Critical response Response from the series was heavily varied, both largely criticized by several top critics, and also rated favorably by the general audience. A representative from one magazine suggested “my discomfort with the show, rather, is how he has used this journey for personal gain, quick wealth, and celebrity,” before further criticizing Underwood by drawing the analogy “fuck selling Tummy Tea on Instagram when you have a whole marginalized community to profit off of, right?” Standing in solidarity with these claims, critics from
Variety magazine said, “new Netflix reality series “Coming Out Colton,” announced after its star’s seemingly open interview with
Robin Roberts, suggests that there is little that Underwood won't leverage to rebuild his public image and seek new opportunities,” before concluding that “‘Coming Out Colton’ is a distasteful extension of a brand that doesn't mean much to begin with.” Underwood also received copious backlash through critics that claimed the story of his coming out was merely a matter of “anything to be famous,” as
Entertainment Weekly put it, as the idea that Underwood comes out the same week that it is announced he has a reality show deal in place with Netflix. Other major critiques of Underwood included the notion that it was purely a ploy for Underwood to gain sympathy and restore his reputation following the restraining order filed against him by his ex-girlfriend,
Cassie Randolph. Some critics opposed these views, suggesting that the series’ impact on the LGBTQ community is constructive and well worth production, with one representative from
Decider, and top critic on
Rotten Tomatoes, saying that “despite the sloppiness by the show’s producers, and some of its repetitiveness, we still appreciate Underwood’s coming out journey enough to make Coming Out Colton a worthwhile watch.” Reacting to his critics, Colton Underwood addressed backlash to his series, as he featured on
Alex Cooper’s podcast when he said, “I see the criticism, I know that people are upset that I have white privilege and I got a series after coming out.” On
review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 67% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 6.10/10.
Response from athletic researchers The docuseries draws references from a few studies that explore
homosexuality within athletic communities. Specifically, a 2011 study by Adi Adams and
Eric Anderson which concludes that despite decreasing homophobia, openly gay male athletes are still rare in organized, competitive team sports. In their
action research, two aspects of homosexuality and sport are explored. The first being the effect of a gay male soccer player coming out to his teammates, and the second being the effect of having an openly gay researcher in the field, and the study was the first-ever first-hand account of an athlete's coming-out process with researchers in the field. Likewise, a study conducted by
School of Journalism at the
University of Kansas explored the attitudes and beliefs on homosexuality in sport reflected the writing of journalists reporting on the coming-out stories of the first openly gay athletes across a variety of sports. The results concluded that the
National Football League is more resistant to the presences of gay male teammates, with more attitudes aligned with a traditional hegemonic masculinity. The series, although not delving too deep into
discrimination, coincides with this study as they determine that there are still obstacles to achieving LGBTQ equality in professional sports leagues. ==References==