Are You a Gleek?
Why is Fox’s hour-long musical comedy so popular? Does it make sense that strains of the high school glee club’s version of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” should haunt me as I go about my day?
I attend Emerson College, a top musical theatre school, and this show has caused my fellow classmates to go absolutely crazy. Every Wednesday night, without fail, tweets and Facebook status updates light up my blackberry as Glee takes over the web.
Glee includes popular music that everyone can relate to – but I still don’t know why this show is so popular. It certainly doesn’t seem to break any sort of high school stereotype. The show starts off with its core glee club comprised mainly of nerds: The overachieving star, the shy girl, the gay boy and the kid in a wheelchair.
Of course, a glee club wouldn’t be complete without a few football players and cheerleaders! There needs to be some sort of conflict, right?
The plot is littered with things I’ve seen before. A pregnant cheerleader? Lame. A star athlete trying to break free from people’s expectations of him? Seen it. A forbidden romance between the football player and the unpopular girl? C’mon! Can’t we come up with something better than this? It seems as though a lot of the core themes throughout this show are just recycled.
In Glee we see a few attempts for these stereotypes to be broken when football players join the glee club, yet it still seems unsuccessful. These characters are too-greatly defined by their stereotypes. Why the lack of originality? Instead of having the quarterback and head cheerleader dating, why not make it the quarterback and shy girl, or the head cheerleader and the boy in the wheelchair?
This makes me wonder: why do show producers insist on reducing my generation to stereotypes? Maybe back when they went to high school, it was different. But now, you aren’t just part of one group or the other. In a world of hyper-connectivity, everyone knows everyone and their business. You can’t be isolated. There aren’t defined social groups anymore.
I have to give Glee credit for some ridiculousness that keeps me interested. Jane Lynch, (40 Year-Old Virgin) plays Sue Sylvester, the head coach of the cheerleading squad and arch-nemesis of the glee club. Her one-liners are priceless and her wacky rants and raves are quotable. I laugh when she says things like,
“I, for one, think intimacy has no place in a marriage. Walked in on my parents once and it was like seeing two walruses wrestling”.
Whether or not you think the show is good, Glee has a substantial following. Loyal fans and followers have dubbed themselves “Gleeks” and the show’s popularity recently put the some of the show’s cast center field for the World Series:
They can sing, sure, but why such rabid brand loyalty? After the initial euphoria of the show wears off, what do you think will be left? Another teenage high school comedy? I’m going to pass on this one. I think the show will last through at least another season, but it’s no classic in the making.
Photo Credit: Yume Photo
McKenzie: Your points about stereotypes are fair, but I disagree about your overall assessment of its originality. I think the show is several steps above the usual high school dramas (Secret Life of the American teenager, Gossip Girl, etc.) in that it shows teens as more than interested in relationshpis with peers and parents. They have a creative artistic side. While movies have dealt with that theme before, as well as some star-driven sitcoms, there hasn’t been an ensemble show like this before. The Jane Lynch character is totally unique. And the Rachel Berry character has more depth than I think you have given her credit for. She has made some interesting and not expected choices. In fact, as the season has progressed, each of the characters has become more complex. I think you should give this show a second chance. At least it’s trying.
Carol Phillips
My main issue with the stereotypes is that it is ultimately the basis of the show. A lot of the themes I’ve seen before and that just doesn’t make it a completely original show and that is what I would like to see more of. I definitely do agree that the show has shown creativity and that the characters are more than just the basic stereotypes. However, the underlying themes are what can make or break a show.
The show is always on Wednesday nights where I live, so I’ll definitely keep up with the show and see what happens.
As a Millennial, I agree with Carol on this one. I think the show uses stereotypes, but it adds depth to each character.
Then again, TV shows are in the business of selling ads, not breaking down stereotypes. I think the show will have some staying power, but it may be screwed as its actors age, which hits any teen show – even Zach Morris looked 30 during his junior year at Bayside.
I am a self-professed Gleek. Personally I have no interest in the stereotypes or the dramatic aspects of the show… I <3 Glee because I find it hilarious and because they are amazing singers. It reminds me of my beloved high-school drama group, something that I never quite replaced since graduation. Maybe the story lines are predictable and the acting often sub-par, but this show is enjoyable. And I am in no way surprised that it is taking Emerson by storm, as almost the entire population has once participated in musical theater in one way or another.
I started watching Glee with glee then got tired of it. But… here’s my theory on the show’s popularity:
I think Glee takes two stereotypes — the popular kids and the nerds — and pushes each to a limit we all know not to be true, but depending on which side you are (popular or nerd) wish it were true. And so, the popular kids really are, for the most part, shallow, mean-spirited, conniving creeps willing to do almost anything to hold their vaunted social status (if you’re a nerd, this is nerd nip), while nerds are smart, sensitive souls deeply aware of their plight and, in the right light, deserving of the popular kids’ envy (if you’re a popular kid, you know this to be insultingly false).
Whew, felt like I was back in school writing a thesis intro or something…
Jeff Shattuck
http://www.cerebellumblues.com
Let’s face it, most TV writing wallows in stereotypes because the medium doesn’t allow a ton of time to create depth. Viewers need to make quick assumptions and fill in the emotional blanks around the characters and using stock characters makes this easier. I don’t like it either–part of the reason I avoid sitcoms.
But as far as this goes: “Instead of having the quarterback and head cheerleader dating, why not make it the quarterback and shy girl, or the head cheerleader and the boy in the wheelchair?” Well, how often does that really happen? In a thousand years of recorded history it almost never plays out that way. If there is a utopian high school where geeks and popular kids mingle and freely accept each other, I’d love to see it. Hell, I don’t think there’s an adult workplace where that happens. We might respect each other in a professional sense, but we still socially cling to people most like ourselves.
Anyway, I watched Glee once and it was just another installment of the gross High School Musical trend, in my opinion.
I will admit: I am a Gleek. Surprisingly, this is not the usual type of show I like, but after stumbling upon the first episode, I haven’t managed to stop watching! It seems to me that the writers know that they are using the traditional stereotypes, and that they are satarizing these roles. We all know after watching one episode that some of these characters aren’t entirely realistic (what high school boy doesn’ understand how babies are made?) But that is what makes the show fun! We are seeing the traditional stereotypes but then hey, the SING! I started watching this show for the singing (as a high school chorus member I’m big on the music part), but I kept watching to see how the characters will play out. Like a poster above, I find that past the comedic ridiculousness of Rachel Berry, there is a deeper character there. I’m not saying that this show is paving any new paths with their characters, I’m saying that they found a unique audience, of every drama kid, chorus student, and secret singers-in-the-shower who secretly wish that THEIR school whould break out into song during 5th period.
I think surviving K-12 schooling is the most traumatic experience out generation has collectively endured. Whoever says they didn’t feel bullied, alienated, ostracized, or out-of-place either went to an awesome hippie school or is LYING. So of course, when we’re offered the opportunity to relive that experience with the promise of a more positive outcome, how could we refuse? We stick with it (and make excuses for it) through tired stock characters and uneven characterizations because we know that they’re going to succeed in the end, and they’re going to give us a great big escapist song-and-dance number at the end.
When I studied abroad in Scotland people sang all the time-especially in bars. It was awesome. Here in the states either we just lack the tradition, or we won’t let ourselves start one because culturally we’re all embarrassed. But we still like music.
The success of Glee is assuredly due to much more than a repressed love of music, but we’re certainly uptight about it and I think that Glee makes it feel accessible. Drama and chorus were for nerds when I was in High School (myself among them) and dancing still hasn’t recovered from rock and roll. But, if HS Musical and Glee are any indication, maybe our generation is trending more musical and pop culture just caught up.
Also a Gleek, I find the show to be a nice break to my day. It’s funny, entertaining, and reminds me of my high school singing group. I went to a small private school that was very different from the typical high school experience- there were no football players/cheerleaders so I think that I enjoy this show because it shows me what a normal high school would have been like (yes I understand it is obviously very exaggerated). My college roommates and I sit around every Wednesday and sing along, so we don’t mind that the story lines are simple or that the characters “have been seen before”- as long as we can have a good time watching it, we will keep the tradition going.
What I find fascinating about Glee (as someone in media) is that it is a TV show with a plot and characters, yes. But it’s also a music artist. Real talent producing valuable content that makes the top charts on itunes. The shows live on through the music. Would be interesting if they had a crowdsourced casting call on youtube for another member and made mash-ups of the songs.
As for the stereotypes in the show, I would agree with Nicole in that they are there because they are still true. And intentionally overblown because they are a parody, which is what makes us laugh at the show.
Like all the high school shows before it…Glee reminds everyone across all generations what high school’s really about–popularity, fads, cliques and trying to fit in.
Before Glee, before High School Musical 1, 2, 3, 4 or 50, there was Fame, the movie, not the awful TV series that followed. The reason shows like this gain such a following can be gleamed from the first sentence of the theme song from the Movie……”Fame, I want to live forever, I’m gonna learn how to fly”. (Singing this while dancing across cars in the meatpacking district of Manhatten). Glee and HSH hit the same note within people that Fame did. It’s about the way music makes you feel and let’s face it, life is, can be, banal, just like the weekly plots of Glee. Music makes us want to rise higher, makes us want to dance, lifts us above the everyday ho-hum of mind numbing tedium. So, download “Fame”, watch the hokey plot, and remember, it’s about the music, whether it’s the 70′s, 80′s, 90′s or now.
i am a certified Gleek and i really love the TV Show GLEE. Diana is very pretty **;