How Looking perfectly captured American anxiety

I am not gay nor a man, nor a resident of San Francisco, but HBO's underrated series understood me

Looking captures the essence of American anxiety.
(Image credit: Melissa Moseley/HBO)

My decision to revisit Looking, HBO's short-lived comedy about three gay men in San Francisco, came on a whim. I wanted to prepare for Looking: The Movie, the feature-length wrap-up special that aired Saturday, and the siren call of familiarity proved irresistible. As I watched all 18 episodes in three nights, however, idle enjoyment blossomed into genuine identification. I fell in love all over again.

I am not gay nor a man, nor a resident of San Francisco, but watching the roller-coaster arc of these fictional strangers' relationships unfold, I felt that in some obscure and meaningful way, Looking understood me.

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Amy Woolsey

Amy Woolsey is a freelance writer who recently graduated from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Her writing has appeared in the Mason student newspaper, Fourth Estate, and Bitch Flicks, a feminist pop culture website. She blogs about film and TV at theauramusings.wordpress.com.