You didn't have to be Einstein to see the show's hypocrisy from the very first episode: Mercedes, the full-figured black girl, saw all the whites taking center stage and screamed, "Hey, I ain't gonna be Kelly Rowland to nobody's Beyoncé," but a minute later she was doo-wopping behind them, content that she'd spoken her piece and now happy to serve the rest of her days as African-American scenery.
So I was startled when every dude with a blog hailed Glee as a wonderful, fun breakthrough, whereas I saw it as a musical Mary Tyler Moore show where Rhoda's in a wheelchair and Phyllis is gay.
You'll be pleased to hear, though, that now I'm ready to eat my words. Glee recently released two compilations of music from the series, a total of thirty-nine songs, and Kurt, the gay character, is actually featured on one of those songs!
Well, color me contrite. Like Ricky Martin coming out, this is a startling breakthrough for gays that I never thought we'd see in our lifetimes.
Sure, one out of thirty-nine isn't such a huge number. In fact, there's a higher ratio of African-Americans at Moody Blues reunions. Still, it's the thought that counts. We're included! We're part of the perky tapestry. So what if Kristin Chenowith has twice as many songs on the compilations and she guest-starred on exactly one episode? Ha ha to all the bigots and haters out there who, over the course of nearly three hours of music, will have to hit the fast-forward button on their iPod once!
I am now officially a Gleek. With my foot in my mouth and a sheepish grin on my face I'm heading over to the Itunes store right now. I'd like to thank the amazing folks at Glee for creating such a groundbreaking vision, but I send special thanks to the people at Amazon for making the records available by the song so I can buy the entire gay part for just thirty-nine cents.
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