Glee

This television series made me SO angry. I have heard so many reviews on it, and everyone has said it was a great show. I am not one for musicals however, so I did not care to see it. After seeing it, I do not understand how ignorant people can be to enjoy watching stereotype after stereotype. To start my rant, the gay community is poorly represented in Glee. The only gay guy on the show is overtly flamboyant with his Marc Jacobs, while the lesbian girl is gothic. What does this say for the gay community? It says that these are the stereotypes, making viewers believe that these stereotypes are indeed true. New York Times called Glee "blissfully unoriginal". Of course the only person in a wheel chair is dorky, almost as if he is mentally challenged. Of course every old, white man is mean; while the young, attractive guy is charming and nice. Of course the chubby guy is riding a cart, next to the skinny guy who is running. The straight guys harrass other straight guys for being a part of the Glee club, aren't all straight guys jerks? At least, this is what this show is teaching its audience. The part that enfuriated me the most was when the Glee teacher sabotaged his student for having weed and said "this is the blackest moment I have ever had". No wonder the majority of prisons are filled with people of color, the media never gives them a chance, reenforcing our negative judgements on them as a society. The only black girl on the show is loud, angry and refers to a student as "white boy". The woman who is married to the teacher of Glee has a shopping addiction and only cares about the money her husband makes, while her husband is having a fling with another woman. The Christian girl had to pray before making out.

There are so many problems with this show, I could rant for hours. Every stereotype I could possibly think of was shown in this series. What ever happened to breaking barriers? This is a horrible depiction of teenagers, and ever American culture in general. It is nothing more than a straight romance. As the teacher of the Glee club said, "being an adult, you have to give up on the things you love". As in no adult is ever happy? As in being a teenager is a joke? I did not understand why this television show would ever be allowed to air, and why so many people follow it. All it is doing is constricting every person in America to their own stereotype, enabling those in power to keep their power. This ties into every aspect we have learned in class, especially that youth is a culturally constructed category.