got a lack of inhibition, got a loss of perspective.

Dec 14, 2009 22:43


I've been threatening to make a post about Glee for a long time. I suppose this is it. First of all, here is a confession: I love Glee. I have so many problems with the show and yet it brings me a lot of undeniable joy, so I'm just stating that right here. I should also note that I'm going to use examples from episodes 1x1 to 1x13, so this will be ( Read more... )

glee, privilege and oppression, i swear i actually hate marriage, why am i not doing media studies again, tl;dr, my politics are showing

Leave a comment

zanzando December 16 2009, 16:51:06 UTC
I - basically, "Yeah", to everything. Especially the "One more thing" part. Because the families we build throughout our lives are the most important.

You also mentioned a couple of things that I have mostly seen people ignore, but that bugged me personally, such as the thing in the first episode where Mr. Schuester puts pot in Finn's locker. I was really upset about that, because it's such a breach of trust from a teacher, one of the so-called heroes of the show, and nobody really seemed to take it seriously.
Similar to the scene where Will finds out about the fake pregnancy, which I actually haven't watched yet, just fast-forwarded through it, and even that was awful and triggering. :(
Frankly, I doubt I'll ever watch that.

I swear, if they do an alcoholism storyline at one point, and mess it up as badly as this, I will - I don't know what I will do. The stupid alcoholism jokes and negligent mentions of what Terri's sister is doing to her husband and kids, AUGH. (Then again, alcoholism is my personal battleground, so ...)

The fake-pregnancy storyline could have been so beautiful and poignant, because who hasn't lied to someone they loved because they were afraid of losing them, or because they were (thinking they were) protecting them? I wish this hadn't happened on Glee at all. :/

Reply

bookshop December 17 2009, 04:17:45 UTC

i just want to say that this show's attitude towards drug abuse really bothers me, not the least because it's so *pervasive* and nearly every ep paints some kind of serious drug or alcohol abuse like it's some kind of joke with nominal effects. SO BOTHERED by this.

Reply

zanzando December 17 2009, 22:47:30 UTC
Yes. It's in basically every episode, and while I personally care less about marihuana as an "evil drug" than I do about alcohol, it's just not on. I don't understand how nobody who works on this show (that we know of) has raised the issue of how this could be sorta problematic, to put it very mildly.

It's like "Haha, look at these four hyperactive kids, who live with a crazy alcoholic mother and a non-assertive father, and look how funny it is that they're being taught to lie whenever it's convenient for them! They are going to be so messed up when they're older! ARE YOU LAUGHING YET?"

*crossed eyes of RAGE*

Reply

loftily December 17 2009, 17:13:48 UTC

Because the families we build throughout our lives are the most important. I know, this is so true. I was just quoting one of my favorite lines from a Jacob recap at Aja: "This preposterous, beautiful family, made up of wrong turns and fears and sadnesses twisted straight." Which speaks to me directly about a very recent Gossip Girl recap he did, in which he was excerpting Imogen Heap's "Just For Now" for the line "I'm secretly on your side", when he writes, "And again and again, the line 'I'm secretly on your side,' which: I don't know a better or more inclusive definition (translation?) for the word family than that." And it makes me think of the last Gossip Girl episode and the theme of carrying each other, especially Chuck, about growing up and having a patched together family to love and lean on.

dlkfjs sorry I just dumped that all on you, but I think that is why I love this show in the end! And yet on another note, ugh, do not watch the fake pregnancy reveal at all, it is so horrific. I agree that it could have been really poignant, but they started out playing it for laughs and then switched into playing it for Plot Drama. :( Glee still has no idea what it really wants to be. I hope they figure it out.

ANYWAY THANKS FOR COMING TO READ ALL THIS, I am flattered!

Reply

zanzando December 17 2009, 23:08:00 UTC
a) Check, I won't watch the reveal then.

b) You're not dumping! I love Gossip Girl (and Jacob's recaps, seriously, I have a tag on Delicious for TwoP quotes, I certainly won't judge, haha.), and I still love Glee. The show, it makes so many mistakes, but there are still the kids, whom I love so much, faults and all, it's .... it's a bit like watching a younger friend grow up, fucking up a lot of things along the way, but it's okay, because you love them and they love you. Does this make any sense? Like, Glee is my kid brother, who yet needs to be taught to basically not be a moronic asshole, but I know he's a good person, with good intentions, so there's hope? Idek.

c) Frankly, I have trouble expressing how important the people who you've chosen to be your family really are.
Especially if your biological family is sort of a bust. I'm learning to be more open about this, so I'm just going to come right out with what mine is like: the two people I loved *and* respected are dead, I have a half-brother whom I've never met, and both my parents are alcoholics.
But I have friends. Friends who just let me hold on to them, and who listen, and who tell me about their troubles, so we can overcome them together. Friends who sometimes demand something of me, and other times don't, which is just as important. People who are secretly on my side, even if we haven't talked in a long time, or even if we had a fight.

Reply

loftily December 18 2009, 19:29:00 UTC

Yeah, I am adopted so my family has always had issues, so I am always really appreciative of narratives about creating your own family and making spaces for yourself, etc.

And yes, I totally get the metaphor about watching someone grow up . . . I am secretly on Glee's side :D

Reply


Leave a comment

Up