In 2009, I watched a pilot for a new show called Glee and while I was a little uncomfortable with a few of the storylines, I enjoyed the music, the characters and the quirkiness of it all. I watched Glee regularly for two seasons and was increasingly uncomfortable with the direction the show was going. I still liked the music but that wasn't enough for me to keep watching.
Fast forward to February 2013 and I heard in a promotion that the next episode was going to be Will and Emma finally getting married. Liking them from previous seasons, I decided to tune in and see what was happening with Glee. Wow! I went from uncomfortable to disbelief that a TV show targeted for the teen audience could be so blatantly sexual. Let's see...the former high school sweethearts slept together even though she is also sleeping with another guy; the former Christian cheerleader slept with her former fellow cheerleader (because she always wanted to know what it felt like to sleep with another girl); the two wheelchair high school students slept together, another high school couple were planning on sleeping together but backed out (good for them!), the two former homosexual lovers "reconnected" in their hotel room...and those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. Oh, and the show ended with the girl who is sleeping with two guys finding out she's pregnant...I think.
Really?! What kind of role models are we promoting for our preteens and teenagers? The characters in the show are attractive and talented. The music is appealing. I can see kids watching the show getting the idea that all this stuff is ok, even acceptable. It's no wonder teenagers are confused. They are at a vulnerable stage in life and they want to fit in and be accepted.
I'm disappointed in Glee. The show started out with the easy-to-relate-to premise of a bunch of mis-fit kids finding a common love of music bringing them together and building friendships. Now it's just a soap opera for young people.
I looked up the show's ratings this morning and noticed that after the second season, the show is experiencing a steady downturn in viewers. Maybe the executives of the show will get the message that there are people who disapprove of the overt sexuality of the show. I hope so.
Milton Evacuation from Venice
1 day ago
Spot on! We made it through the second season....I think (what with the various hiatuses...or is it hiati?...it's hard to tell where one season ended and the next one begins). Where do I start with this show? Is it the way they make the "good behaved" people look like wimpy losers? Or the incessant political rants by characters who are themselves offensive?
ReplyDeleteSure, "the world" is a frustrating, confusing place. Sure, not every suffering has a happy ending, and mean people don't always get what's coming to them. But glorifying everything that is contrary to what I have been taught? Sounds like time to change the channel.
Thank you Michael. You're right, it's time to change the channel. Glee had potential but didn't follow through.
DeleteI so agree!!! What I think is so extremely sad is that the high quality music productions have taken a backseat to the outrageous storylines of sexuality. It seems that according to the producers of this and other shows like it are sending the message that the only place young people can discover their true selves is between the sheets. How very very sad to sell out our young people like that.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be amazing if a show geared towards teenagers featured characters who had standards? Not likely though...
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