Rec: A bit of Glee meta

[flaming_muse]

heresluck wrote a great piece of Glee meta about Glee's internal logic, whether character integrity is sacrificed for the joke/arc of the week, and, honestly, whether that even matters for the show in the long run. It's not as critical as it sounds, and it's just what I needed to read this morning, actually

Comments

[spiritwild]

Oooh you've put into words what I've never been able to explain about why this show means so much to me, and why I just can't quit it (despite some things that would be dealbreakers for me in other TV)! Despite everything that it is (and isn't), emotion is what it does well. For as unrealistically anything may be depicted, it hits all the emotional notes in the symphony.

And for me, emotion is something that defies language. Which may be why I have so much describing why I love this oddball show. I feel like I haven't expressed myself in quite the way I wanted here and I have a lot more to say about it, but that would require me to do a lot more sifting through garble because words and I are in a fight today (and most days).

I always super appreciate your way with words. So often, I read what you write and think to myself, "Oh, that's what the pictures in my head were trying to say!" Thank you!

[flaming_muse]

Thank you! It's been interesting to think about things this way, because in general I'd be rolling my eyes at a show where the ways of the real world (like applying to colleges) are so distorted, and yet a) the show knows it's ridiculous and puts a lamp on it sometimes (especially through Sue) and b) the emotion is right even when the details are all wrong. And there's just something about how this show gives us emotion both through the arcs and through music that just really, really works for me.

[flaming_muse]

Even now, the show calls itself out. Sue does it a lot, but it's not just her. I love that the show knows it's ridiculous, and that's part of why I both love it and forgive its quirks. It isn't TRYING to be real in that way. It knows it's not following the real world. It's all part of the world it's creating.

[liz_in_progress]

I feel exactly the same way. I remember watching "The First Time," and I felt like I was emotionally transported back to high school, remembering the newness, the butterflies, the overwhelming teenage love and the nerves of what was going to happen next. It moved me so much that I actually wrote about it on my main not-Glee-related-in-any-way blog at the time. Same with "The Break Up." I felt that punch to the gut, I remembered the wrenching pain of breaking up with someone in such a painful, sudden way.

So yes, I think Glee is most successful when it connects emotionally. It doesn't always make it, but then, none of us are perfect. But when it gets that part right, it's like it can do anything.

[flaming_muse]

Somehow I haven't replied to this comment? (I wonder if LJ was acting strangely at the time.)

But... yes! Yes yes yes!

[anonymous]

I meant to comment on this when you posted it, but I have this terrible habit of mentally chewing on my comments while I do something else, and then forget to actually write them...

Anyway...

I read something once that said that while Glee is completely fantastical and works very little like high school in its practicalities, what it is extremely good at is presenting what high school feels like.
I've had similar thoughts as well. There was a moment when I was particularly annoyed by the characterisation of the adults, and I suddenly thought: Sure, it's not realistic, but when I was a teenager, that's what teachers seemed like. They didn't seem like real people, but like personifications of incompetence and meanness. (I think I was 18 by the time I truly realised that teachers have a life outside of school.)

The emotional premise of the show and the emotional arcs of the characters are what drive me.This, too. From a rational point of view, I should hate Glee. I don't much care for music, I don't like teenagers, and the characters

[flaming_muse]

I'm happy to have you come comment! You're welcome any time! :)

Man, I can't wait to see them all on my screen again. I love this show so much. <3