Unaware of what I was
getting myself into, I was casually sitting in one of the lounges the other day
to study. Luckily the room was unnecessarily large, but the best part was that
it was empty – a luxury, considering you don’t find yourself to be alone often
in college. This only lasted for about ten minutes until a girl walked in,
turned on the flat screen TV that was residing in the corner of the room, and
sat down. A couple of girls who appeared as though they didn’t know her joined
her to watch shortly after, and I soon realized what they were doing; earlier
that evening one of my friend could not prevent themselves from brining up the Glee episode that was airing tonight, as
the Valentine’s Day episode had been advertised heavily beforehand. I believe
that now would be the appropriate time to warn you, reader, that I have never
watched a full episode of Glee before
that night, and that I had always been curious about what all of the hype was
about and therefore watched my first episode with three other strangers instead
of studying for my silly midterm.
My
knowledge of the plot of the show had been sparse, and honestly I can say that
it still is. My basic understanding of the show, and I could be very mistaken,
is that it follows a group of high school students in a “singing club” of some
sort and every week they perform covers of popular songs so that all of the
“Gleeks” – what the fans of the show have deemed themselves – can throw their
money at their computer shortly afterwards to purchase as many Glee covers that they can get their
hands on. I can also say that this show has a very large LGBTQ fanbase,
primarily because there are openly queer characters on the show, such as
Brittany and Santana. Honestly I wasn’t exactly aware that there was a lesbian
couple on the show, because I was only familiar with Kurt and Blaine, and this
struck me as surprising for some reason. As the couple kissed for the first
time on screen, the three girls who I had been sitting with all gasped with
excitement. I feel as though “Brittana” is significant to the LGBTQ community
because they give a very positive portrayal of a lesbian couple on a show
geared towards all ages. The most surprising part is that Fox Network of all
companies produces this show. Aware of their core beliefs, and the fact that
people who share these beliefs feel “threatened about issues of sexuality”, it
is honestly a huge step that Glee is
produced and is able to cater to families who are watching, as well as their
LGBTQ fans. The couple is also significant because I feel as though they
definitely challenge the “metronormative” concept that a rural area is a very
hostile environment to queers and that for things to get better you must get to
an urban area (Gray 50). The show is set in Lima, Ohio which I assume to be a
very rural area where, apparently, it is very possible to find community and do
queer identity work.
Works Cited
Gilchrist, Tracy E. "'Glee' Gay-Cap: The
Santana/Brittany Kiss Heard Round the World."SheWired. Here Media Inc., 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
Gray, Mary. "From
Websites to Wal-Mart: Youth, Identity Work, and the Queering of Boundary
Publics in Small Town, USA." American
Studies 48.2 (2007): 49-59. Print.
Smith,
Barbara. “Homophobia: Why Bring it Up?” from The Lesbian and Gay Studies
Reader. Ed Henry Ablelove et al New York & London: Routledge, 1993.
I’m completely on the same page as you coming from a “non- Gleek” perspective. I dread Tuesday nights when my suitemate’s friends all come over to watch Glee in the living room while I’m doing homework and all the knowledge I have about the show comes from their long discussions during and after the show. I learned more about the “Brittana” story from blogs that I follow on Tumblr and I have to say that I’m glad that a story like this is being portrayed on such a big network such as FOX. From what I’ve heard the character of Santana had a difficult time with the coming out process and her grandmother even turned her back on her after learning that she was a lesbian. Santana herself had a difficult time opening up to Brittany out of fear of what her peers would say about her behind her back. I think it’s good that they address these types of issues instead of painting this unrealistic picture of the happy lesbian couple in high school that is accepted by everyone else when a lot of times that’s not how it works. Truth is a lot of kids that “come out” while in school are bullied and harassed almost on a daily basis and it’s important to address some of their fears before jumping to the happy ending (Stein 31).
ReplyDeleteLike you Shawn, I have never watched a full episode of Glee and had just an idea of what it was about, high school students who are a part of a singing club and covers popular songs that most people of the generation should have as common knowledge. Though, I did think that Glee would give a certain stereotype towards the individuals that identify themselves as part of the LGBTQ community. The typical stereotype, I may say, the stereotype of being flamboyant and feminine. Though it is good that they are giving a positive stereotype as you said, giving the US and being broadcasted by a highly Republican network as FOX, gives it more of acceptance and view of the LGBTQ individuals.
ReplyDeleteThe characters that you mention, Brittany and Santana, otherwise known as “Brittana” give an insight of a lesbian couples. They are not your typical stereotype of lesbians; they go through adversities in school in order to be accepted and avoiding being harassed as Stein mentions that people need to be educated in order to understand the LGBTQ individuals, and Glee is helping that process by including those individuals in this popular show. By couples such as “Brittana” being included, it becomes more of a norm in socities.
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ReplyDeleteI have watched many episodes of Glee and had a prediction that Brittany and Santana would be together, but never thought the show would actually show them being an out-lesbian couple in the school. As Stein said that in order to keep an friendly environment, people need to be educated and need to enforce the laws to make others realize that everyone is equal, even the LGBTQ individuals. I think Glee did a good job on showing this because high school is the time where everyone is critical and discriminate the homosexual people because they are "different". Even though they did go through a lot to be together, but at the end, they were accepting by others which is somewhat rare in real life, especially during high school. It is still a way to show the society that even though they aren't like regular heterosexual couple, they are still happy with each other, and they are still the same among everyone else. As a Republican representative TV channel, FOX, allows this scene to be brought on air shows as that the society is slowly changing the perspective on the LGBTQ community.
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