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Glee – it’s about opening yourself up to joy

singinggleeAs I write this, it is a Tuesday afternoon, and I’ve got stuff I should be doing. The garden needs attention, I’ve got laundry to do, my mother has hinted that she may need help with something-or-other, and I probably should consider getting exercise at some point. Instead, I am booting up Hulu and watching Glee for what I think may be the seventh time in a week. Because I, like everyone else, am totally addicted.

Now I could blame this addiction on a lot of things, like how Jayma Mays is utterly fantastic in everything she does, or my burgeoning and unstoppable crush on Finn (no matter what my best friend claims, I saw him first), or even the wildly quotable lines (“chicks don’t have prostates — I looked it up”). I could blame it on being part of the television hive mind or drinking the collective Kool Aid that’s been passed from television nerd to television nerd faster than mono at a kissing booth. But I’m going to go out there and say what I’ve been keeping inside for far too long: the reason that I, Julia Hass, love Glee is because it’s got musical numbers and I am a musical nerd.

Some may say I was pre-destined to be this way, since when I was about three or four it was my big, geeky dream to play Little Orphan Annie, since I looked so much like her (I had the exact hair and everything and yes, there is photographic proof).  Or perhaps it was my parents’ fault, for having vinyls of Barbara Streisand and Hair in the attic, or especially my father’s for secretly knowing every single word to Jesus Christ Superstar.

But really, this is all entirely the fault of my older sister, who started bringing home musicals and listening to them on her new and highly advanced boom box (with a CD player of all the outlandish, technologically exciting things) when I was about six or seven. And since if my sister had decided that she was going to start wearing her underwear outside of her jeans as a fashion statement I would have followed her without a second thought, I, too, became addicted. And so did the rest of my family. And really, it’s just been a downward spiral from there.

I’ve never really been able to understand why being such a nerd over musicals is weird, or somehow seen as something traditionally limited to gays and attention-hungry divas. How is song and dance not universal? All I know is it’s one of those things I’ve put in the box dubbed “do not bring out until the third date” (or comparable period of time when it comes to friendships), along with the fact that I still sleep with a stuffed animal and am technically not big enough to sit in the front seat of a car with airbags. (That’s right, internet, I feel that you and I are at a point in our relationship where I can share that with you. Please don’t think less of me.)

I understand the case against musicals — they are cheesy and over-the-top. And no, it’s not realistic that scores of people will suddenly break into choreographed dances through the city streets.  But if you think about it, is it really realistic that a fly entering someone’s nose will be a demon that escorts them on a two-hour downward spiral to hell? Or that in a crazy turn of events, your dapper and conveniently single yet infuriating boss will give you a makeover and realize that you’re the woman he’s been waiting his whole life for? (Especially if you’re not a woman?) How many times have you jumped gun-first out of a helicopter or planned a multinational bank heist? Seriously, I’d like you to consider it. Of all the crazy leaps of faith entertainment regularly asks you to make, why is it that the leap into singing your emotions is so looked down upon?

Lately, the world of musical theater has experienced a bit of a pick-me-up. Movies like Dreamgirls, Chicago, Hairspray, and the whole High School Musical conglomerate has exploded, and critics seem to be confused as why they’re so awesome and popular. (Well, I’m not a fan of High School Musical, but that’s another story for another day.) Mostly I hear people sticking to the allure of star power, saying it’s all thanks to Beyonce or Jennifer Hudson or Renee Zellweger or Catherine Zeta-Jones, or especially (as my friends and I refer to him) “ZEffron”. (It’s like JLo, but better, and more made up of sunshine and rainbows.) Let me give everyone who’s dithering down that path a hint — it’s not that. If anything, Glee has proven that you can take complete unknowns and be equally as successful. The trick is all in the musical numbers.

There’s something intoxicating and almost childishly joyful about breaking into song and dance. (And I should know, since my siblings and I have impromptu musical numbers while doing chores more than any of us probably care to admit.) It’s the purest expression of emotion I know, and there are few things more delightful to me than watching people do it, no matter how cheesy the song is. (Hello, of all songs, “Don’t Stop Believing”?)

As a culture we’ve grown so jaded. We’ve become those Cheerios and Principal Higgins. Singing and dancing, we say, is no longer good enough. We’ve grown up too much for the simplicity that Fred and Ginger used to specialize in. We’re more “sophisticated” than that now. Instead, we watch people get married for money and willingly abandon themselves in remote locations only to backstab and throw fish at each other. And, speaking as someone who worked either on or backstage in theater for most of my middle and high school career, I can say that it feels like the only ones left who still believe in it really are those kids you see portrayed in Glee.

I’ve known those kids. I’ve worked with those kids. I was one of those kids. (For those of you who are curious, I was a less visually intimidating Tina.) And if anything, what I hope is this show reminds everyone is that entertainment, that happiness, doesn’t have to only come from desperately complicated plots, high stakes, or tragedy. It can come simply in the form that is the joy of human expression, of standing on a stage and letting out everything you feel in that one, perfect moment. Because that is what Glee is, if you’ll remember that quote Mr. Schuster reads at the beginning. Glee is, by definition, opening yourself up to joy. And that’s what makes it just so wonderful.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think that I’m going to go rewatch this show for the eighth time. Because yeah, it really is just that necessary and spectacular. And this time, I don’t even feel ashamed about it anymore.

Photo Credit: FOX

Categories: | Clack | Episode Reviews | General | TV Shows |

4 Responses to “Glee – it’s about opening yourself up to joy”

May 27, 2009 at 1:26 PM

Everything about this post — except perhaps your questioning of the use of “Don’t Stop Believing” — is pretty much how I feel as well! My family is a musical family, and so in my life it actually IS normal to make up songs about the chores you’re doing or about your dog chewing a bone until it’s gross and untouchable (yes, it is called “Taco chews a bone,” and my brother and I even noodled it out on the piano and guitar, and I feel like I’m divulging WAY TOO MUCH in a comment on a TV blog, but then again I don’t care enough to stop myself).

Point here is, I love Glee, and I love it because it’s a musical, and I love it because it’s funny and smart and the characters are interesting. I have watched the pilot probably sixteen times already and I cannot wait for more!

May 27, 2009 at 2:17 PM

Ha! My wife has watched it seven times as well. I liked it, she loved it.

May 27, 2009 at 3:58 PM

Not all musicals are cheesy and overdone. Just the cheesy and overdone ones.

May 27, 2009 at 5:58 PM

I hate musicals, I love “Glee” because it’s right up my alley when it comes to humor. That’s what makes it watchable. I’d watch it as a regular drama without the singing but to be honest I found it to be top notch and the song selection was great as well. And this comes from a guy who hates all kinds of marching bands, Cats, Starlight Express – you name it. Again, it’s so friggin funny that I watched “Not Another Teen Movie” the night before watching “Glee”. It was as if “Glee” exchanged the idiotic and feces humor in NATM with witty, intelligent, sometimes brooding jokes – or “Purpose” for that matter. Something to really care about instead of a “laughfest”.

I totally understand that people can hate any and all of the characters for they find them hard to believe, that they can’t suspend their disbelief because they know people in their own lives who “are like that and would never…”. You simply have to get past the fact that image isn’t everything and that “Glee” (the club) can rock your world (ok that sounded really cheesy).

I love this show but won’t watch it again because at the moment it kinda sorta feels perfectly embedded in my mind and I fear if I watch it again I might not like it as much as I do right now. I guess just like it was with “Buffy” it’ll take a couple of years :-)

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