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I missed Glee last week, so this post is catch up, and I'll either post on the next ep later tonight or tomorrow.
Oh, god. Okay, I wasn’t expecting to hate the episode the Joss Whedon directed, but I have to tell myself that he didn’t write it. I have to tell myself this over and over, because otherwise, my brain might just explode.
I’m glad that Artie got to sing, more than once, but this is possibly the worst thing they could do with Artie. I think the only thing worse they could do would make him become a supervillain because he’s just so bitter from being a wheelchair user. But... really, show?
“The hopelessness of my condition...”
“Never going to be a dancer...”
It’s like they read a bunch of criticism of the show and decided to do something that would REALLY piss people with disabilities off. How can I put this delicately:
I could hardly watch the final scene, just because I was overcome with the horror that they’re basically telling teens who use wheelchairs or aren’t perfectly able-bodied that they can never be dancers. And they’re telling everyone else who doesn’t sue a wheelchair how utterly sad and pity-worthy it is to be a person in a wheelchair. The two options are essentially: Magical cure or CONDEMNED. What a fuck you to the people with disabilities who may be watching and/or putting up with the ideas that this kind of representation promotes/reinforces. This layered on top of the existence of a quadriplegic, just for the purpose of teaching Rachel a Very Special Lesson, is a nice additional boot to the ribs, to go with the previous slap in the face.
I don’t say these things to make it out that it’s a cakewalk to... Actually, I’m going to stop and link to someone whose experience more directly addresses the whole issue. From a blog, aptly titled “Wheelchair Dancer.”
Dream On: What a Nightmare on Glee
I think it would have been perfectly acceptable to teach Kevin McHale over the long hiatus to wheelchair dance. It would have been a much better ending to see Artie and Tina dancing together. It would have even been a better ending if Artie hadn’t managed it, but Tina took him to a show where he saw other people wheelchair dancing. Then they could have done an ep later where Artie learns how, or gets to finally do it at Regionals/Nationals. There are many things that would have been better than Artie being ALONE and the girl he likes dancing with someone else. Where’s the hope of Glee in this? Oh, right. That only goes to the straight, white, temporarily able-bodied characters. Wheelchair dancing doesn’t exist in the Gleeniverse because the writers can’t be arsed to do a cursory Google search.
One more line item of disgust: “some teenage trollop like Quinn” Quinn has had sex ONCE, you vile person. That goes for the character, but moreso for whomever wrote that line. FAIL. COULD YOU PLS SLUT-SHAME YOUR CHARACTERS A LITTLE LESS?
Some delightful things:
Neil Patrick Harris, because he’s a great singer, and does comedy well. I think I joked with someone that bringing anyone on to bust Schue’s chops is great, but I was actually focusing less on that and more on how much his character amused. Plus, NPH + Jane Lynch= Two queers playing the shit out of sexual tension. Suck on that critics who whine about how straight men play gay so well, but gay men are too distractingly queer to play straight.
“I have a bunch of playbills hidden away in my basement... like PORN!” -- I blame Joss for this line. I don’t even think that he wrote it, but anything that he’s involved in has someone yelling the word porn.
Schue whining about NPH getting all the girls he wanted and getting all the solos: Awww! Schue WAS Finn in high school.
Also, despite the fact that I find Rachel self-involved, ungrateful, and reprehensible, the plot about her wanting to find her mother is actually intriguing, since they got Idina Menzel to play her (which makes me think they do actually read the internet), and thank Zod Idina gets to SING. I’d love for Idina to remain on the show.
However, (sorry the positive didn’t last long) I think handling the plot entirely in this episode was... a complete waste. Way to blow your wad on a plot that could have held interest in the creator’s favorite character for a longer period of time. Also… where are her gay parents? I'm going to keep asking this. They SHOULD be in this plot. I don't fucking care if they have to recast.
No Gay Shark this episode. :(
Oh, god. Okay, I wasn’t expecting to hate the episode the Joss Whedon directed, but I have to tell myself that he didn’t write it. I have to tell myself this over and over, because otherwise, my brain might just explode.
I’m glad that Artie got to sing, more than once, but this is possibly the worst thing they could do with Artie. I think the only thing worse they could do would make him become a supervillain because he’s just so bitter from being a wheelchair user. But... really, show?
“The hopelessness of my condition...”
“Never going to be a dancer...”
It’s like they read a bunch of criticism of the show and decided to do something that would REALLY piss people with disabilities off. How can I put this delicately:
I could hardly watch the final scene, just because I was overcome with the horror that they’re basically telling teens who use wheelchairs or aren’t perfectly able-bodied that they can never be dancers. And they’re telling everyone else who doesn’t sue a wheelchair how utterly sad and pity-worthy it is to be a person in a wheelchair. The two options are essentially: Magical cure or CONDEMNED. What a fuck you to the people with disabilities who may be watching and/or putting up with the ideas that this kind of representation promotes/reinforces. This layered on top of the existence of a quadriplegic, just for the purpose of teaching Rachel a Very Special Lesson, is a nice additional boot to the ribs, to go with the previous slap in the face.
I don’t say these things to make it out that it’s a cakewalk to... Actually, I’m going to stop and link to someone whose experience more directly addresses the whole issue. From a blog, aptly titled “Wheelchair Dancer.”
Dream On: What a Nightmare on Glee
I think it would have been perfectly acceptable to teach Kevin McHale over the long hiatus to wheelchair dance. It would have been a much better ending to see Artie and Tina dancing together. It would have even been a better ending if Artie hadn’t managed it, but Tina took him to a show where he saw other people wheelchair dancing. Then they could have done an ep later where Artie learns how, or gets to finally do it at Regionals/Nationals. There are many things that would have been better than Artie being ALONE and the girl he likes dancing with someone else. Where’s the hope of Glee in this? Oh, right. That only goes to the straight, white, temporarily able-bodied characters. Wheelchair dancing doesn’t exist in the Gleeniverse because the writers can’t be arsed to do a cursory Google search.
One more line item of disgust: “some teenage trollop like Quinn” Quinn has had sex ONCE, you vile person. That goes for the character, but moreso for whomever wrote that line. FAIL. COULD YOU PLS SLUT-SHAME YOUR CHARACTERS A LITTLE LESS?
Some delightful things:
Neil Patrick Harris, because he’s a great singer, and does comedy well. I think I joked with someone that bringing anyone on to bust Schue’s chops is great, but I was actually focusing less on that and more on how much his character amused. Plus, NPH + Jane Lynch= Two queers playing the shit out of sexual tension. Suck on that critics who whine about how straight men play gay so well, but gay men are too distractingly queer to play straight.
“I have a bunch of playbills hidden away in my basement... like PORN!” -- I blame Joss for this line. I don’t even think that he wrote it, but anything that he’s involved in has someone yelling the word porn.
Schue whining about NPH getting all the girls he wanted and getting all the solos: Awww! Schue WAS Finn in high school.
Also, despite the fact that I find Rachel self-involved, ungrateful, and reprehensible, the plot about her wanting to find her mother is actually intriguing, since they got Idina Menzel to play her (which makes me think they do actually read the internet), and thank Zod Idina gets to SING. I’d love for Idina to remain on the show.
However, (sorry the positive didn’t last long) I think handling the plot entirely in this episode was... a complete waste. Way to blow your wad on a plot that could have held interest in the creator’s favorite character for a longer period of time. Also… where are her gay parents? I'm going to keep asking this. They SHOULD be in this plot. I don't fucking care if they have to recast.
No Gay Shark this episode. :(
