Glee

[chasingtides]

So, I made two mistakes. One, I watch another episode of Glee. (Warning: Mattress comes with unexamined domestic violence, discussion further in.)

Then I went on to make my second mistake - I tried to talk about the issues with Glee (as per what I've seen: racism, ablism, sexism, domestic violence; I have seen discussions of issues of queerness).

People seem to be using, "But it's satire!" as a way of shutting down issues with the show. I won't deny that the songs are catchy and fun, but I am having a lot of trouble seeing how the issues I'm having are satire on the show.

Will pins his wife to the wall, gripping her wrist so hard that we can see the strain in his hand, even after she tells him he's scaring her and asking him to get away. Then, while she seems near tears, he lifts up her shirt and tears the baby belly off her and starts screaming. (FYI, I think she's right that the club is an unhealthy obsession for him - example: writing the check for the yearbook ad when they obviously didn't have the money for it. Also using it as a cover for emotional cheating.) I wouldn't have as much of a problem, except we are supposed to see him as the put-upon victim.

Quinn says Puck got her drunk the night he got her pregnant - but somehow she's the cheating lying slut? And Terri's clearly scared of Will and got some mental issues, but she's the shrewish angry wife? And what's with the minority kids getting less screen time and I won't even touch the ablism?

Can someone please explain how this is satire and not really offensive crap?

[In other news: I'm apparently working extra hours and six days a week until Christmas. Oh god, I'm going to die.]

Comments

Re: Part 1

[lfg1986.livejournal.com]

Okay well I WILDLY disagree here, but I'm going to follow through with what I said and not comment any further, because it's only going to serve to make me livid, so.

All I'm going to say is that Terri started lying and manipulating Will long before she knew about Emma. Not going to excuse Will's behavior, but just noting that that is NOT the reason Terri was "afraid". And I'm sorry, but that's bullshit. The only thing she was afraid of was being left, and like I said, baby or no baby, Will has every right to leave her with the way she treats him. I'm very certain that if Terri had told Will right away that the pregnancy was hysterical, he would have been sympathetic and supportive. But she CHOSE to continue lying and heaping unnecessary guilt on him (much like Quinn was doing to Finn), and she knew exactly what she was doing. That was her being selfish and capitalizing on the situation, not being afraid in the least. Actions speak louder than words, and her actions say that she only cares about herself.

But I'm done now.

Re: Part 1

[chasingtides.livejournal.com]

If we put aside the Will issue for the moment....

As a Glee-fan and a Glee-watcher, could you tell me how this "It's satire/It's all in good fun!" thing works?

Re: Part 1

[lfg1986.livejournal.com]

Since you asked me a direct question, I'll go ahead and reply. I'm not sure I can properly explain it, but I'll give it a shot.

For *me* (and everyone is different), I watch because the whole glee club aspect reminds me of my high school experience, and as that was my favorite time in my life, it's nice to see it played out on tv every week. Obviously this is an over the top version, but I actually dealt with many of the same things these kids are going through, and that alone keeps me interested in the different stories, as frustrating as some of them can be at times.

At the beginning of the season, I started trying to analyze the different characters and plots, and by a few episodes in, I realized that for certain shows, doing that is kind of silly because it's not SUPPOSED to be a show that one pours over and analyzes to death (as opposed to something like Supernatural, where the analyzing is half the fun). It would only serve to lessen my enjoyment because it IS so wildly inconsistent and unrealistic and over the top. It's like an hour long sitcom, but with a dramatic aspect thrown in. It's mindless entertainment that's not supposed to be taken all that seriously.

And I'm not claiming that the show is flawless, because it definitely has some GLARING errors, but I think trying to attribute motivations for characters' behavior without having any reason to believe such things are going on is just silly and useless. I'm along for the ride and want to see where it goes, and I just try not to think about it too much because this isn't the kind of show you do that with.

I have no idea if that helped you understand, but that's all I've got. Everyone watches shows for different reasons and gets different things out of it. If you're one who analyzes everything, that's probably why you're not enjoying the show.

Re: Part 1

[lotus-bright.livejournal.com]

I'm about to head to bed, but while I don't necessarily buy the "it's satire!" thing, I think what helps is that while the show does definitely have more than its fair share of issues, I have also seen what it can do when they play their cards right, and when they do it right it is a LOT of fun to watch. I've cringed through a number of scenes, been shaken by others, and have been left with a bad taste in my mouth by still more, on one hand, but, for example, the "Don't Stop Believin'" performance was unbridled joy for me on the other.

(It also may help that while they do definitely miss the mark on a lot of things, I can usually see what they're aiming for. I understand it wouldn't work this way for everyone, but for me it does help at least that I can tell the writers were going, "well, hm, this could work like this" rather than "hee hee this is funny!" Intent often does not make up for execution, but it does make me somewhat more forgiving than it's possible I should be.)

All that said, I am being worn at by the many problems with the series - even if I could set aside the lack of development for non-white characters and other important issues, the fact that they cannot seem to decide what they're doing with the characters and thus they end up going from one extreme to another is gr-a-a-a-a-a-ting. I am hoping that with the hiatus and some time to take audience feedback into account, they'll take steps towards correcting some of those issues. I plan to give it a few episodes into the new season to see what I think (unless something happens that makes me walk away from the show immediately) and make a decision from there.

For what it's worth, I do respect your viewpoints and can for the most part see how you arrived at them even if I don't necessarily agree, and I do apologize if anything I've said had been in any way offensive (to you or anyone else).

Re: Part 1

[khyros.livejournal.com]

Terri burned up any sympathy I had left for her when she blackmailed the OBGyn.