The lack of homophobia on Glee sparks conservative outrage
By Lina CanneyApril 27th, 2011, 12:50 pmComments (16)
So on last night's episode of Glee, they tackled bullying. According to the Huffington Post, "The episode featured Kurt, played by Golden Globe winner Chris Colfer, returning to his old school and receiving an apology from a closeted gay football player who had bullied him. Celebrating acceptance, the show's cast sings Lady Gaga's gay-pride anthem "Born This Way," and all seems well at McKinley High once again."
Naturally, conservatives were outraged by the homophobic football player's apology to Kurt for threatening to kill him. But students coming together and singing "Born This Way" in an attempt to embrace each other and end bullying was the last straw. Dan Gainor, conservative media critic and general hate monger, reported to ABC News that this was Ryan Murphy's, the creator of Glee:
"Latest depraved initiative to promote his gay agenda. This is clearly Ryan Murphy's vision of what growing up should be, not most of America's. It's a high school most parents would not want to send their kids to."
Now there's the funny thing: what actually happened on last night's episode is that Santana, an evil cheerleader who also happens to be a lesbian, blackmailed the closeted gay football player into being her beard. With both of their sexual preferences securely hidden, they decide to run for prom king and queen. The apology to Kurt and the anti-bullying campaign they start are just designed to get them votes. So, it would appear that last night's episode about gay acceptance isn't about acceptance at all; it's fundamentally about how far some people will go to hide the truth. You win, Dan Gainor.
Commentarium (16 Comments)
whoa, i like the turn around there.
They might have a point; maybe they shouldn't be candy-coating the world.... maybe Glee needs a few backwards-minded shithead homophobes.
"It's a high school most parents would not want to send their kids to."
Right, why would parents want their kids to go to a school where bullies actually apologize to someone for threatening to kill them? Much less, a school that celebrates acceptance. I want my kids to be bullied with no apologies, and rejected for who they are. Duh.
Glee needs a new issue, this one is as old as the show has become.
I disagree. Granted, sexuality has always been an issue on Glee, but it's obviously an issue the American public still needs to discuss. Especially when on liberal leaning sites like Hooksexup people say stuff like "Moops".
Also, Glee has only been talking teenage homosexuality for 2 seasons. 2 seasons is hardly a long time.
I think you misunderstood me... I meant that maybe Glee shouldn't pretend that there aren't homophobes out there; and also show that not all homophobes will suddenly wake up and stop being anti-gay if they hear the right song-and-dance number.
Glee is a television show that is broadcast primarily to sell advertising, is it not? Everyone is taking this way too seriously. Ultimately, this distills down to there are people who act responsibly and irresponsibly. Those two groups don't map into sexual identities.
Right, and every single person who watches it knows it's only purpose is to sell ads and would never read more into it than that.
If you believe that, I have some ocean front property in Iowa to sell to you.
If you're trying to learn deep truths from what you see on broadcast TV, good luck. Reading more into it than it's attempt to entertain in an effort for ratings (and advertising rates) is silly.
What next, The World According to Spongebob?
While the advertising point is beyond valid, creators of TV shows still have to design content to attract attention in order to make those ads have any impact at all. And since a large amount of people won't fall for comic-book-level presentations of reality, then drama of any attention grabbing merit has to take on the conflicts present in the daily lives of the demographic a given show is targeting. So, any thought that 'deep truths' aren't to be presented/tackled on the idiot box just because advertising lies at the heart of it all, is a non-sequitur if ever I came across it.
"Naturally, conservatives were outraged by the homophobic football player's apology to Kurt for threatening to kill him."
Naturally. I know dozens of conservatives. We've talked of nothing else since the show aired.
I just looked up *moops* on the urban dictionary website and the definition(s) were a typo in the Seinfeld episode *Bubble boy* another word for *taint*, Matter Out Of Place and a band on South Park. So my question I guess is what do you mean, "liberal leaning sites like Hooksexup"?
WithAnInotAnE was talking about the person who wrote the second post. Their name is "Moops".
k, love your comment! duh, indeed.
if we're digging for controversy in last night's episode of "glee," i'd like to hear folks' opinions about big pharma's role. it didn't sit well with me. but i guess it's a good reminder (and in line with the episode's theme) that there are stigmas and cobwebs surrounding the medicated treatment of mental illnesses as much as there are stigmas and cobwebs around the illnesses themselves. i'll go ahead and own my opinion. maybe it's the equivalent of being a homophobic bully. if it is, i'm sorry for hurting feelings. but i don't trust the idea that drugs can be safe cures for my anxiety or depression.
I'm a little surprised that none of you thought it was odd, or even wrong, for the characters to go out of their way to form a gay centered awareness club for the purpose of getting popular and being elected Prom King and Queen.
Their motivation was not because they suddenly are for gay rights or anything. They saw the way the winds were shifting and then exploited it for their own selfish intentions. I would think many of you on this site would take exception to that.