Thoughts about Glee so far (up to Episode 2)...

[chilipeppasbaby]

I thought that Quinn, the stock horrible bitchy cheerleader character, being the head of the school chastity club was an absolute stroke of genius. One, because it really does seem like the next frontier that kind of character would love to conquer: it's all about feeling superior and controlling and policing people’s bodies. Two, because Rachel, the ingénue character, would totally have sex with Finn if she were dating him, because she fancies him like crazy and has raging hormones. Three, because bitchy cheerleader stock characters in teen movies are ALWAYS keeping the handsome heroes under their thumbs by having sex with them. I liked that it pointed out that she's not a horrible person for having sex, she's just... well, a horrible person, and whether she has sex or not has nothing to do with it. I thought it was neat for the show to say (to put it very crudely), "Bitches aren't necessarily sluts, and sluts aren't necessarily bitches." However, I was less pleased when it was revealed that the chastity club is a big ploy to keep boys interested by denying them sex. It would have been pretty fascinating to have a villainous character who is saving herself for marriage on principle.

On that note, I did like that the camera cut to Quinn looking genuinely upset while Finn was dancing with Rachel during Push It. Most of the time it would cut to the bitchy girlfriend character looking incensed, not because she likes the guy or anything, but because someone else is touching her things. While I don't like excusing characters for being evil because underneath it all, they're cuddly and vulnerable, I do think it's incredibly interesting for a character who is totally evil to actually like her boyfriend.

The glee club's rendition of Push It was hilarious and entertaining and yet so, so awkward. It's like every school administrator ever's worst nightmare. You know that it's the kind of thing you see "teenagers" in teen movies doing all the time, and that if you ever saw real sixteen-year-olds performing like that, you’d be covering your eyes and moaning, "Oh, noooooo..." Yet it's absolutely, entirely fabulous.

I thought it was weird that people are all up in arms about Kurt describing the song Le Freak as "gay." Some people were all like, "Oooh, they're being ironic by showing the flamingly gay kid using the word 'gay' to mean 'bad!'" I thought it was pretty frigging obvious that he was using the word "gay" to mean, you know, gay.

I absolutely love Rachel. She could have come off as a bad parody of Tracy Flick from Election, but she has so much heart and soul. She reminds me a little of what Hermione Granger might have been like if she had come from a society that gave kids the message that being anonymous was the worst thing of all. Also, on a shallower note, am I wrong in saying that she looks like a pocket-sized version of Idina Menzel?

The first kiss scene between Finn and Rachel was full of actual, palpable tension. I hate it when two attractive leads are chucked into the same scene and we're supposed to think they have electric chemistry just because they're both pretty. I loved that it ended with Finn climaxing in his pants and running off, and Rachel just being devastated because she thought she did something wrong.

Quinn's evil rendition of Say A Little Prayer was awesome.

I cracked up during that scene in the first episode when Will was about to leave the school forever, and the kids were begging him not to go, and then Finn was all, “Wait... so I don't have to do glee club any more?” That is exactly what would happen in real life.