“Coming Out Colton”
Muckis, women hero, gay – he is the first “Bachelor” to come out
Who in this picture is gay? All three! Gus Kenworthy, Colton Underwood and Michael Sam (from left) in part 2 of “Coming Out Colton”
© Netflix
Colton Underwood is tall, muscular, and manly. And he’s gay. In the Netflix documentary “Coming Out Colton”, the former “Bachelor” tells of his difficult coming out.
It is a heroic story as Americans love it. Colton Underwood is a celebrated football star and a sought-after bachelor. After his sporting career, the Indianapolis boy becomes a TV personality. He takes part in “Bachelor in Paradise” and although – or perhaps because – he claims to want to go into marriage as a virgin, he even becomes the “Bachelor” in the US dome show of the same name. And was the first gay to look for a bride. Because in the meantime Underwood has come out as homosexual.
Netflix tells the unusual story of the man who always wanted to appear particularly masculine in public in the six-part documentary series “Coming Out Colton”. The camera follows Underwood as he talks to his family, friends, the church and former football comrades. There are dramatic and touching moments. They show that heteronormative society can still make growing up a gay hell.
“I’ve known since I was six or seven years old that I was gay,” he told his mother in the first episode. But he, who was born in 1992, lacked gay role models. Even today, men who are outed are rare, especially in top-class sport. Football, like football in Germany, is the heterosexual man’s last bastion. Only one professional from the NFL lives openly gay (Carl Nassib came out in June), not a single one in the Bundesliga.
The series shows Underwood, a bear of a man with hardened muscles and dream body, from his sensitive side. For years he has denied his own self. The question tormented him: Who am I? And had no answer to that. In talks with the openly gay ski star Gus Kenworthy, who is now one of his friends, Underwood opens up.
With the documentary series, Netflix makes an important contribution to the topic of coming out in top-class sport. Underwood’s sobering statement: The NFL officially claims to support gay players, but that is not true. The audience – especially heterosexuals – get an insight into the reality of life of a gay athlete. LGBTIQ people could be a role model for Underwood coming out of their own.
Colton Underwood is an activist but not a hero
In spite of this, the audience remains perplexed in some places. Which scenes are real and which are simulated. Or are we really there at Underwood’s first conversation, when he talks to his mother, brother, father about his homosexuality? Incredible. Anyone who knows the history of Underwood and the headlines about him and his ex-girlfriend Cassie Randolph will also not get rid of the feeling that the 29-year-old is more about improving his public image.
To be a gay icon, that much is certain, Underwood lacks the ounce of humility. This is particularly evident at the end of the documentary series, when he is lined up with Harvey Milk and other LGBTIQ pioneers. Playing straight as a gay footballer is hard. He deserves credit for coming out years after his career. It’s almost enough to become a hero. The story is good anyway.
Note: An earlier version of this article stated that no NFL player was out. There has been one since this year. We corrected the mistake.