As so many of you know the show Glee fills me with joy. There are so many reasons that I like this show. There's the obvious - cute boys and big musical numbers, but there's something more. Each episode makes me feel good. There hasn't been one show where I'm not tearing up at the end. Yes, it's corny, it's even "gay", but it's also positive and uplifting and life affirming.
So, today when I picked up the latest copy of Rolling Stone Magazine with the heading 'The Awesome Gayness of Glee' I couldn't have been more excited. The fact that an image of Madonna circa 1986 was also on the cover made my little gay heart beat that much faster.
Boy was I disappointed. Reviewer Rob Sheffield has a very different view of Glee and all I can say is that I feel really bad for this guy. He must have some real hang-ups about a whole host of issues. There are moment when he seems to love Glee and moments when he hates it. Overall his review sounds as catty and spiteful as my favorite self-hating queer Larry Craig spouting his "I am not gay!" proclamation. Maybe I'm being sensitive, but this guy seems like a bit of a homophobe.
"The best joke on Glee is the way it creates a gay teenage world in which no other world exists or is imaginable. It's not just feel-good gay, it's punish-the-outside-world gay, openly hostile to the idea that some viewers out there might not be show-tune queens."
"Punish-the-outside-world gay", are you serious? With so much hate and hurt in the life of a gay man I think it's absolutely absurd that a show that might actually celebrate gayness is seen as some how punishing the outside world. Is it possible that this show is a more positive reflection of what it's like to be gay in today's world? Middle schoolers are coming out of the closet these days in record numbers and some (many?) are having a positive experience, or as positive an experience as one can have in this homophobic society. Is it so wrong that a show might want to reflect this part of society. Of course uber-hetero shows like The Bachelor or Grey's Anatomy or Monday Night Football aren't "punish-the-outside-world hetro" are they?
Mr. Sheffield also says that Glee "tests my pain threshold in a way I didn't think was possible for a network hit about high school. Although the ads wishfully claim that this is some kind of guilty pleasure, it's really just the opposite—you have to have a cast-iron stomach to flog yourself through an entire hour of it." No, Mr. Sheffield YOU need to have a cast-iron stomach to get through the show. Excuse me, but aren't you a reviewing television here? If you've watched all the trash that I'm sure you are professionally required to watch, but if you need a cast-iron stomach to watch a fun, well-acted, unique show like Glee, then you need to get a new profession, or take yourself (and television) less seriously.
The reviewer also says that "the greatness of Glee is that it wastes no time trying to cater to any idea of how high schools actually are. Bor-ing! Instead we get a big fat colorful fantasy of a school full of Ohio show-queens belting out their perky harmonies..." While I do agree that Glee is great, I take issue with this statement. First, this show reminds me very much of the positive, theatre experience of my high school years. The only difference is that we "show-queens" (homophobic much?) were the Belles of the Ball. We were popular and respected and happy to be singing and dancing and queening it up all over the place. I think you should spend some time at a high school drama department before you say that this isn't how a high school experience might be. What's even more disturbing about this reviewers statement is that Glee does portray real high school, abet in an extreme way. The bullies and meanies and sports craziness, the drugs and sex and back-stabbing, it's all there too! Life at this high school is hard, as hard as any middle class suburban school, but God forbid these kids find some joy in singing!
That segways into my final point. Mr. Sheffield wraps up his review by saying that "for all the garishly sets, this is one bleak hour TV." Wait is he watching Mad Men? This show is one of the most uplifting shows on TV. He criticizes the story lines as "relentlessly grim, as the kids deal with teen pregnancy and the teachers deal with failing marriages, money woes and alcoholism." Mr. Sheffield is Glee too much of a fantasy or not enough of one? The beauty of Glee is that while it might not deal with real life issues, it doesn't shy away from them. This show is more Avenue Q than Mary Poppins and that's a wonderful thing! I think Glee would be pretty ridiculous if every kid was perfect and virginal and every adult was straight out of Ozzie and Harriet. The issues that the characters deal with make the songs they sing work. The song bring joy to the every day problems of life.
I don't think that Glee is a perfect show (name a perfect show), but I do think it's positive and I think the haters hate the show because it's so full of love and joy and humor.
Finally, Mr. Sheffield says that "none of the characters are all that likable or nice to each other." Again I ask, were you watching Mad Men by mistake? These kids love each other. Some of the teachers love the kids and the ones that don't are so ridiculous that they make the love of the others that much stronger. The kids stick-up for each other. They help each other. There are some bad apples and there's plenty of youthful emotions, but there are more likable characters on this show than any other on TV today.
One last note, Mr. Sheffield thinks that Glee is unfunny. Mr. Sheffield I think that you are unfunny and I think that you must not have made the cut for your high school glee club and for that I am sorry, but please, don't take it out on the kids. Change the channel and let the rest of us laugh, cry and sing along.
For me, Glee makes my heart sing, but then I am an old show-queen. And because I'm not a bitchy queen I won't say another word...but I'll leave you all with this image of Mr. Sheffield. I think this sums up his attitude pretty well.
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