Glee thoughts

[osprey_archer]

I finally got around to watching the first few episodes of the second season of Glee (yes, I fail as a fan). I have kind of a love-hate relationship with Glee, and the problem is that actually watching it brings the hate side of my feelings to the fore.

When I haven't seen Glee recently, the parts that stick in my mind are the musical numbers and the touching moments and interesting and complicated character dynamics. (Glee characters aren't deep, except maybe Kurt Hummel, but they are vivid and distinct which is almost as good.)

When I watch it, I realize that I remember Glee this way because I've blocked out of my mind the many, many incidents which hit my embarrassment squick. At least once every episode I'm out of my seat, walking away from the screen to defuse the pain.

For a show that is so very much against bullying, Glee finds humiliation surprisingly hilarious.

Also? Will Shuester is the worst teacher ever. What kind of numbskull sits there and listens, unspeaking, while his students verbally flay each other?

Okay, yes, I realize that it's a dramatic necessity that he act like that - otherwise Glee meetings would be on topic and boring and not involve the members singing their deepest and most obnoxious feelings at each other - fine, I'll accept that if the show will only stop insisting that Shue is an amazing teacher. Couldn't we just de-emphasize his role altogether? He's boring!

Comments

[entwashian.livejournal.com]

Word.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Our reactions to television shows are scarily similar.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Aha! I point you to my own take on the inappropriateness of the teachers of Glee in my post from November 2010: http://athenais.livejournal.com/736893.html. I mention flinching in the very first paragraph, so I hear you on that.

I hope Season 3 is okay, but it's this close to losing me. My ongoing beef is how no female on that show has a satisfying life unless there's a man in it, although Coach Bieste does pretty well in that regard.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Do any of the characters on the show have a satisfying life? All the teachers (except maaaaaaaybe Beiste) seem to be living lives of quiet desperation. Of the kids, the only one who seems really happy is Brittany, and that doesn't change based on her romantic status. Oh, and possibly Kurt - after he starts going out with Blaine.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Adults: Sue is pretty well satisfied with life, though she takes a bad hit in Season 2 which you might not have seen and I wouldn't want to spoil. Coach Beiste is definitely not living in quiet desperation. Although she would like a lovelife, it's not stopping her in any way; she's got a thriving social life down at the local karaoke cowboy bar). And of course Principal Figgins seems blissfully happy when he's not mediating disputes between his faculty.

Kids: Mercedes is doing just fine. She'd like a boyfriend, but she's not desperate for one and she's close to her family as well as an active member of her church. I would say Puck is okay with his life most of the time, although he acts out occasionally and has had setbacks. Lauren Zizes is not a deeply explored character but she seems just fine with her life considering she's in high school.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I've actually seen most of season two, so no worries about spoilers - I just somehow missed the first few episodes.

But doesn't this list undermine the idea that on Glee, females without men in their lives can't have satisfying lives? Zizes and Mercedes were, as you say, doing just fine before they get boyfriends. Brittany is fine whether she has a boyfriend (or a girlfriend) or not. Rachel ties herself up in knots over Finn, but in the end her singing is and always will be more important to her than he is.

Moreover, the two characters who really seem hung up on having a man - Emma and Quinn - are miserable because of it. Emma keeps going out with (even marrying!) men she doesn't love because she's afraid of being alone, and Quinn's attitudes toward dating and men are part of the reason why she's miserable and thinks she's going to be stuck in Lima for the rest of her life.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

But it's not enough for Rachel, she wants love as much as she wants to be on Broadway. Everyone must love her! She's such a Leo. I do think she is romantic and longs for the perfect boyfriend. She'll keep searching for her soulmate until she finds him. In high school, that means Finn for now.

Tina is probably the most egregious of the "I don't exist without a man" characters, and she's written that way because I don't think they know what else to do with her. Poor Jenna Ushkowitz, she has a thankless rôle.

Brittany has not traditionally been fine without a man. That's part of why she sleeps around so much. There's a big change in her attitude at the end of Season 2.

[exuberantself.livejournal.com]

I hate Shuester so much that I had to stop watching Glee altogether.

HATE.

And the writers act like he's this perfect human being...

who hates his life, cheats on his wife, ignores/oppresses/blackmails his students, and is--wait for it--actually a TERRIBLE person.

It's the writers that get me, really. It's like they genuinely don't realize how petty his behavior really is.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I don't get the Glee writers, I really don't. How can they possibly think that Shue's as awesome as they clearly think he is???

And it's not like there's been a downward spiral in a character who started out cool, which I've seen happen in other shows and which kind of makes sense. In the very first episode Shue planted drugs in Finn's locker! He was CONCEIVED as an evil character who sucks! And the writers didn't notice!