Glee Season 2, Volume 1, directed by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, 2010
ASIN: B004DCB2CG
Plot Summary
Glee students return to classes and Glee practice after placing last in Regionals. But after recruiting new faces, they are confident they have a chance to win next year’s. Soon, all the students lives grow complicated as they form new romantic relationships and face school bullies and family illnesses. Finn and Rachel’s relationship continues to grow and develop until Rachel learns of Finn’s indiscretion with Santana from season one. Brittany and Artie start to date and both learn for the first time what it is to be a good partner. Quinn begins to re-learn how to adapt to the social scene while newcomer Sam tries to convince her to date him. Kurt visits the all-boys school Dalton Academy where he meets one of the leads of Dalton’s show choir, the personable Blaine. The teachers also are learning lessons of their own. Sue must come to terms with her tumultuous past with her neglectful mother while Will adjusts to being single.
Critical Evaluation
Glee is a highly praised show that has received multiple prestigious awards. It is the top television series among teens and has two Platinum and two Gold albums to its name (FOX). It has also received two Grammy Award nominations as well as 19 Emmy and 11 Golden Globe nominations (not to mention four Emmy Awards) (FOX). It is easy to see why Glee appeals to so many people. The songs in the show are a mix of popular show tunes, oldies, eighties, and the hot hits of today. Each number is cleverly re-imagined and visually striking. Glee also touches upon current issues that teenagers face today. For example in episode three, Grilled Chesus, when Kurt’s father becomes ill each of the kids question their religious beliefs and try to help Kurt as best they can. When Sue steals all the gifts that are being donated to the needy at Christmastime, the Glee club learns that it is important to come together and appreciate one another. While Kurt struggles with being bullied at school, Quinn is slowly recovering from her pregnancy and trying to learn how to navigate the social scene once more. And just as Finn is trying to learn how to be a good brother, Brittany is learning how to be a good girlfriend. The show also contains a good amount of humor from Brittany’s one-liners to Kurt’s snarky comments to Sue’s outrageous, scheming ways.
However, just as there is much to love about Glee there is much that gives cause for concern. Multiple episodes have been critiqued for a variety of reasons. For example, The Parents Television Council rated episode two, Britney/Brittany as too sexually explicit (Parents Television Council). Glee was additionally slammed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for the use of the word tranny in episode five, The Rocky Horror Glee Show. The critique continued with the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ disappointment with Glee’s episode seven in which a teacher makes fun of Mary Todd Lincoln’s bi-polar disorder. As for me, I personally found episode three, Grilled Chesus, to be offensive, making me reconsider my enjoyment of the show.
Glee’s characters are complex and well-developed but there is often something lacking. Perhaps I am simply naïve but I cannot help but think that most of the characters found within Glee are not representative of the everyday high school student or teacher. It seems like choir director, Will Schuester, is constantly seducing women and taking his shirt off at school while Principal Figgins is a complete push-over who allows himself to be blackmailed (multiple times) by coach Sue Sylvester. Rachel is so over-the-top in her schemes to become famous that it is difficult to see what Finn likes about her while Brittany is so dense that it is difficult to see how she even made it to high school. Of course, each of the character’s flaws and failures are magnified in order to add humor to the show but I believe such tactics result in flat, unbelievable characters that leave the audience wanting something more. Glee’s masterful subtexts and brilliant musical numbers sadly cannot make up for the fact that many of its characters are unbelievable and, at times, poorly developed.
FOX (2011). About the show. Retrieved from http://www.fox.com/glee/about/
Kane, M. (2010, October 29). Glee episode hits the wrong note. Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Retrieved from http://glaadblog.org/2010/10/29/glee-episode-hits-the-wrong-note/.
NAMI. (2010, December 3). Glee: Not funny. Retrieved from ^"Glee: Not Funny"http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Stigma_Alerts_Archive&template=/contentmanagement/contentdisplay.cfm&ContentID=111763&title=StigmaBusters%20-%20Dec.%202010.
Parents Television Council. Worst TV show of the week. Retrieved from http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/bw/2010/1001worst.asp
Reader’s Annotation
High school is tough when you belong to a club deemed to be the dorkiest on campus. But somehow, by banding together through song and friendship, the members of the Glee club not only survive but learn something about themselves in the process.
About the Directors
Ryan Murphy— Described by Brad Falchuk as “the musical genius of the show” he is in charge of choosing all the songs that appear on Glee. He tries to pick a balance between show tunes, oldies, and the latest hits. Growing up gay in Indiana, Murphy wanted to shed light on the struggles homosexual teenagers face (hence the character of Kurt). Initially working as a journalist and book author he soon began to write for movies and television. Some of the films/TV shows he worked on are Popular, St. Sass, and Nip/Tuck. He also directed Running with Scissors and Eat, Pray, Love. He is currently working on the screenplay Why Can’t I Be Audrey Hepburn?
Brad Falchuk— Thirty-eight year old Falchuk is one of the three co-creators and writers for Glee. Falchuk is mainly responsible for developing the voices of the athletic characters in the show. Interestingly, several of the Glee characters are named for Falchuk’s high school friends.
Ian Brennan—New to screenwriting, actor Ian Brennan is co-writer and co-director for Glee. Like several of the kids in the Glee club, he grew up as a teenager steeped in the arts. He even sang in his high school choir. He met Falchuk and Murphy through his friend, Mike Novick, who gave Brennan’s screenplay to Murphy. Some of the films he has appeared in are Too Much Flesh, No Sleep ‘til Madison, Flourish, Save the Last Dance 2, I Think I Love My Wife, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Murphy, Falchuk, and Brennan all work together to write and produce the episodes for Glee. Murphy and Falchuk simultaneously worked on the show Nip/Tuck together and wanted to work on a new show once Nip/Tuck reached the end of its run. They teamed up with Brennan after reading his screenplay about teenagers in a show choir and pitched the idea to the Fox network. Fortunately, Fox agreed to pick the show up and the rest is history.
Tribute Entertainment Media Group (2011). Ryan Murphy bio. Retrieved from http://www.tribute.ca/people/ryan-murphy/16123/
Weiss, J. (August 30, 2009). Welcome to the club. The Boston Globe. Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2009/08/30/for_glee_brad_falchuk_draws_on_his_days_at_beaver_country_day_school/
Silver, C. (2009, December 7). We’re all gleeks—10 questions for Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/12/were-all-gleeks-10-questions-with-glee-co-creator-brad-falchuk/
Fernandez, M.E. (2009, April 26). What Glee: Choir kids rule. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2009/apr/26/entertainment/ca-glee26
Genre
Drama/Comedy, Musical, School Story, TV Show
Tags
Show choir, racism, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Madonna, gender roles, homosexuality, High school, cheerleading
Curriculum Ties
N/A
Booktalk Ideas
N/A
Reading Level/Interest Age
Interest Level: 9th grade and up
Challenge Issues
There are host of potential challenge issues in Glee from moderate swearing, sexuality, juvenile delinquency, and inappropriate behavior involving teachers. Librarians should defend Glee by pointing out that this TV series is kept in the Adult DVD section (at least in most libraries).
Why Was This Included?
Glee is a popular show on television currently and it is one of the few shows I enjoy watching it. I thought it would prove interesting to discuss critically particularly as I am torn whether or not to watch it myself.
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