Glee Is Not as Woke as You Thought

Slushies, bursting out into song in the school hallways, and endless drama, these all encompass the hit TV show Glee, which aired from 2009 until 2015. Glee is considered an iconic show, not only because of its amazing covers and exciting plotlines, but also because it discussed a variety of social issues such as race, sexuality, disabilities, and relationships. Glee revolves around a show choir, with every episode featuring covers of popular songs that align with that episode’s storyline or themes. The cast members are all talented singers and dancers — many of whom originated from Broadway. The show is the brainchild of Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, known for their other TV shows like American Horror Story and Scream Queens. Although Glee has been recognized and praised for how it dealt with complex social issues, particularly at a time when there was not much representation and discussion around such issues, the show is not as woke as we thought.

Glee featured many LGBT characters and explored themes and relationships in a way that no other show had done before. The storyline revolving around Kurt, a gay character, was highly praised for representing the everyday struggles that many gay teenagers go through. Kurt was bullied and abused by a homophobic classmate and spent much of the first season in tears as he also juggled unrequited love. However, the introduction of Blaine, portrayed by Darren Criss, meant that Kurt was no longer alone – the two entered into a relationship in high school and were eventually married. Santana, played by the late Naya Rivera, was hailed as a groundbreaking character because she became an icon of queer Afro-Latinx representation. Santana had complex character development and embraced her sexuality. However, when it came to transgender characters, Glee missed out on many opportunities to address important issues on network television and the characters Unique and Coach Beiste were not given well-developed storylines.

Glee also featured multiple people of color in its cast, but many of these characters were often tokenized and were not given full, fleshed-out character development. Despite appearing in the show from the first episode, Tina Cohen-Chang was never given the solos or airtime she deserved. For the entire show, she was considered a side character and was promised a solid storyline when she was a senior, but it just never happened. The only time she even came close to being the lead of a song was with PSY’s Gangnam Style, most likely because she was the token Asian girl. Similarly, the Black characters Mercedes Jones and Unique Adams were never given the recognition they deserved. They had powerhouse vocals and carried the glee club many times. Mercedes was made to think that she didn’t deserve the few solos she got in comparison to other characters. Mercedes and Unique were often just portrayed as “sassy” or loud-singing characters, limiting them to one stereotype. The POC characters were also often mistreated by the white protagonist Rachel Berry, who acted like a grade A bitch towards them on multiple occasions. She stirred up drama whenever things didn’t go her way and made a fuss when other characters were given the spotlight instead of her.

Glee had a few disabled characters, but their representation is not to be praised — Glee is inherently ableist. One of the main characters, Artie, is a wheelchair user and there are many flaws in the way he is portrayed. Artie is always pushed around by his friends or significant other, which gives the impression that wheelchair users are always dependent on other people when in fact, the majority of wheelchair users control their own wheelchairs. The series also presented Artie as dreaming of being non-disabled through a fantasy sequence where he dances in public. Artie’s desires do not accurately portray how disabled people think, particularly as many wheelchair users have expressed how wheelchairs give them freedom by allowing them to maneuver themselves. Glee also introduces a character with Down syndrome, Becky, later on in the show’s run. Although it was refreshing to see a disabled actress actually play a disabled character (in comparison to Artie, who is portrayed by a non-disabled actor), Becky soon becomes the antagonist’s minion. She was given crude dialogue and it seemed like she was always plotting something with Sue. Furthermore, despite being a part of the cheerleading squad, Becky never actually performed a routine.

Taking place primarily in a high school setting, Glee was unrealistic in its depiction of relationships, teenagers and adults. It romanticized adult relationships with minors on multiple occasions and portrayed adults that clearly crossed the line with minors, making the viewing experience uncomfortable for the audience. Of course, as a show targeted at teens, it had to depict teen problems to resonate with the audience and to add drama to the storyline. Nevertheless, Glee featured very questionable teenage behavior, such as Santana undergoing breast augmentation at the age of 16, Sam hooking up with the school nurse, and Puck having relationships with underage girls — this particular narrative certainly did not age well when the actor who portrayed him, Mark Salling, was found guilty of possessing child pornography. The glee club’s supervisor and the school’s Spanish teacher, Will Schuester, has become a meme on the internet for being creepy. True enough, his character throughout the show is inappropriate towards his students and certainly does not accurately depict how teachers should act towards students. For example, when performing, his choreography is promiscuous and not appropriate between a teacher and his student. His reactions to his students’ performances also border on harassment and are extremely disturbing.

There are many flaws in Glee that are overshadowed by other aspects of the show. Not to mention that many of Glee’s cast members were problematic and made other people on set feel unsafe (for example, Lea Michele was exposed for being rude to new cast members). Despite its failures, there were also positive messages conveyed in the show and many of their performances were truly iconic. Glee did a great job at being a voice for the “outcasts” in a typical high school and provided a safe space for students to be themselves. Nevertheless, while Glee is remembered for being culturally iconic, it is important to keep in mind that the show certainly was not as woke as we thought.