Why “maddeningly”? Because this show could be so very, very good, and it so truly, truly refuses to.
Image from byterology.com
Using the Season 2 premiere as a case study, we can see that the weak points of the show–its refusal to follow through on sharp social commentary, a base snubbing of continuity, and a certain worship of the very worst crap which pop culture can spew–are all rooted in the producer’s focus on “the performance.”
As the show’s opening montage reflects, Glee is at its best when it shows self-awareness. By making open jibes against AutoTune and terrible, terrible rapping, the writing shows a willingness to strip down to its mean-edged skivvies. But no. It’s a self-permission slip for an episode featuring… AutoTune. And rapping. If producers are fine with self-deprecation, why not indicate a willingness to at least consider the truth behind the joke?
Glee‘s major strength in the first half of its first season was a willingness to wallow in deep, dark un-PC stereotypes, which simultaneously served as fodder for hip humor as well as social satire. The pot-selling music director and the Streisand-addled brat with a photo of her two dads in her locker: That was brave, fresh, and not-so-subtly hilarious.
We saw flashes of this again in the Season 2 opener, which showed two Asian characters ensconced in Asian camp– no, I mean literally, it was a camp for Asian children, and the the cutaway song was… “Getting to Know You” from The King and I. Later, Sue Sylvester used a cheerleader-uniformed doll in a thwarted attempt to accuse her new rival of sexual harassment. That’s… jaw-dropping. And that’s something I’m tuning in next week to see: What in the world are they gonna do next?
And for show with a decidedly worrying worshipful attitude towards women who sell themselves primarily on their sexuality–Madonna, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears– there’s a curious new character in the form of football matron Coach Bieste, who, with her butch hair and her thick arms, is also Very Serious about lipstick maintenance and ensuring that pizza deliverymen don’t lose their jobs. She’s set up as the Great Sue Sylvester Foil, and is it terrible that I want to see more of Coach Bieste than just about any mega-mascara cheerleader on the screen?
Only one original character has survived the Glee Horribleness Massacre that was the second half of the first season, and that is the last-nameless Brittany, who, blessedly, remains reliably stupid, vapid, and properly deployed. Two cheerleaders dig into one another’s perfect blusher application with their fingernails? Brittany jumps in with a toneless, “Stop the violence.” Sue Sylvester wants to manipulate her into making false sexual harassment accusations against Coach Bieste? Brittany not only folds immediately, she admits to wanting to fondle the coach. A whole episode of Brittany would destroy her ability to nail a scene to the nearest locker, but where was this show… for the rest of the show?
I suppose the solution is to take Glee on its few considerable merits and ignore its apparent insistence on becoming a plot hole universe, complete with Zach Morris’ cell phone. But oh, how I wish it could be all it could be, complete with jazz hands.
