Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Glee - Theatricality, S01E20

Oh Glee, of course they would do a tribute to Lady Gaga. How absolutely expected, yet super fun. Especially as the boys were allowed to take their theatricality lesson from KISS. I also want to congratulate this episode for being so perfectly balanced between the characters and the story lines. My favourite part was when Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) threatened the Principal that her father would eat him if he did not allow Tina to dress how she wished.

But as much as I loved a lot of elements of this episode, and as well done as I thought it was, I had some major issues about discrimination and unfairness.

One of the pivotal points of the episode was the confrontation between Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Finn (Cory Monteith). Finn made a derogatory comment about homosexuality, and got told off for it by Kurt's dad, Burt (Mike O'Malley). He made it clear how disappointed he was in Finn for being so close minded. Finn, of course, rallied after this and made a stand for Kurt, which proved what a terrific guy Finn is. And it really made me mad that Burt was so hard on him for his stupid comment when half the reason he was poised to make it was Burt's fault.

What do you think it going to happen if you make a boy move into another house without talking to him about it first? And in that house, he has to share his room with another boy, a gay boy at that? Would you ever have your daughter share her room with someone else's son? NO! So why is it so different when you're dealing with 2 boys when one is gay?

Finn has been dealing with issues over his loss of popularity and stature at the school for months. He is doing Glee because he loves it, and that is hard enough, but that he has to constantly champion the rest of the Glee club makes it even harder. So after all that, he comes home to find the room he's sharing looking so absolutely ridiculous, why is anyone surprised that he lashed out and said something hurtful to the person who was closest? If Burt and his own mother hadn't set up a situation where something like this was so likely to happen, perhaps it would not have.

Plus, it really irks me that the Glee club takes such offense to people not accepting their outrageous and theatrical ways. Are you serious? They have to accept you for who you are, dressing strangely and generally making them uncomfortable? It's a two way street. You want it your way, and they want it theirs. Where do you get off feeling self-righteous about your own behaviour while not considering other people's? If you are allowed to express yourself, then so are they.
Not that I am condoning violence in any way. It's called tolerance, people! You don't like something, that's nice, you are allowed. Just don't get violent about it. Frankly, if you are going to be making loud statements with theatricality, you are trying to make a splash, so get over yourself and realize that some people are going to resent what you are fighting for, and fight for the opposite.

So that's what I have to say about all that. Glee does a good job of fighting for the little guy, but sometimes it's comments end up coming out as attacks on others rather than an attempt for equality.


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