It may be a doozy of a stand-alone dramatic scene, but last week's verbal tongue-lashing on Glee from Kurt's father to Finn was not the proud moment in gay/straight relations that it has been sold as. The scene in question has been heralded elsewhere as some kind of wonderful teaching moment about the hidden prejudice in all of us. Frankly, the scene is more about how a relatively reasonable person lashes out at the stunning manipulations of a sexually-aggressive asshole. Yes Finn (Cory Monteith) lost his temper and lashed out (he uses the term 'faggy' to describe the decorations purchased by Kurt for their new living quarters), but Kurt (Chris Colfer) bears responsibility as well. The clip below (after the jump... blame formatting issues) ironically removes much of the context that explains the outbursts in question.Kurt's prior actions, arguably signifying that he views Finn's heterosexuality as a choice, were every bit as wrongheaded, if not more so. From Finn's point of view, he has been removed from his childhood home, forced to share a room with another person, a fellow student who has a crush on him no less, all while having to deal with the sudden fact that his mother has taken up with a new man. Kurt has been quite passive-aggressive, on one hand arranging to move in together with the jock who he has a crush on while lashing out at his father for bonding with said jock. Yes, Finn used a gay slur, but to be threatened with proverbial homelessness (IE - being thrown out of the house by Kurt's father) for losing your temper with your unwanted and sexually-obnoxious new roommate (be said roommate gay or straight) is a punishment that did not fit the crime, especially given that Finn had been forcibly removed from his own house and forced to live with Kurt and his father. Finn was intolerant not of Kurt's sexuality, but of Kurt's behavior as a classmate, teammate, and occasional friend.
Morever, it is obvious that the righteous-indignation thrown at Finn by Kurt's father, Burt (Mike O'Malley) comes not just from his offense at his son being scolded in a bigoted fashion, but rather overcompensation stemming from his own guilt, both over his failure to truly accept his son and his ease with which he bonded with the more 'traditional' step-son that is Finn. That's all well and good, as the scene up to that point was rooted in prior character development and worked as a powerful moment. But, from a purely storytelling and character perspective, the show faltered by not acknowledging that Kurt bore some responsibility for instigating the whole affair.
Kurt did not seem to realize how put-upon Finn had been feeling about the new living arrangements. Kurt (from the evidence thus far in the show) doesn't seem to realize that everyone of all sexual orientations should be able to reject potential suitors without fear of reprisal. He also didn't realize that in those moments and the moments involving his crazy scheme (which involved trying to snag Finn as an unwilling roommate in order to breed eventual romantic interest) that he was in fact personifying every negative stereotype regarding young gay men.
Which, again, would have been just fine on its own. The characters of Glee have never been portrayed as saintly and drama often comes when characters we like partake in behavior we disagree with and/or make decisions we abhor. But the show faltered by making the whole blow-out appear to be completely Finn's fault. Finn, who had been portrayed as empathetic, tolerant, and understanding of everyone around him, was presented as just another closeted bigot who needed to 'man up' and admit his own foibles. Finn was the one who had to 'reach out' in order to make proverbial amends. Finn was the one who basically had to round up the Glee squad in order to save Kurt from a bullying in the school hallways.
But, by apparently letting Kurt off the hook for his own behavior, and by allowing Kurt's father to tear his new step-son to shreds without bothering to inquire as to what had occurred, the show failed as anything resembling a 'teachable moment' for gay representations in mainstream entertainment. It was great acting and compelling drama, but the lack of appropriate follow-through inadvertently taught some genuinely awful lessons for viewers of all ages and sexual orientations.
Scott Mendelson
5 comments:
Your post is a sterling example of the positive role that good criticism should play. An excellent read on the sequence, and equally impressive of you to call the show out for it.
I would have loved to have seen a closing scene where Kurt presents a bedroom with a true divider that is decorated to fit both personalities and maybe some sort of music-oriented public space where they can hang out together. The show even sets up for such a character arc with Kurt's slip of the tongue earlier when he says the room will represent what Kurt wants Finn to be, the corrects himself. But you're so right, Scott, it never follows through. I'd say maybe they'll address it in a future episode, but given that such a scene would literally have taken 40 seconds to wrap up that subplot, it seems unlikely. I doubt they'd tack on such an important scene to the next episode when we likely will be focusing on other characters.
I usually agree with you Scott, but in this case, I think you're leaving out some context. Specifically:
1) Kurt was not actually as happy about having Finn as a roommate as he was before, because of his father's preference for spending time with Finn in a way Kurt can't. But Kurt was trying to make Finn welcome without changing himself. (He already tried that the previous episode and found it didn't work.)
2) Finn didn't just issue a gay slur. Finn accused Kurt of planning to jump him and leer at him, which is the typical prejudice gay males experience -- that it's believed that they can't keep it in their pants and heterosexual males are scared that the gays will make a pass at them. (Such as the arguments about the military.)
3) Kurt had in a previous episode accepted Finn's orientation as straight, and knows that his crush is not going to be returned. That doesn't mean it's gone, or that Kurt doesn't like to hang around in Finn's presence, but that doesn't mean that Kurt doesn't respect Finn's orientation and was making a pass at him.
4) I agree that Finn was being put upon, and the threat to throw him out of the house was overcompensation, but Finn's main reason for going on a rant with Kurt was that his fellow football players were calling him gay and weak for associating with gays and singing in the chorus and insinuating that he and Kurt were having sex. So while Finn was uncomfortable because Kurt had a crush on him, his lashing out was more about Kurt acting too gay (and theatrical -- the theme of the episode,) and making Kurt feel bad so that Finn would feel more like a tough guy, rather than that Kurt was actually coming on to him. It was part of Finn wondering whether to drop glee club as well as his new family situation.
When Kurt's dad yelled at him, it woke Finn up, and made him realize that he was conforming to someone else's image of himself again. So he accepted himself as part of glee club and Kurt as what he is -- an open, effeminate gay male. And it also was Kurt's dad realizing what he'd asked of his son.
What's interesting about the show is that they are trying to show the development of a friendship between a gay male and a straight, athletic male, including the bumps, such as both gays and straights trying to overcompensate and deal with sexual impulses that aren't in sync. So yeah, Kurt's dad wasn't perfectly right, but he's Kurt's dad. And both Finn and Kurt did grow out of it, which is the idea of the show.
So I don't think the scene fails as a teachable moment. I think it teaches gays and straights about the difficulties involved, and it's pretty typical of the show.
Thanks for that KatG. Tis the best defense of said scene that I've read.
I usually agree with you Scott, but in this case, I think you're leaving out some context. Specifically:
1) Kurt was not actually as happy about having Finn as a roommate as he was before, because of his father's preference for spending time with Finn in a way Kurt can't. But Kurt was trying to make Finn welcome without changing himself. (He already tried that the previous episode and found it didn't work.)
2) Finn didn't just issue a gay slur. Finn accused Kurt of planning to jump him and leer at him, which is the typical prejudice gay males experience -- that it's believed that they can't keep it in their pants and heterosexual males are scared that the gays will make a pass at them. (Such as the arguments about the military.)
3) Kurt had in a previous episode accepted Finn's orientation as straight, and knows that his crush is not going to be returned. That doesn't mean it's gone, or that Kurt doesn't like to hang around in Finn's presence, but that doesn't mean that Kurt doesn't respect Finn's orientation and was making a pass at him.
4) I agree that Finn was being put upon, and the threat to throw him out of the house was overcompensation, but Finn's main reason for going on a rant with Kurt was that his fellow football players were calling him gay and weak for associating with gays and singing in the chorus and insinuating that he and Kurt were having sex. So while Finn was uncomfortable because Kurt had a crush on him, his lashing out was more about Kurt acting too gay (and theatrical -- the theme of the episode,) and making Kurt feel bad so that Finn would feel more like a tough guy, rather than that Kurt was actually coming on to him. It was part of Finn wondering whether to drop glee club as well as his new family situation.
When Kurt's dad yelled at him, it woke Finn up, and made him realize that he was conforming to someone else's image of himself again. So he accepted himself as part of glee club and Kurt as what he is -- an open, effeminate gay male. And it also was Kurt's dad realizing what he'd asked of his son.
What's interesting about the show is that they are trying to show the development of a friendship between a gay male and a straight, athletic male, including the bumps, such as both gays and straights trying to overcompensate and deal with sexual impulses that aren't in sync. So yeah, Kurt's dad wasn't perfectly right, but he's Kurt's dad. And both Finn and Kurt did grow out of it, which is the idea of the show.
So I don't think the scene fails as a teachable moment. I think it teaches gays and straights about the difficulties involved, and it's pretty typical of the show.
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