can someone explain what the fuss is about Glee?

[pellucid]

Some weeks ago, I caught about five minutes of the Glee premiere before turning it off when the choir director's wife (I don't know anyone's names) made me want to attack her with a sharp, pointy object. Ah well, I figured, I didn't need another show anyway. But then all manner of my acquaintances, fannish and otherwise, have exploded with love for

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[soniag]

GLEE makes me very uncomfortable. Like you, I enjoy the musical numbers, but the conflicts and characters give me the willies. And I've felt so in the minority in feeling this way!

[pellucid]

"Uncomfortable" is a good word--too many of the characters were hitting my embarrassment squick. And most of them were women, and, well, that's not the way to win me over.

As for who is in the minority, the comments to this post so far have really surprised me! The majority are agreeing with me that the show doesn't do much for them, and in the one pro-show reply, beanpot says she's tired of having to defend her love of the show against all the people who don't like it. I mean, I haven't been paying very close attention--haven't actually been clicking on tags and reading what people have to say about the show--but my impression was that the buzz around the show was overwhelmingly positive and that people were loving it. But maybe not?

Of course, as I noticed as BSG was going up in flames and everyone felt like an oppressed minority, it can be really hard to tell what the dominant opinion really is (or if there even is a dominant opinion).

[soniag]

I think it was Twitter where I felt like the minority regarding GLEE. After the Chenoweth episode, where she played the boozing, drugging, lying, cheating, man-eating loser who goes back to high school to join Glee Club, I tweeted that I'd given up on the show. Everyone else was still "Yay GLEE! Chenoweth rocks!"

On LJ, however, I saw a lot of people feeling uncomfortable about ALL the women on the show being total caricatures.

It's okay -- I really need to cut back on TV as it is.

Is THE PLAN on dvd or something? I'm so out of it regarding BSG.

[pellucid]

The Plan is coming out on DVD sometime soon, I think? But of course it got leaked, so half the internet has torrented it. I was completely out of touch with the fact that it was even coming out until reaction posts were all over my flist.

[pellucid]

Part of my problem, both with the show as a whole, and specifically with the part where the students seem to be more sympathetic than the adults, is that I have never really understood the appeal of the high school trope. I just...don't care about high schoolers. They're not old enough to be interesting yet. Obviously there are exceptions--Friday Night Lights chief among them--but even with FNL it's the adult characters, Tami and Eric, specifically, who are my anchors.

Ah well. I imagine most of the Glee musical numbers end up on youtube; perhaps that's the way to go!

[asta77]

And...I still really don't get what all the fuss is about! Is there a single likable character on the show? The women were overwhelmingly manipulative, obnoxious, and bitchy; the men were overwhelmingly good-hearted but manipulated, spineless, and dumb. Even apart from the glaringly problematic sexism, the characters all seemed remarkably one-note.

Did you read my venting from several weeks ago? ;-) Seriously, you and I are on the same page. And I'd add TERRI MUST DIE. She's the wife from hell. Having said all that, I don't hate the show. I thought the pilot was awesome and the ep (the fourth I believe) guest starring Kristin Chenowith was not at all rage inducing and highly enjoyable. It also helped that Terri was relegated to one brief scene to set up a plot point. :) Right now I'm opting to DVR the show so I can FF through all the parts I don't like (such as the horrible duel pregnancy storylines).

I watched The Plan last night. I hope to get my thoughts written up later today, but, to sum up, it was OK. I loved all the

[pellucid]

I haven't actually been reading people's Glee posts, I admit--I suppose if I had been I'd have realized that people were quite as gleeful about it as I thought they were! I think if I do much in the future with the show, it will be mostly relegated to catching the musical numbers on youtube... ;)

I suspect that if I ever manage to care enough to watch The Plan I'll like it well enough. All the wank is a little perplexing to me, though--not that people aren't free to dislike it, but I'm confused by the way people seem to be surprised if they don't like it. I mean, we all knew it was a Cylon backstory movie, right? So it seems fairly clear that if you're on Team Cylon it's great, and if you're not, it's probably not your thing, and...I'm not sure why people are getting quite so bent out of shape. But I, like you, am mostly in the neutral camp, in that this isn't a story about the characters I care most about. Plus I've got an extra dose of BSG apathy on all fronts. Ah well!

[beanpot]

Honestly? I'm tired of having to defend the fact that I adore the show. It makes me smile. It makes me burst out laughing at least once or twice a show. In a world wThe women characters have grown or else I am clearly an idiot because I don't see them how others see them. Rachel has gone out of her way to ensure that Quinn's secret is kept a secret and has reached out to her a lot. Quinn has become sympathetic to me for many reasons. I love how they handled Kurt coming out to his dad. I like how they are saying that the club is the one place they can all be who they really are without being mocked or ridiculed and in high school, that can make a huge difference. It's moments when the football players carry out Artie and his wheelchair so he can particpate in the storm out of practice. It's the small things. Of course there are storyline that make me cringe but they have them on other shows people adore

[pellucid]

The replies to this post have really surprised me: the impression I had was that everyone LOVED this show, and I felt like there must be something I wasn't seeing. I had no idea that my impression was widely shared or that the people who are really enjoying it are feeling defensive about that. Sorry! I didn't mean to make you, or anyone else who is enjoying it, to feel like you need to defend yourself or the show, and I certainly didn't mean to imply that people who enjoy it are idiots or misogynists or anything like that. I thought you were in the dominant majority, and I was just honestly curious about whether I was missing something

[beanpot]

I think people either love it or hate it. Yes it does have a lot of hype and sometimes it falls, and other times I just giggle hysterically. I don't think it is trying to be anything but what it is - over the top on all aspects. I mean, people burst into SONG. I also think it has improved a LOT since the first two or three episodes, especially when it pertains to the women.

But why can't a show just be over the top and about dancing and singing? Why do all shows have to be meta and enlightening and changing the world? Why do they have to be drama and depressing and dealing with issues? There are plenty of shows like that and I adore many of them because of what they are. And I like this one because I will hear some amazing singing and nothing moves me more than music.

[pellucid]

I've seen so little of it that it's hard to say, but I suspect cofax may be on to something in the comment below when she notes that it's an oddly misanthropic show, and especially for something centered around a show choir, which you'd think would inspire silly, sappy, and fun. Perhaps it's the dissonance of those two aspects that is causing such strong reactions, both for and against? But obviously I'm basing this--and all my comments--on having seen very little of the show, and I may well be off-base. I am glad to hear that you think it's improving; that's always a good sign with any show

[nicole_anell]

Is there a single likable character on the show? The women were overwhelmingly manipulative, obnoxious, and bitchy; the men were overwhelmingly good-hearted but manipulated, spineless, and dumb.
This, this, this. I gave it two whole episodes and then I couldn't take it anymore - the cliches, the sexism, the forced quirkiness. I think it's just the Shiny New Thing because there's singing and happy colors. *shrug*

My thoughts on "The Plan" are not exactly subtle. *g* But I do get your apathy, because for some reason I can't bring myself to care about "Caprica". I even had the DVD in my house for a few days and made no effort to watch it.

[pellucid]

Well, it's obviously working for a lot of people. Perhaps there's something attractive in the juxtaposition of the singing and dancing and unlikable people? Or perhaps the singing and dancing outweighs everything else? Or perhaps the characters have more depth to them than has been apparent to me in the little that I've watched? In any event, it's probably not for me, and I didn't need another show, anyway. Ah well!

And your post on The Plan was adorable! I'm glad you're excited. I miss having excitement about this show. I suppose I'd rather be apathetic than ragingly bitter like I was for a while there, but mostly I'm sad that I feel like I've lost this thing I used to love. So more power to those of you who are still feeling the love!