’t see any episode so I’m just gonna Waka and pass
Keredim
August 23, 08:18Lol!!!!!
touché
Kacee
August 23, 09:40I’ll miss the show especially the sex sexy scenes lol
Diablo
August 23, 10:38The show is, or rather was very typical. Lives of Gay guys living in, ofcourse where else but San Francisco. There was nothing ground breaking about the plot and the name itself wasn’t catchy. The L Word still remains the most successful LGBT themed show ever, cause it was more than just a group of lesbians banging. HBO should takes some notes from Showtime on how these things are done
chuck
August 23, 12:05What was the additional content in the L word?
Haigh just explained why Looking was groundbreaking. Gay ppl, not saints, who had baggage and found it tough even in SF.
Pink Panther
August 23, 12:23I will never get the sneering dismissiveness the gay audience have for that show. I for one truly loved it. It was much realer and closer representation of the gay community than any other I’d ever seen. Even realer than Noah’s Arc.
keredim
August 23, 17:41lets face it…Noah’s Arc was aspirational and somewhat pretentious. With hindsight It didn’t quite represent the black gay community it wanted to portray – sort of like an E.Lynn Harris novel.
But we loved it then, because it was “groundbreaking” and there was nothing else to watch.
I have said it before – “Looking” didn’t have enough hot bodies partying all weekend under the influence of drugs, sex in the club toilets and death by drug over dose, to appeal to both gay and straight audiences.
Rather it dealt with real life issues average sane gay men face everyday. This is boring and doesn’t sell.
chuck
August 24, 02:30I agree
handle
August 24, 08:13Quite agree. Real life issues hardly sell.