I’ll bet you didn’t know that the cast of Glee had a movie come out – in 3D – recently! This epic occasion was at the top of my weekend list only because it was the #1 activity that Henry and Harrison were interested in.
I admit to enjoying the show. However I struggle with it too. The subjects often make me cringe! Death, substance abuse, disabilities, bullying, homelessness, religious tolerance and… sexuality are each addressed in vivid fashion.
Wow! Really!?
Perhaps these subjects are necessary to deal with – eventually. I guess that these are the issues that American families are facing with their tweens and teens. But some of this stuff hardly seems necessary to work through with even a high school senior.
Yet, the boys enjoy it and I think that it’s great to have talent and topical dialogue be the basis of a television diversion, rather than the train wreck (albeit occasionally enjoyable) that is reality TV. Further, Glee forces us to discuss these tough issues as a family.
I’m sure that it’s the open (hetero- and homo-) sexuality, which seems to creep into almost every episode, which causes me the biggest heartburn. This is just not a big issue at my house – yet. And I don’t expect that it will ever be the central theme or even a significant undercurrent of our family life. So to have my pre-teenagers deal with this stuff each week seems to be a bit much. Maybe they include all the sex to get us adults to watch.
Nevertheless, this show probably does more to remind my kids that “being yourself is the new cool” than I ever could. As I reflect on my primary and secondary school years I recall that there was only one “in crowd” – and I was generally on the outside of it. This group defined for everyone which shoes and jeans were cool, which hairstyle was flyy, the dances that were smooth, who would be invited to certain parties and even which sport we would play in the street or on the court after school.
Of course, being a little different means lots of different things. I always felt very well dressed at church on Sundays, but pretty clumsy during the week. I still remember begging my mother not to make me wear those green plaid pants to school, the sunny afternoon when a girl I liked asked me why my turquoise and red striped tube socks were pulled up so high, and the day that my brother and I FINALLY got some hi-top ProKeds!
These are the minor traumas of what was an above average childhood. Because I also remember, and now understand, that these types of things had absolutely nothing to do with the reasons that my parents reminded me regularly that they were proud of me. Too many children feel much more pressure than I did and are slow to realize that we’re actually all a little weird.
Maybe it’s because I now see the world through wider and more experienced eyes, but it seems to me that there is less of this type of pressure today. Diversity and integration of schools, restaurants, shopping malls and neighborhoods (every place except church on Sunday) may have created a world where everyone is freer to do their own thing and to be accepted or even celebrated for their uniqueness. As the cast of Glee puts it, “I’m on the right track baby, I was born this way!” or “Soon enough you’ll figure out you wanna be a loser like me.”
This two-season old TV show highlights the ideals of diversity and inclusion better than any other that I can recall. Several races, colors, creeds and religions are represented, people with disabilities have starring roles, people with quirks, idiosyncrasies and issues are supported and, of course, diversity of sexual orientation is prominent.
Are we moving towards becoming the beloved community, where our children can be “judged by the content of their characte rather than the color of their skin?”
While I might rather my kids be exposed to the complexities of some of these issues at 14 and 16 rather than at 10 and 12, Glee seems to suggest that we are. I hope that’s the case, but if not, I can at least take comfort in the Bill Gates quote, “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.”
Come to think of it, the Glee 3D movie may have been the highlight of my weekend after all! Uuhhh maybe.