Glee

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Today I would like to beg your indulgence as I write about a television show which is very close to my heart. Today I would like to come out to you all and confess that I am a Gleek. 

I have spent a while trying to decide whether I should waste your time by talking about this show, but in light of the very recent death of the show’s 31 year old star Cory Monteith, I feel like I have no choice. So in honour of this talented man, and the hard work of all the cast and crew of this show, I shall now subject you to a post about this show, and what it has meant for me as an LGBT individual over the years.
I am the first to acknowledge that sometimes Glee is terrible. There are times when the pacing is off and the writing is bad and the whole thing ends up as an offensive mess. However, there are those times when it is brilliant.

I started watching it just before Christmas in 2011, and at that time the thought that I might be anything other than straight had never even begun to cross my mind. I watched my way through Kurt Hummel’s coming out and the subsequent homophobic bullying he experienced as a straight (yet sympathetic and open minded) girl. I enjoyed the music, and acknowledged the terrible situation the character was in, but it didn’t really make an impact.

Then along came Blaine Anderson and I was, there’s no other way to put it, inspired. Love has always been something beautiful to me, and to watch two young men fall in love before my eyes was not something I had ever really witnessed before. As I became more enthralled I was drawn into a community of people who taught me so much, both about being LGBT, and about being human in general. And the more I learned, the more I began to wonder.

The growing relationship between Brittany and Santana was a particular revelation to me at around this time. I had never before (that I knew of) encountered two women in a relationship before, so watching these two interact on screen was something that I could latch onto and begin to empathise with. Incidentally, my coming out coincided with Santana’s coming out onscreen. Although this was one of the slightly more disappointing storylines in terms of execution, it was still reassuring to have someone (albeit a fictional someone) to hold onto and gain confidence from.

I’m sure that at least some of you will understand the need to find someone to look up to, be they a friend, family member, celebrity or fictional character. The knowledge that someone out there is going through the same kinds of things as you has been immensely helpful throughout my life, and especially at this particular point. This was one moment where Glee did its job, putting a smile on my face and making me feel not alone.

Of course, as I acknowledged earlier, this is not a show without fault. One thing it has failed to do is to provide a consistent role model for bisexual individuals like myself. On occasion Brittany is acknowledged to be bisexual, but at other times this fact seems to be forgotten. There have also been those derisive comments about bisexuality that get thrown around by some of the show’s characters; usually ones who should know better.

In spite of this, and all the other failings, this is a show that I remain enamoured with. It is one of the first places I encountered LGBT characters, and I am drawn to the music and the stories of certain characters in particular.

One of my favourite storylines is that of Unique, played by Alex Newell. Although I did not initially warm to Alex when watching The Glee Project, the character he eventually ended up playing is someone who I could not help but like. Watching Unique struggle to be accepted among the community of the glee club was incredibly compelling for me, and it has been nothing less than enjoyable to follow her story, through all its ups and downs.

And really, that is the story of being an LGBT fan of the show as a whole. There are times when it is exemplary in terms of LGBT representation, but there are others when it is admittedly terrible, but as something to make me happy and give me hope, nothing has ever equalled it, and on this particular day I feel the need to acknowledge that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FALPMw8jqL0