Monday, March 21, 2011

GLEE : Connections to Christensen and Grinner

GLEE
Connections
Grinner’s SCWAMP is apparent ideology in the television show GLEE.  Straightness is the most obvious dominance in this school with the exception of the one Gay student. However, the episode “Never Been Kissed” centers around the students hardships for being who his is. He is bullied by the jock, who is Gay but cannot and will not come out. Besides this young man, the characters are predominately straight. Christianity – This is apparent in Furt when there is a Catholic marriage, giving the impression that most of the people are Christian. Whiteness is definitely the dominant ideology here. I was looking for African American and minority characters but I found just a few. The one black girl I noticed was heavy set. Able-Bodieness, with the exception of the wheel chair boy. I didn’t notice anyone with special needs, or impairments. Male: Well this is high up on the dominance ladder. The male is truly more valued as the dominant ideology, at least in the episodes I watched. The male teacher who seems to fix everything, and the boy who just got out of reform school who  is idolized by the cheerleaders while he treats them like lower class citizens. The male masculinity with the connotations to sex is a message in the episode also. So, yes SHWAMP has its place in GLEE. However, that is , I think if one is analyzing it. This is where Christensen is relevant. The underlying message that women are inferior to men is in the episode “Never Been Kissed.” Just as Christensen discusses the “secret education” that kids are getting from cartoons, so are kids getting from Glee.  An education that  Gay is a bad thing because the Gay kid gets hit and bullied. Another message that is coming from Glee is that women need men to feel good. For instance, when the teacher kisses the Beast and suddenly everything is OK. Also, the cheerleaders who are degraded . There is a lot of “secret education” one can get from this show if one looks for it.
Overall I think that the theme of the show is the most relevant to the viewer. Just think , this media is giving people the opportunity to experience this diversity. When I was a kid one would never see  a kid in a wheel chair as one of the main characters, nor did we see a gay person or many African Americans. Today, we see it all and that is good. I think the overall message that it is OK to be gay, one can be accepted and respected if they are in a wheelchair and that bullying is wrong and hurting someone’s feelings is wrong.  Hopefully it is the theme of the show that viewers will latch on to and take away with them.
Glee reminds me of the film Grease.

5 comments:

  1. Diana,
    you did a great job relating the episodes to both SCWAAMP and Christensen! Next time try pulling specific quotes from the text (episodes) to make your argument that much stronger :) See you in class.

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  2. Diana,
    I love how you added a clip from GREESE to your blog post! I really like that movie, you did a good job relating previous texts read in class to this weeks blog.

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  3. Great connections here... and the Grease clip is perfect. How does the "secret education" of Grease compare to that in GLEE? (I have to think about this question!)

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  4. Grease is in many ways similar to Glee- great job! This made me think of all the other shows and movies that can also be tied into this!

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  5. I enjoyed the connnection you made with your whole reading to Grease. Grease is definitely one of my favs !!! ( sorry so late)

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