This did not quite happen on Wednesday's episode of Glee.
Don't get me wrong, the pregnancy plot line actually tore at my heart springs this week, with Quinn (Dianna Agron) deciding to give up her baby because Will (Matthew Morrison) was the best dad her baby could hope for, and Will giving up an awesome car to get a minivan for the whole family. But this moment, like the show stopper, did not make me forget the rest of the episode.
I just couldn't get into it. The first 6 minutes, I was almost tempted to turn it off - and would have if it had been a premiere and not a show I was already invested in. And the opening number, not performed by our guys, but by another school - I'm not sure if it was the intention, but the singing and dancing really did nothing for me, and all that hair flipping did not distract me from how boring it was. The same goes for our heroes' hairographied number later in the episode. Hair tossing is not actually an interesting enough concept to build an entire episode around, guys, sorry.
Then let's address the Rachel (Lea Michele) makeover thing. Okay, I know Kurt (Chris Colfer) is in love with Finn (Cory Monteith), but it's getting a little tiresome that he is getting so possessive and trying to sabotage the competition. Rachel looked positively terrifying in her Grease outfit, her hair fit for a brothel. Plus, I'm getting tired of everyone continuing to find Rachel grating, and for the Glee kids to continue to be so disconnected. This group would get nowhere in the real world because they wouldn't actually be able to perform as a team, so keen on destroying each other.
But, though the show stopper did not make me forget my complaints and my earlier boredom, it did make my heart swell. A group of deaf kids signing Imagine, with one saying the words rhythmically, and then our kids joining them, singing and signing as well. That was a number to remember. One of peace and happiness and togetherness. A message that Glee might project, but often does not have follow-through for. It was amazing.
So I'll watch that number again, that's for sure, but the rest of the episode? It might also be fun to bash my head against the wall a few times. What did you think?
Okay, I don't want to sound rude and good on you for writing this blog and all but I think you were really off base about some of the stuff you mentioned here.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, you mentioned htat the hair-flipping wasn't good and didn't distract from the below par singing/dancing. That was the freakin' point! That being superficial was stupid and pointless and degrading. There was a very powerful mess age in the scene where the Glee kids sang Crazy in Love/Hair followed by "Imagine"
Also you mentioned that you couldn't see how a group with so much fighting and little private wars amongst them could ever band together to form a half-decent singing group. But the fact that they can get together and sing is one of the messages I believe is trying to be conveyed. That even though they have these little disagreements and fights, they're are all bonded by their love of Music and Glee. That even though they disagree they've still got eachother's backs.
And lastly, Tina singing "True Colours" at the end of the episode was beautiful! A noteworthy Glee moment that was almost on par with "Imagine" which, in my opinion, was one of THE most beautiful Glee moments so far.
Thank you for your comment; it's clear we have two very different perspectives on this stuff. I am going to say that, regardless of the point, 2 minutes of television time spent watching sup-par dancing and singing beefed up with hair twirling is too long. Certainly, it is a message, but imagine the reaction of someone who had never seen Glee before: "This is the kind of quality this show delivers? Pff, I'm changing the channel."
ReplyDeleteAnd maybe Glee has enjoyed the kind of success where that sort of thing isn't an important issue, but they did not know how successful the show would be when they wrote the episode, nor likely when they filmed it.