‘Getting Curious’ Establishes Jonathan Van Ness as the Most Important Voice on Netflix

I’m gonna tattle on myself. Back when Queer Eye debuted three years ago, almost exactly three years ago TBH, my first impression of Jonathan Van Ness was that he was too much. I’ve been on a lifelong journey with my own queerness, but of all the members of the Fab Five 2.0, Van Ness was the one that rattled that lovely internalized homophobia that so many gay men struggle to shake off. And while I was further along on my journey to gay self-love and understanding three years ago than I was ten or even five years ago, I was still taken aback by Van Ness’s unabashed fabulousness and ability to just generate a constant stream of new catch phrases. Thankfully I grew past these apprehensions rather quickly; I diagnosed these feels as more of a fear of myself than anything having to do with Van Ness and I’ve spent the last few years continuing to grow.

And y’know what? So has JVN, embracing their nonbinary identity (using he/she/they pronouns) and becoming one of the most fearless advocates for the LGBTQIA+ community. And Van Ness’ new Netflix series Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness is not only quality television, not only the culmination of three years of hard work and increased visibility, but it also cements Jonathan Van Ness as the most important voice on Netflix. And I mean that both literally and figuratively.

In Getting Curious, a TV expansion of his long-running and incredibly insightful and delightful podcast, Van Ness spends a half hour investigating a single topic and asking all the questions that you’ve always wanted to ask, even if you didn’t know you it. Episode topics cover a whole lot of ground, and each one comes with an incredibly JVN title: “Why Is Hair So Major?”; “Are Bugs Gorgeous or Gross?”; “Are Skyscrapers Huge Divas?”

But what I truly love about this series is that every single episode presents facts from all sides — and when I say “all sides” I mean positive and negative, objective and subjective, all rooted in fact and sanity, and frequently coming from marginalized communities who are directly affected but rarely interviewed. For instance, the episode on figure skating runs through the sport’s history and the different stunts a skater can pull on the ice, but it also digs into the history of classism, racism, misogyny and homophobia that plague the sport. And beyond that, JVN talks to the very people within the figure skating community who are actively trying to open the doors that gatekeepers want to keep shut. Look at all those gorgeous sides!

Over and over again, Getting Curious works to put our concerns over things we encounter everyday into context, proving that you can love a thing while using your noggin to question that thing. The episode on snack foods is hella insightful, especially during a never-ending pandemic — and it doesn’t end with Van Ness swearing off of his precious Entennman’s powdered donuts forever. Instead, he learns where those donuts actually come from, sees what they do to our bodies, explores alternatives… and still snacks on a delish powdered donut one at a time rather than a box at a time.

But back to that “most important voice” accolade I handed out: I really do mean that literally. What I absolutely adore and admire about Van Ness — and your boy is actually getting choked up writing this — is how he never once compromises his queerness while talking to anyone about anything. That goes for the lewks JVN serves, like wearing a hard hat and fabulous flowing turtleneck sweater a million floors up on a construction site, and specifically the way Van Ness talks. Like, Van Ness is entering all of these predominantly straight and cis spaces (museums, factories, offices) as the fully realized JVN we all know and love … and then asking all the hard questions. Van Ness is so quick-witted, so insightful, so well-studied, and just so smart — and all of that intellect is enhanced by his incredibly queer vernacular.

American culture has spent so long telling people who speak or move or dress “differently” that they have to change who they are in order to be taken seriously. In Getting Curious, Van Ness actively proves that that is not true, and that you have to actually listen to what people are saying instead of how they are saying it. Jonathan Van Ness proves you do not have to change who you are in order to change minds — and that’s fierce.

Stream Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness on Netflix