Glee has been one of my favorite television shows since it
first aired about 3 years ago. There are so many storylines that intermingle
and deal with real-life issues that many teens face today. The characters in
the show are growing up in a rural town in Ohio and this season had followed
the students through their journey of their senior year of high school and
choosing a path to take in life and where to go to college. The number of
issues that arise in the television show is never ending, from LGBT issues, to
teen pregnancy, to interracial dating to diabilities.
One of the
stars of Glee, Kurt, is gay. He is extremely lucky to have a father who cares
so much about him and loves him exactly the way he is. Yet in school he is
bullied quite a bit by one of the football players. The biggest irony of the
situation is that the football player is actually gay as well, but has not come
out yet and is covering up his own homosexuality by bullying Kurt. He uses both
physical and verbal bullying towards Kurt, and even forces Kurt to transfer
schools. Kurt portrays himself as a very put-together and confident individual
at most times. He has a very unique sense of fashion and is not afraid to
flaunt it. But there have also seen times that he has had complete break-downs
on the show. For example, last season Kurt was voted as the Prom Queen by his
entire school as a joke. But it was not really a joke and was a form of
bullying. I would say that Kurt has found a group that he identifies with and
feels comfortable around which is the Glee Club. When he is around his friends
he acts like himself. Kurt is also fortunate enough that his teacher Mr. Shoe
is so supportive of him and is always there for him.
Another one
of the major characters in the show Glee is Artie. Artie is paralyzed from the
waist down and thus in a wheelchair. His greatest wish is to walk again one
day, even though the probability of that ever happening is very slim. Glee is a
club that choreographs different songs and dances into musical numbers. Because
Artie is in a wheelchair, he is not able to dance. But this does not stop him
from moving. He is always incorporated into the various musical numbers and
does and amazing job moving in his wheelchair. He has one of the best voices of
all of the males in the club and shines as an integral part of the team. In
terms of bullying, Artie does face bullying for being in a wheelchair as well
as for wearing glasses. But I really admire Artie because he does not seem to
very phased by the acts of bullying by others towards the Glee club. I can only
recall one instance in which Artie lost his temper, and it was not as a result
of himself being bullied but rather because one of the other characters in the
show Blaine was being bullied.
Our textbook
talked about James Banks and his approach to multicultural education. He
believed that in order for groups of people to understand one another and have
positive attitudes towards those who are different than themselves, that
diverse groups need to be integrated with one another. This method of
multicultural integration is very apparent in the Glee club as the club is
composed on many different teens who all have their own issues. But the Glee
club is like a family and I believe that the reason for this is that they all have
a positive attitude towards one another. They are all there for each other in
times of need and despite their differences, they can always count on another.
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