Glee: We Are Shaking and Crying for Santana
Okay, y’all. Before I delve into the detailed epic-ness of last night’s episode of Glee (there’s so much to say!), will someone please explain to me why every time I’m not a huge fan of the musical numbers, the plot line blows me away? I mean, just ONCE I would like to be wowed by both aspects of the show. I especially hated The Warbler’s rendition “Animal”. Totally irrelevant to the plot, and totally un-sexy, which is saying a lot because Darren Criss (Blaine) is to die for. I literally D.I.E. for him.
With that said, I am loving the Sexual Education in High Schools theme. Once again, the writers of Glee have touched upon a very hot button, politicized topic. What was the lesson learned? Through Holly Holiday‘s overtly sexual classes versus Emma’s ‘celibacy’ club meetings, it’s evident that NEITHER approach works. Which leads me directly into the best and most balanced form of Sex Ed exemplified by Burt’s discussion with Kurt: THE MOST EFFECTIVE FORM OF SEXUAL EDUCATION IS PARENTS DISCUSSING EVERYTHING WITH THEIR CHILDREN.
We have children learning about sex through media like music videos a la Gwyneth Paltrow’s rendition of Joan Jett’s “Do You Wanna Touch”, which is totally over the top and unrealistic. Yet we also have children receiving an “abstinence-only” education, which is also totally over the top, and unrealistic (a la the Celibacy Club’s rendition of Afternoon Delight, which I was totally screaming at. I mean, what irony?? LMAO).
Burt Hummel’s discussion with Kurt was totally on point and completely heart-wrenching for about a million reasons. First, what parent do you know to actually go to the clinic to pick up literature about sex and have an open discussion about the topic?? My mom spoke to me about sex, but there were no pamphlets involved. I just got a copy of “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret” by Judy Blume and that was that. Secondly, and most IMPORTANTLY (and what brought me to tears the first of two times during the episode) we were shown a single-father discussing safe-sex in a homosexual relationship. I mean, I’m really not sure if everyone realizes how profound/progressive that was.
There were some parts of the conversation, which I found problematic. My friend Tos agrees here:
As for Kurt and Burt’s conversation. they are my favorite scenes on this show hands down. It’s the reason Chris Colfer won a Golden Globe and the reason Mike O’Malley is the best “father” on network television right now. Their chemistry as a father/son on screen is unmatched. I loved the conversation, especially Burt’s line about not throwing yourself around like you don’t matter, but I did feel like Burt got a good chunk wrong. He did some gender stereotyping, by stating there are a lot more emotions involved for women. This wasn’t the talk that Kurt needed.
Gender stereotypes involved or not, the baby steps taken by televising this sort of conversation gives me hope for the future of gender-equality in this country. Which brings us to Santana and her deep confusion about her feelings for Brittany.
……………
The above was a moment of silence in appreciation and acknowledgment for Naya Rivera‘s performance (Santana Lopez) last night. Is she a bisexual? Is she a lesbian? The point is, it really doesn’t matter. What Santana finally admitted was her love for her friend. Whether it was her attraction to a male or her attraction to a female is completely beside the point. She doesn’t need to be labeled. Whether or not the show completely jumped the shark with Santana’s storyline remains to be seen (My friend Kimberlee really wants to know what they’re going to do with her now. Is she going to go back to being the bitchy queen of the school? Is she going to explore her feelings for women further with someone else? Also, why couldn’t Brittany just break-up with Artie? Who knows). What is evident from this episode is that Naya Rivera can act her ass off, and I’m happy she finally got some character development.
Santana’s performance of Landslide with Holly Holiday and Brittany was the only musical number I really enjoyed this episode. Although the rendition was way too close to the Dixie Chicks version, and as Tos says, Holly really should have just let the girls perform the song themselves.
Can we all just discuss for a moment how well the show portrays the tortured/confused souls of high school students everywhere? I love it. I wonder what high school would have been like for me if there was a show on the air like Glee. Hey all my high school readers, what do you guys think? Does Glee give you something to relate to?
Although the episode had a very serious overtone, I was dying laughing thanks to Brittany’s inability to understand where babies come from
“I don’t need to go doctor, I can just look outside my window and see that a bird built a nest outside my window and is getting ready to drop a baby off.”
and Lauren Zices’ new desire to become famous by starring in a sex tape
“Well Puckerman, it’s your lucky day…remember I told you I had a master plan? Here it is, can you think of a celebrity who released a tape of their intimate relations that DIDN’T make them more famous?…Rachel Barry wants to be a famous singer…I just wanna be famous. Doing that number for Glee club was my first step toward being a star. I wanna be like a Kardashian. I want a TV show AND a fragrance. It’ll be called Zices, and the slogan will be, ‘You just got Ziced’.”
Overall, I give the episode an A+ for plot line and character development, and a C- for musical numbers. Sigh. Let’s get both up to an A+ for regionals, please?
Faith
luismercedes926
Ricardo Carrion
Life in High Definition 
haha thanks for mentioning me 🙂 I’m glad she got character development as well. It was very profound to have Kurt’s father talk to him about sex but also agree he was a little off about the stereotype. Great episode though! P.S. It was Joan Jett “Do You Want to Touch.”