TALKING POINTS #6 // CONNECTIONS // GLEE

Glee is a show rich with characters outside of dominant ideology.

Applying Lisa Grinner's lens of analysis it is easy to identify those aspects to the show that fall outside of dominant ideology. The show is populated with characters outside the dominant ideologies of SCWAMP with identities that are:
-non-Straight (Kurt, Blaine, the bully Dave Karofsky, and Brittany and Santana to a lesser extent)
- non-Christian (Principal Figgins) but mostly Jewish (Jacob the newspaper editor, Puck, possibly Rachel, Artie and Tina)
- non-White (Tina, Mike, Mercedes, Santana, Principal Figgins)
- non-Able-bodied (in terms of physical ability - Arie the paraplegic, in terms of mental ability - Becky and Jean Sylvester both with Down Syndrome and Emma with OCD, in terms of physical attractiveness - Lauren)
- non-Masculine (many female lead characters and a few male characters inhabiting 'unmasculine' traits such as Kurt)
- non-Property holding (while there is some mention of money problems, this isn't a strong area of thinking outside the dominant box)

The show is also populated with characters whose identities do embody SCWAMP dominant ideologies:
- Straight (everyone except Kurt, Blaine, Dave)
- Christian (with the exception of Principal Figgins and the Jewish characters everyone can be assumed Christian and there are several members of the school participating in Christian-associated activities such as celibacy)
- White (Will, Sue, Beiste, Artie, Rachel, Quinn, Finn, Kurt, Brittany, Emma, Puck, Sam, Becky...)
- Able-bodied (everyone except Artie, Becky, Sue's sister...)
- Masculine (Finn, Puck and Sam are put forth as the the most masculine)
- Property-holding (there's quite a bit of money flowing - designer clothes, prep school...)

I think there are two major things going on with Glee and dominant ideology identity...

1) Most characters (whether possessing dominant ideology identities or not) embody stereotypes associated with their identities. All of the SCWAMP students play football and are homophobic. All of the SCWAP students cheer for the football team. The student characters that aren't Straight, Christian, White, Able-bodied and Masculine? None of them play football or cheer. The only exceptions - and they are slight considering the whole matrix - include Puck (non-Christian but otherwise SCWAMP), Santana (non-White but otherwise SCWAMP) and Mercedes (non-White but otherwise SCWAMP who used to cheer.) The two Asian characters are tech-savvy, rebellious against their parents, and dating one another. The main gay character is obsessed with fashion and musicals. The cheerleaders are boy-crazy and blonde with one exception. The football players are girl-crazy and dumb. The Jewish brunette is driven and bitchy. The black girl is a diva with the strongest voice, too 'fleshy' to be anything other than the token fag hag. To be bluntly honest - I don't necessarily have a problem with this. I think it's great that there is a show with a bunch of teenagers that are straight and gay, white and Asian and Black, able-bodied and in a wheelchair, teenage dreamy and overweight, etc. The characters are stereotypes - but I also have met many people in my life that embody such stereotypes.

2) Much of the show's plots are stories about these stereotyped identities. As the primary gay male character, Kurt is almost exclusively involved in plotlines about his gay identity. As the African-American female character, Mercedes is involved with plotlines about getting along with her white club members - especially the other females. As one of the primary SCWAMP character, Finn's plotlines are about overcoming the limitations of SCWAMP - being less homophobic and more caring towards the women in his life. As the two Asians, Tina and Mike talk about their Asian relationship and their Asian activities.

So no - I really don't criticize Glee for having tech-savvy Asian characters, a diva African-American, and a gaggle of ditzy blonde Cheerios.

I DO criticize Glee for plotlines that doesn't often escape these identities - for not letting its characters that proudly embody non-dominant identities to engage in real stories. For anyone with an identity that falls even slightly outside of SCWAMP ideology, that sense of 'outsiderness' is at its most amplified during the teenage years. So I understand Glee's focus on the teenage identity - but that's why it's unfortunate that for a show about teenage identity, it chose a myriad of cliches to represent.