Aaron Champion

I loved the first half of the first season of Glee. It was funny and charming and subversive and the music was great. Sure, the auto-tune can be a bit much, but it was a show that was so original for network tv that I couldn’t help but appreciate it. I was totally charmed by New Directions.

Since then, I’ve become less enthused by the series. I find the writing to be among the most inconsistent on television and the musical numbers are completely hit and miss. But one thing that Glee maintains, is the fact that it is the most important series on television.

Network television doesn’t shy away from gay characters, but they are always cliche, and totally and completely a-sexual. I love Cameron and Mitchell on Modern Family, but they barely even HUG, let alone hint at a sexual relationship. They are cute - not real. The character of Max on Happy Endings has the same problem. His character is a complete breath of fresh air - a dude’s dude who just happens to be gay - but again, totally a-sexual.  These network series wear this mask of being open, but ultimately shy away from actually presenting these characters as real people facing real issues.

Right from the start, Glee has been honest and dedicated to presenting gay relationships in a completely real way. Kurt remains, over the course of 2 uneven seasons, to be the character that holds that show together. This week’s episode, where he is crowned prom queen, is just another example of how Glee is truly fighting towards an open and accepting culture.

The sad reality is that the U.S. media is full of stories of kids being tortured by their sexuality, and Glee is a series that presents hope for all of them. Its a subversive series, that packages a cultural revolution within a bubble-gum pop visage and somehow maintains fantastic ratings on FOX. Just think about that for a second - the most culturally liberal show on television is on primetime FOX!

It annoys me that bands like Foo Fighters speak out about their hatred for Glee. Sure, its every band’s right to refuse their song for a show - but don’t hate on the series - its doing more for the world than any of your albums have done.

Glee is subversive, Foo Fighters are not.