Except this time, I feel like I really do want to explode.
I really want to get into Glee - give me a show about geeky choir kids, I say hell yeah - but even if the writing weren't weak to begin with, but I'm so distracted by the painful stereotyping. I get that a lot of it is intentional - jocks and cheerleaders and music nerds - and I love that there's actually a character with a disability in the main cast... but why is it that the white, straight, able-bodied teens have the lead singing and acting roles? The back-up singers are an east asian girl, a black girl (who seems to tick every stereotype!), a white gay male (who is so feminine he sings up into an alto range), and a white extra nerdy nerd in a wheelchair. Well done ticking the demographic boxes!
I wish I could be thrilled to see a character with a disability visibly present on a mainstream show, but he's the only character whose audition is skipped over, he is frequently shoved around - without consent - and crashes into things, and is never actually seen wheeling himself anywhere. (Because people with disabilities always need help like that.) The 'successful' song and dance number also doesn't feature him; he's off to the side playing guitar. Which is still pretty rockin', especially considering he brought the jazz band in on the affair (even if if was the straight white male lead's idea) and because he seems to be pretty good at it. Except that one of the other characters grabs his chair and starts moving him around without permission AGAIN and that this is the extent of his involvement in the singing and dancing, even if he is supposed to be a Glee Club member and not a part of the band. In fact, earlier attempts to choreograph the wheelchair into things are seen as purely comedic.
Also, seriously? Is "I Kissed a Girl" really that awesome a song that it was the one you had to choose to show a character as "edgy"? Because really, it's still more than a little bit offensive.
And these are just the teenagers. The adult cast wishes it were this diverse (Ha!)
I wish I could be thrilled to see a character with a disability visibly present on a mainstream show, but he's the only character whose audition is skipped over, he is frequently shoved around - without consent - and crashes into things, and is never actually seen wheeling himself anywhere. (Because people with disabilities always need help like that.) The 'successful' song and dance number also doesn't feature him; he's off to the side playing guitar. Which is still pretty rockin', especially considering he brought the jazz band in on the affair (even if if was the straight white male lead's idea) and because he seems to be pretty good at it. Except that one of the other characters grabs his chair and starts moving him around without permission AGAIN and that this is the extent of his involvement in the singing and dancing, even if he is supposed to be a Glee Club member and not a part of the band. In fact, earlier attempts to choreograph the wheelchair into things are seen as purely comedic.
Also, seriously? Is "I Kissed a Girl" really that awesome a song that it was the one you had to choose to show a character as "edgy"? Because really, it's still more than a little bit offensive.
And these are just the teenagers. The adult cast wishes it were this diverse (Ha!)