Looks Like TV is Starting to Come Out of the Closet...

Glee may have started out by catching their audience with flashy song and dances and Lea Michelle's voice, but it has evolved into something so much more than that for so many people across the country now. They were smart to solidify a base audience before they started cracking open that closet door allowing these more serious and seriously gay story lines (also, I find it ironic that Fox has their ultra-conservative tea party lovin' news station, but their network broadcasting station possesses a show with one of the most honest depictions and story lines of a homosexual ever [barring Queer as Folk because obviously on cable you can show a LOT more and boy did they ever]).

Basic run down for those who don't watch Glee (mistake, beeteedubs): Kurt's gay. Kurt has been feeling very alone being the only out kid at his school (already a solid story line that could have been explored on its own). Kurt starts to get bullied constantly by one kid and kind of stands up at one point, but backs down. He hears about an all boys school. He meets new gay kid there (who sings Teenage Dream and everyone swoons, and by everyone I mean everyone who was watching.) New kid tells Kurt to stand up like this new guy didn't. Kurt does, football guy kisses him and then runs away and continues to beat Kurt up (and by beat up I mean shove against a locker).

Okay, so, what issues have been tackled here: Loneliness for the homosexual strong enough to be out in high school; said homosexual gets bullied; said homo searches for others like him that are accepting; said homo fights his bully; said bully is actually gay; Kurt gets his first kiss, from the bully, (not ideal, been there done that sort of. unpleasant.)

What is even more important than the actual issues that they dealt with is how they actually dealt with it in the show. It wasn't like Kurt just stood up to the bully and everything was perfect in Glee world. No, instead even after he approached, with his new beau in tow, the bully, the bully still shoved him against his locker and Kurt knew it wasn't over yet pointing out that bullying doesn't just stop. It is going to be there, and it probably always will, but the important thing is how we deal with it. Do we let the bully win, or do we stand up for ourselves even if it doesn't affect our immediate surroundings?

Blaine, Kurt's new boy toy, is brought in to show Kurt a path he could take, which is the easy way out. Blaine ran away from his old school where he was bullied to this new all boys school. Blaine encourages Kurt to stand up for himself instead and not to run away like he did, which is something he regrets every day. Some have criticized that this gives Kurt too easy of a route having some sort of support system (because no one at the school, including the staff, was helping him out with his problem). I don't think this character should be viewed as a cop-out but rather as a tool to show the audience the two paths one can take: fight or flight. Kurt decides to fight, and I must say  I never imagined so much rage coming out of that scrawny little twink.

Finally, the last major issue they dealt with through Kurt was the idea of faculty not stepping up and understanding the situation enough to help the students who are being bullied or feel different. Scheuster doesn't know how to deal with Kurt when he's upset about having to go on the boys' side of the competition or when he's being bullied. Essentially Scheuster's all, "dude, you're gay, your life is going to be harder, deal." In reality, yeah, this is true, but at the same time it isn't. I mean, yes, homos are going to have to deal with issues that 90 percent of the population will never experience, but at the same time, everyone has their issues to deal with in different ways, but the important part is that people may know how to handle different problems, but when it comes to gays being bullied, we're living in a society where we don't know how to deal with it properly. Hopefully, and I'm sure it will happen, Glee will deal with the administrative side of this issue as well as show how other people are bullied as well.

And I'll just end with this. The kiss between Beaste and Schue was absolutely the most awkward thing ever, and I'm also not sure it was appropriate. Beaste had never been kissed so Schue just takes it upon himself to kiss her even though she didn't ask for it, especially after he went on this rant about how it opens doors to other things, so unless they're planning on those two starting a relationship, bad call, Glee.

Fortunately the rest of the episode was phenom. Can't wait for next week's episode with Gwyneth Paltrow!

Fennopian