Silverblade2
Since: Jan, 2013
Eagal
This is a title.
Since: Apr, 2012
This is a title.
Sep 30th 2013 at 11:26:13 AM
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Removed these from the page because none of them are sourced to provide evidence that it's more than just one person complaining, as per the Unfortunate Implications page.
Unfortunate Implications
* Unfortunate Implications: Just about everything that comes out of Sue's mouth.
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
- The majority of the girls in the Jane Addams halfway house are black.
- As of season 3, Santana is no longer just the promiscuous Spicy Latina, but the other minority characters have yet to be developed beyond racial stereotypes - Mercedes is still primarily the Sassy Black Woman and Mike and Tina seem to exist just to make Asian jokes. Even Mike's larger season 3 plot is rooted in Asian stereotypes about overly strict parents who push their kids to become doctors.
- Many feel that Glee's supposed "progressiveness" in its treatment of gays is undermined by the fact that its two main gay male characters, Kurt and Blaine, are built on Camp Gay stereotypes that are really not that new in television (for example, as noted above, Will And Grace was criticized on the same grounds ten years ago). The show does have two Straight Gay characters in Santana and Karofsky, though.
- One of which is transferred to another school between seasons and the other of which is usually painted as a complete bitch and gets reduced screen time since coming out as a lesbian, and both have since been reduced to Recurring Cast in Season 4. Not to mention both spend most of their development in denial of their sexuality.
- The discovery that Shelby Corcoran is Rachel's biological mother takes up a multi-episode arc in the first season, with her even returning for a Quinn-related plot at the beginning of the third season...all before Rachel's two gay fathers ever got an appearance outside of as a picture in her locker. (They finally got their chance in the second half of Season 3, in "Heart.")
- Kurt's behavior in "Grilled Cheesus" was treated as unreasonable, but was it, really? It would be one thing to tell friends they're not allowed to pray, but they went beyond praying - they made a big show of being religious in his dad's waiting room, despite the fact that no one except Carol, Finn and maybe Mercedes actually knew Burt. Also, Mercedes wouldn't accept Kurt's atheism until he went to church with her, but Kurt is supposed to be the intolerant one? No wonder some atheists got really pissed off
.
- This goes both ways. Some people think Kurt was being needlessly antagonistic to his friends, who were only trying to help in the only way they knew how, due to his own antipathy towards religion. Arguably, they weren't making a big show of being religious either. They chose to visit and pray for Burt when Kurt wasn't there (until he walked in unexpectedly). Also, "Furt" later establishes that Burt does believe in God and thus likely would have appreciated the prayers, which gets some people thinking that Kurt seemed to care more about his own wishes than his father's, even though Burt was the patient being prayed for.
- Some people were angry that the episode "Home" had Mercedes develop what looked like an eating disorder, and only to be instantly "cured" by Quinn giving her a granola bar and telling her she's beautiful.
- Speaking of Tina and Mike, the Asian jokes about them are moving toward Unfortunate Implications, if not there already. At first the "dim sum with your mom" jokes were a cute gag, but since then it's become the defining feature of Tina and Mike's relationship and their character development since Season 2, and no scene featuring them can get by without an Asian joke. When Tina asked Mike why "everything has to be Asian," she may as well have been speaking for the fans who wonder why they can't be more than a Token Ship. Season 3, however, seems to be moving the couple in a better direction with the storyline about Mike wanting to be a dancer and his dad not accepting that, although even that storyline is based on an Asian stereotype (that Asian parents always want their kids to become doctors).
- The "Sexy" episode seemed to give the message that abstinence is completely unrealistic for everyone. Rachel even gets called "frigid" when she says that she doesn't want to have sex in high school. It does appear that it's just Holly Holiday pushing that angle, but no one ever calls her out on it. Emma technically does, but her opposing argument is just as extremist as Holly's, so it really isn't effective. It doesn't help that Emma is the character with severe OCD and other hang-ups, while Holly is the "cool" teacher, which gives the impression that we the audience are supposed to agree with Holly.
- The anti-abstinence messages continue in "The First Time," where Artie encourages three people (including one teacher) to lose their virginity just because he thinks it'll make their performances in West Side Story more realistic. When Rachel later objects to this, he tells her that she must have a "strange aversion to fun." Even worse, at the end of the episode everyone thanks him for being such a good director, with no mention of how inappropriate his behavior was.
- There's some in the reasoning behind casting Blaine over Kurt as Tony as well. It's said by Coach Bieste that Blaine is the better choice because Kurt can't play straight, which on the surface is fine enough. Where it become Unfortunate Implications is that Blaine is played by Darren Criss, a straight man, whereas Kurt is played by Chris Colfer who is gay.
- There's also Sebastian telling Kurt he has a "gay face" and that he (Sebastian) does not. Sebastian's actor, Grant Gustin, is straight and as previously mentioned, Chris Colfer is openly gay.
- Kurt's behavior in "Blame it on the Alcohol." Being upset that the guy you have a crush on is going on a date with a girl? That's one thing. Stating that bisexuality doesn't exist and how any guy who says that they're bi are really just closeted? And then being validated at the end of the episode? That's another thing entirely.
- Not to mention that Ryan Murphy said that 'gay kids need to see Blaine is one of their own'. Unfortunate Implications of bisexual kids not mattering at their finest.
- Ryan Murphy has previously expressed that he believes that "bisexuality is fictional", in his own words, so this might be very intentional.
- In "Born This Way", even after Quinn learned to accept herself for who she really is (as implied by her "Lucy Caboosey" t-shirt during the performance)she still proved to be a massive bitch who bullies other people for exactly the same things that she hated about herself. She sort of learned half of the lesson and skipped the rest. And then there was that weird thing where those random girls (who all dress alike, for whatever reason) suddenly declared their approval and liking of her because she used to be "one of them" (i.e., fat and "ugly" by society's standards), even though she's still an incredibly mean person inside.
- Many people online decried Mercedes and Sam's relationship as "unrealistic" because "Sam would never be interested in a girl like Mercedes." There are plenty of valid reasons to agree or disagree with the pairing, but when people fall on that, either they're saying that Sam is shallow and racist, or they're somewhat shallow and racist. It's worth noting that none of these people seem to think that the relationship is unrealistic due to Mercedes not being interested in a boy like Sam.
- In "Pot of Gold," the bullying of the Irish student seems too tastelessly reminiscent of the Phoebe Prince bullyings that lead to her suicide.
- In "First Time", Brittany losing her virginity when somebody climbed into her tent at camp was interpreted by many viewers to mean she was raped, especially since she thought it was an alien invasion.
- The storyline about Quinn trying to get Beth back was criticized by adoption advocates for giving a bad image of open adoptions, as well as just factual inaccuracy (i.e. once the birth parents sign away their parental rights they're gone for good, so if the adoptive parent is declared to be "unfit," the child is taken into foster care, not given to the birth parents). They petitioned the show to do a PSA dispelling myths about adoption; so far, nothing has come of it, but the controversial storyline also seems to have been wrapped up.
- Rachel did point out that Shelby is now officially Beth's mother rather than simply an obstacle for Quinn, and that Beth would go into foster care if Shelby were deemed unfit.
- Some argue that the two gay couples on the show are getting much less screen time/development than the straight couples.
- And then in that, you have people who argue that the gay male couple (Kurt/Blaine) gets more screen time and development than the lesbian couple (Santana/Brittany).
- The fact that most of the minority cast don't do that much compared to the white characters.
- In season three Quinn is accused of becoming a delinquent. While smoking and shoplifting are clearly bad life choices, the biggest focus was on her newly dyed hair and punk look. This was also the season where Tina, the gothic character, started dressing more conventionally. Is it somehow impossible to wear black and take singing seriously?
- There was a warning before The First Time and none before On My Way. The former had two couples, one heterosexual, one homosexual, have consensual sex (and the actual act was never shown). The latter had a teenager attempt suicide.
- The fact that the two main storylines in On My Way have either been relegated to a small B-Plot (Quinn's car accident) and completely ignored (Dave's attempted suicide) come Big Brother because of Blaine's (thoroughly botched) Character Development.
- Rachel ending up getting into NYADA despite childishly pursuing the examinator and trying (successfully) to browbeat her into giving her another chance after choking at her tryout, which should've gotten her at least banned from tryouts for a year and Kurt not getting in despite a stellar performance.
- The "Rachel and Kurt's NYADA auditions" plot in general fell into accusations of this, because their application, audition and admission happen way later in the year than they would in Real Life; like with people applying to more academic programs, performing arts applicants usually have to apply by November or December of their senior year and get their decision in early April, meaning audition time falls in the January-March range. In Glee, Rachel and Kurt's auditions were in April-May and they didn't get their decision until after graduation, i.e. likely in late May/early June. Also, they only applied to one very exclusive school, rather than choosing some safety schools as well or even applying to more than one exclusive program to increase their chances. Considering the fact that the creators have made explicit their intent to use the show to further arts education and the fact that a lot of the high school students who are Glee fans are likely considering drama or music majors, misrepresenting the arts application process so egregiously is kind of irresponsible, and it's not like it would have been any less dramatic on the right time schedule.
- Granted, the show managed to make up for this one, at least partly, by finally getting Kurt accepted to NYADA in Season 4. About damn time.
- The representation of black male characters on the show. Out of the three recurring black boys, Matt was a Living Prop who was Put on a Bus because writers didn't know what to do with him (also because actor Dijon Tilton felt he wasn't getting enough screentime), Azimio was formerly Those Two Bad Guys with Dave, but was Brother Chucked once Dave's Gayngst became a plot point, and Wade/Unique is transgender and thus a black woman rather than a black man.
- This is finally being changed with Jake, though it isn't immediately clear that he's half-black.
- The characterization of Wade/Unique, a supposed transgender woman, as an exaggerated Drag Queen stereotype, especially Unique always talking about herself in the third person. On top of that, she is a Sassy Black Woman stereotype. An obnoxious drama queen of a sassy black woman.
- The fact that Rory, Joe, and Wade/Unique were all given recurring status, but Harmony was thrown to the side after her two episode stint was over does not reflect well on Ryan Murphy.
- In a meta-example, several covers of songs have been done completely uncredited to their original artists, most recently and flagrantly ripping the Jonathan Coulton cover of "Baby Got Back", even keeping in the line referring to the singer as "Johnny C". Glee's creators have also said these artists should be grateful they're ripping them off, as it gets the artists exposure. For a series with such a heavy focus on anti-bullying...
- Basically if a character is any minority other than gay, they're likely to be stereotypical. And of the gay characters, the walking stereotypes are more levelheaded and intelligent than the ones who aren't.
- The only bisexual character on the show, Brittany, is a ditz who sleeps around - aka a giant stereotype. Not to mention that her sexuality and experiences are treated much less seriously than Kurt's, Santana's, Karofsky's or even Blaine's, and it seems like everyone is actively trying to avoid using the word "bisexual", opting for "bicurious" or "fluid" instead.
- "Shooting Star"'s reveal of the shooter is pretty terrible considering the stigmatization of the developmentally disabled that surrounded the Sandy Hook shooting.
- Sugar claiming to have Aspergers Syndrome, simply as an excuse to allow her to be rude and abrasive to people.
- Kurt decides to propose and accept Blaine's proposal because 'he won't find anybody that loves him like Blaine does', which not only brings to mind a scene between Beiste and her abusive husband in 'Choke', but sounds way too much like a popular reason abuse victims say when asked why they stayed in the relationship.
Heroshii15
Since: Dec, 2011
Jun 22nd 2013 at 6:48:05 PM
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Is it just me, or does this trope not fit with this description?
"Fan Myopia: Glee is a pretty good example of why "insisting that creators and producers should tell the story that the fans want to tell" is such a bad idea, as the Glee writers do actually seem pretty determined to please their Unpleasable Fanbase as much as possible, show quality be damned. (Though it has led to the occasional good thing, like Brittany and Santana becoming an Official Couple.)"
EmmaWoodhouse18
Since: Oct, 2011
Mar 5th 2013 at 12:53:10 AM
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Does anyone want to monitor this more closely and regularly? I no longer watch the show that often. But it seems like even with the warning, people just can't resist adding Flame Bait.
Eagal
This is a title.
Since: Apr, 2012
This is a title.
Dec 7th 2012 at 9:32:36 AM
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On the subject of the Rocky Horror Glee Show's alleged Family-Unfriendly Aesop, which I have a feeling will get readded again...
It is a common contention that the episode conveyed the "aesop" of: If you're a freak, hide it.
When actually the aesop was: If you're different, don't go out of your way to throw your differentness in the faces of others, especially not if you're only doing it to get into the pants of that redheaded guidance counselor, Will.
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
EmmaWoodhouse18
Since: Oct, 2011
Jul 12th 2012 at 12:34:30 AM
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Comment updated 8-22-12:
I previously commented on how this page seems to be a magnet for Fan Dumb and Hate Dumb rampages, where new users discover the page and bias every applicable example toward a favorite character/ship or interpretation of events (or against the ones they disagree with/dislike). I decided to add a warning at the top of the page about Rule Of Cautious Editing Judgment still applying here, and dropped a link to the Glee forum thread telling people to go there if they want to rant. I figured it was good to put something in there before Season 4 started, since this seems to happen most often right after episodes, especially those that affect one of the more popular ships (like the episode last season where Kurt was texting some boy who wasn't Blaine).
What do the rest of you think? Did I word the warning right? Do we really need the warning at all, or should we just patrol the page extra-carefully after each episode?
Edited by EmmaWoodhouse18
Windsong12
y hello thar
Since: Apr, 2010
y hello thar
Jun 13th 2011 at 4:49:40 AM
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Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Does this really apply to Sunshine?
OH SHI-
Sylar1
Since: Dec, 1969
May 26th 2011 at 11:21:37 PM
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"fans don't sniff twice about what a bitch she is."
What show are you watching? Terri is one of the most hated characters in the fandom.
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Anaheyla
Since: Jan, 2001
Jun 1st 2011 at 12:34:19 PM
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I have never seen anyone say a single thing about Terri. Certainly your vociferous whining about how terrible Will is, despite the fact that it has nothing to do with the trope, does more to convince me that I'm right than it does in any way support your stance.
This is still a signature.
SelinaCatz
Since: Dec, 2010
Jun 3rd 2011 at 1:08:25 AM
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While I've seen plenty complaints about Will, none of them were about how he treated Terri while they were married. And most of the other complaints about Will are pretty valid.
Terri gets less complaints because a) she has far less screen time, b) she's written in order to be disliked, unlike Will who we are supposed to like.
I noticed that Finn, Kurt, Holly, Blaine, and Marley are all listed under the Canon Sue entry. Should we add a Thirty Sue Pile Up entry to the page?
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