THE STUPID, IT IS ALL OVER THE PLACE. THE SMART HAS LEFT THE BUILDING.

[vanitashaze]

So I just had a really infuriating argument about all of Glee's SERIOUSLY PROBLEMATIC PROBLEMS (of which I could go on forever, but I won't, because this show makes me go AAAAAAAARGGH) with a friend who was convinced that Glee was "fluff"; that I was "taking it too seriously"; that it was a "coincidence" that the main storylines went to white, straight characters (and hey! Gay characters and disabled characters and characters of color exist! So obviously my argument is groundless); that the writers weren't racist (and sexist, and ablist, and homophobic), and if they were, it was because they "didn't know how to handle so many storylines", or (my personal favorite) "because they wanted good ratings, and nobody watches shows about gay people/black people/asian people/disabled people/women".

And this a good friend. Someone I really like. And who could not accept that it was a problem that Glee had problems.

!!!!!

Then I read this, and that made it a little better, at least in regards to the Brittany/Santana storyline. So that's something.

Comments

[wordsatourbacks]

Yeah, it stinks that Glee's rampant racism/sexism/homophobia/ableism is so ingrained in the show that you can't even really get away from it by only watching the musical numbers (as some of my friends who watch the show have been doing). Conversations/interactions like the one you've described with respect to your friend remind me of nothing so much as this quote from the end of this interview:

When I teach about racism the first thing I say to my students is that racism is not ignorance. Racism is knowledge. Racism in some ways is a very complicated system of knowledge, where science, religion, philosophy, are used to justify inequality and hierarchy. That is foundational. Racism is not simply a kind of visceral feeling you have when you see someone who is different from you.

Because in fact if you look at the history of the world there are many people who look different who are seen as both attractive and unattractive. It is not about how you look, it is about how people assign meaning to how you look. And that is learned behavior, you see.

And that is why you can't think of racism as simply 'not knowing.' That is not the case at all - on the contrary.

Learned systems - oh the unlearning of all the foundational systems of inequality we have to do. And as we keep learning the hard way, some folks just don't want to recognize that. It kind of inevitably makes me trust people less, people I care about but who just... won't.

[wordsatourbacks]

P.S. I'm 99.9 percent certain you've already seen this, but for reference: Derailing for Dummies. I think the "You're Taking Things Too Personally," etc. applies pretty well to the frustration of your experience!

[vanitashaze]

I have not, actually, but I'm very glad you rec'd this to me! For a while, I even thought about forwarding it to the person I was talking to, but then I realized I would probably get a reply back something along the lines of, You're still on this, V? Really? and decided not to. As far as the interview goes - I've heard that before, in a vague "summarize the evidence and you will find this is true" way, but never put so lucidly or powerfully. Bravo to Kelley.

And, yeah. Most of the time I can't even watch the musical numbers - I just download the music - but on rare occasions I'll find myself watching a bit and fall in love all over again with Tina, Mercedes, Mike (ILU Mike! Especially fandom Mike, who has actually been developed into a personality, instead of the Other Asian Extra!), Artie, Kurt, Kurt's dad, and on occasion the three cheerleaders (though they are characters I like a lot more in fandom than in the canon). It's hard to give up on Glee, in a way, because despite everything those characters are SO AWESOME, and I would happily watch a musical show about of those people. But as it has over time become stridently, painfully clear, it's not about them. It never has been. It's a show about white, straight, privileged people, and all the characters I desperately love are just back-up singers, background dancers, and far too often, convenient targets to bounce hipster jokes off of.