These past few weeks, I’ve been rewatching the television series, Glee, a six-season musical dramedy surrounding a high school show choir played by people who are obviously not high schoolers. For years, it was a hit amongst the musical theatre community, myself included. As a platform, Glee does a pretty good job of approaching sensitive topics and demonstrating acceptance toward all races, religions, genders, and sexual orientations. However, during my second watch, I noticed a few aspects of the show that are more problematic than I originally remembered.
Aside from the occasional off-colored joke, there are also a few plot points that are a bit insensitive to minority groups. The strangest part of these storylines is that an offensive line or plot point is usually simply brushed over as if it is normal or that nothing out of the ordinary has been said. Often, Glee makes it very clear that when something disrespectful is said, it is meant to be humorous in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. But, in certain instances when this is not made clear, or it is passed off as something that should not be questioned, it becomes a little uncomfortable to watch. This is discomforting, especially given that Glee displays itself as being so accepting.
For instance, in Season 1, Episode 16, “Home,” Kristin Chenoweth’s character, April, tells Mr. Schuester, the glee club director, that she is leaving Ohio to produce the first all-white production of The Wiz. She does this without a hint of irony in her voice or a hint of apprehension in Mr. Schuester’s expression. This could still possibly be interpreted as a joke if it were not for the fact that directly after this line, Chenoweth begins to sing the finale of the show, “Home,” originally performed on Broadway by Stephanie Mills and in the 1978 film by Diana Ross, two black actresses. That is the problem with this storyline: The Wiz is written as an all-black musical because plenty of all-white musicals already exist, including The Wizard of Oz, on which The Wiz is based. By saying that she was only going to cast white people, it completely whitewashed one of the few all-black musicals to have ever been written. Although Glee constantly preaches the importance of diversity and supporting minorities, this was one instance in which they seemed to forget these concepts.
Another example of Glee not realizing that a plotline is offensive is during Season 3 when the club holds auditions for the musical, West Side Story, and cast Rachel Berry, played by Lea Michele, a white actress, as Maria, a Puerto Rican character. Additionally, a majority of the members of the Sharks, a Puerto Rican street gang, are also cast as white actors. Once again, the show seemed to forget that whitewashing a musical, especially one that centers around race differences, is not a good way to present itself as embracing diversity.
I don’t think either of these instances, or any of the others that occur that I have not mentioned, are meant to be offensive or derogatory in any way. It just shows a lack of awareness that could have and should have been avoided by the writers of the show.