2010-06-13, 11:51 PM
Swerve Wrote:-snip-
I actually agree with many of your contentions, Swerve, but say that some people don't like the show because it's bad, because the word "bad" signifies something taboo and undeserving of one's time and effort. You hit the reason in the next sentence: it's a guilty pleasure. So, now that you've made your argument, is the show bad? Yes, overall it's not the best show out there. But it definitely does some things right now and then that keep people, myself included, hooked.
I'd say thank god not every idea for television, film, novel, and other media has been signed on produced, or else we'd be in over our heads with shit and appreciate shows like Glee a lot more, but then I remember how Nicholas Sparks has, what, 2? 3? of his books published into film? I may be a more lenient critic than you, Swerve, but there's no denying when something truly sucks.
Swerve Wrote:I'm sorry. It's the end of the first season. It took House five seasons before he started to show a huge shift in behavior. I just dislike the cliched characters and the over dramatized High School environment. I also don't hate the fact that Kurt is a gay character. I hate the fact that Chris Colfer is the walking, talking epitome of a gay stereotype. Certain critiques believe that Sue alludes to an underlying premise of the show. The fact that the whole entire show is a parody off of High School, social cliques, and ideological groups. If this is true, then Kurt is nothing more than an embodiment of a misunderstanding for mainstream America: having gays as individuals who get angry over not getting the "female role" to "Defying Gravity" or his portrayal as an amorous individual who has Finn on the mind.
Gay people should have higher standards for themselves. While gay people are celebrating over getting a supporting actor in an over-dramatized television show, black people are rejoicing at having an inept black president running America. Funny how we denounce discrimination, yet endorse it when it potentially benefits selective favortism in a fucked up society.
I'm going to put these two together since they sort-of deal with similar issues. First off, thank you for your opinions in the first paragraph. I'd like to ask a few more questions as well in this discussion: Is it truly an issue to create an entire story focused on the life and times of high school? Admittedly, there has been a profusion of high-school related shows and movies recently since High School Musical, similar to the explosion of vampire-related media following the mainstream craziness over Twilight. But all of these media, while portraying the stereotypical roles and labels of high school students, all show each and every one from a different angle. Is this not good? Everyone experiences high school differently, and while some may adorn some labels here or there, very few can be characterized by them. Therefore, is it not appropriate to show these exceedingly different characters in mainstream media as role models for young people? Now I'm not condoning the continued creation of high school parodies for the remainder of time to give every specific high school student a role model (and I'm sure you can agree with me that it's getting a bit monotonous now), but it's important to characterize as many people out there as possible, if it means making those people real in the eyes of the general public. Life is not the easiest for those who feel invisible.
Finally, regarding your analysis of gays in television: I do completely agree that gay people should have higher standards for themselves, but let me remind you that some gays are still censored in the Western world, like General Blue in the Dragon Ball anime. Change, sadly, doesn't occur in the lifespan of a television season. It's the path-pavers of minorities in media that led the way for their modern infusion in media, which will lead the way for their future diversity. It's been 54 years since the first gay character premiered on television, and today when we have so many stereotypical flamboyant queens on mainstream television it's well-understood some gays act that way. But the times are already changing, as just two years ago an episode of Law & Order SVU featured a masculine, gay NFL star quarterback. Our standards are high, and they're slowly being met. And in the end, you're incorrect about the celebration. Gays and blacks aren't celebrating over Kurt Hummel and Barack Obama as lone symbols of a desperate hope, but rather as bricks paving forward along the widening path.