Eating disorders. A teen quadriplegic. Blatant homophobia.
When did the content of Glee - a musical comedy - turn so heavy?
I love Glee. And quite frankly, I have no problem with the show trying to make a point, or teach its audience a lesson. In fact, in Season 1, I thought that the show managed to do this seamlessly. Glee's ability to satirize the way society marginalizes people based on their gender, race and sexuality always proved one of my favorite things about the show. In Season 2, however, I feel like Glee lacks the very subtlety that once made its messages so poignant, and, to boot, the new heaviness is coming at the cost of the lighthearted plot threads so vital to a comedy like Glee. Let's look at some examples.
Take the episode where Mercedes needs to lose weight to remain a Cheerio. Sue could have issued an over-the-top speech to the cheerleaders demanding unrealistic, stick-thin figures and detailing the ingredients of her unsavory diet shake. This would have highlighted the issue (society's ridiculous standards on body image) and been funny. Most importantly, though, it would have taken up a mere few minutes of the episode, freeing time for scenes like the Puck-Quinn cupcake-baking food fight or the Will-Emma wedding-dress-shopping-trip that made the show so light and entertaining during Season 1.
Instead, the show delved too deep. Mercedes develops an eating disorder, passes out from hunger, receives an emotional pep-talk from Quinn and inspires the student-body through her rendition of 'Beautiful.' It takes so long to slog through all these issues that none of the fun scenes pop up (Rachel and Finn flirtation?). This heaviness, an uncharacteristic shift from the tone of Season 1, keeps popping up again and again this season: when Rachel visits paralyzed ex-football player Sean, when Finn struggles to accept the death of his father, when Kurt becomes hurt by his father's growing bond with Finn and in tonight's episode, when Burt kicks Finn out for his lack of respect for his gay son.
Writers of Glee: I get what you are trying to do. You have a hit show, you have everyone's attention, and so you are trying to make a statement. Or a whole lot of statements. However, you need to scale it back. Return to the golden formula that worked so well in Season 1. Let's have some more romantic tension between Finn and Rachel. Where were Emma and Sue tonight? Bring them back! Let's have Puck infusing the bake sale goods with his 'special' ingredient, Finn frantically trying to remember the mailman crashing into his windshield and Rachel strutting around with her usual diva-like swagger. Make the show fun again, and skip the soap-opera intensity.
When did the content of Glee - a musical comedy - turn so heavy?
I love Glee. And quite frankly, I have no problem with the show trying to make a point, or teach its audience a lesson. In fact, in Season 1, I thought that the show managed to do this seamlessly. Glee's ability to satirize the way society marginalizes people based on their gender, race and sexuality always proved one of my favorite things about the show. In Season 2, however, I feel like Glee lacks the very subtlety that once made its messages so poignant, and, to boot, the new heaviness is coming at the cost of the lighthearted plot threads so vital to a comedy like Glee. Let's look at some examples.
Take the episode where Mercedes needs to lose weight to remain a Cheerio. Sue could have issued an over-the-top speech to the cheerleaders demanding unrealistic, stick-thin figures and detailing the ingredients of her unsavory diet shake. This would have highlighted the issue (society's ridiculous standards on body image) and been funny. Most importantly, though, it would have taken up a mere few minutes of the episode, freeing time for scenes like the Puck-Quinn cupcake-baking food fight or the Will-Emma wedding-dress-shopping-trip that made the show so light and entertaining during Season 1.
Instead, the show delved too deep. Mercedes develops an eating disorder, passes out from hunger, receives an emotional pep-talk from Quinn and inspires the student-body through her rendition of 'Beautiful.' It takes so long to slog through all these issues that none of the fun scenes pop up (Rachel and Finn flirtation?). This heaviness, an uncharacteristic shift from the tone of Season 1, keeps popping up again and again this season: when Rachel visits paralyzed ex-football player Sean, when Finn struggles to accept the death of his father, when Kurt becomes hurt by his father's growing bond with Finn and in tonight's episode, when Burt kicks Finn out for his lack of respect for his gay son.
Writers of Glee: I get what you are trying to do. You have a hit show, you have everyone's attention, and so you are trying to make a statement. Or a whole lot of statements. However, you need to scale it back. Return to the golden formula that worked so well in Season 1. Let's have some more romantic tension between Finn and Rachel. Where were Emma and Sue tonight? Bring them back! Let's have Puck infusing the bake sale goods with his 'special' ingredient, Finn frantically trying to remember the mailman crashing into his windshield and Rachel strutting around with her usual diva-like swagger. Make the show fun again, and skip the soap-opera intensity.
If not - if you don't stop trying to make Glee into a musical quasi-drama - you might have considerably less fans to preach to. And I love the soundtrack far too much to give up on this show quite yet. Impress me, Glee.
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