Glee

[mothwing]

Maybe I've come down with a series case of the dumb, but I don't get this show. It does bend over backwards to include a whole rainbow of minorities and then still goes out of its way to still make the straight, white, pretty, able-bodied and cisgendered people, usually males, end up in the main character slots and the administrative roles.

It's like watching a compass needle that's made out of the metal that comprises a white, able-bodied, cisgendered, heterosexual, male audience. In this case, it's been shaken up pretty badly by the presence of so many weird and non-white people, but as each episode progresses, you can watch the WACHM main character overcome adversity! I suppose that the show is meant to satirize this fact (or so I hope), but as a satire of other High School TV shows, it does not do a very good job.

Unless "satire" now means "take the storyline you wanted to write, notice that it's stereotypical, slightly exaggerate the stereotypes, let audience, who also doesn't know what "satire" means, think that your show must be a satire of ... well, something. It's clear that they don't mean this, right? That's why it's so exaggerated. Right?

Well, no. A "satire" is more complex than that. It usually focuses on individual shortcomings of the thing it's meant to satirize and exaggerate them with the goal of exposing these shortcomings. I don't see that done very convicingly in that show. If making fun at other High School stereotypes was not their goal, I don't understand what in this series is supposed to do, apart from trying to get more WACHM viewers interested in their local Glee club, because obviously, that's the only target audience that's represented in a mildly respectful way. If that was the intention, well done! And now piss off!

Comments

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched Glee, but I've read a lot of criticism of the show, and I admit that any chance I might have taken to watch the show was shot down when I found out about this episode. Short form: Will learns that Terri isn't really pregnant. He freaks out and commits some domestic violence at her, justifying her fear of telling him the truth. And then...and then, after he abuses his wife, he's shown as the injured party.

Plus the show is so rife with tokenism, racism, ableism, and homophobia while trying to pass itself off as diverse. :( I think there was a lot of talk about this on ONTD and SF_Drama recently, as well.

Also, lots of people asking the inane question "This is just television/entertainment! Can't you just enjoy it instead of analyzing it? You don't get escapism." Never mind that it's not escapism when it reproduces the same bullshit that makes you want to seek escapism in the first place.

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

And I realize people may see that I haven't watched the series and complain, but I have read a significant amount of criticism that tells me I don't want to watch the show.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think anyone can be blamed who opts out after that.

I'll go digging through SF_D and ONTD later today, I'm curious what people there have to say.

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

No need to dig:

http://community.livejournal.com/sf_drama/2648718.html

Links to ONTD (two posts) from that one.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Wow, you're quick. Thanks!

Whoa, that IS recent, wonder how I missed that. I'm really scared to even look at the original post.

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

I just had to search gmail for replies to my comments on that post. Fortunately, "escapism" appears very infrequently in my mailbox. :)

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

Also, the OP here is worth reading, even if the comments are predictable:

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/41913467.html

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

I liked the OP, but dear GOD, the comments. In what kind of bubble do these people live? -_-

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

The one where they don't experience racism (because they're white), therefore it isn't real.

I love it when people tell me they've worked it out in their heads, therefore it doesn't happen like I say (sexism, racism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, etc). Like the time I mentioned that all the permanent deaths on Heroes were men of color and women of any race, while white men get to come back from the dead. The literal answer one guy gave me was "I thought about it, and that's not true." Even though it was.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Whew, at least SF_D are up to their usual standards.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

AAARGH that is even worse than I thought it would be. Crocky and me had cynical bets going on how that subplot was going to end, but even we didn't think they'd go so far as to include domestic violence. Wow.

As for escapism - there probably has to be a place for those poor white/het/able-bodied/cis/misogynist men who want to escape into a world in which they are the heroes and all those pesky, uppity minorities are shown who's boss. *cue saddest song on smallest violin*

[lisaquestions.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's pretty sickening.

Actually, it's downright nauseating.