What we can learn from the boys of Glee

Like many other Generation Z’s, I recently re-watched Glee in its entirety after realising it had been added to Netflix UK last June. In case you have never had the pleasure of watching Glee, here is a quick rundown. The award-winning American musical comedy follows its ever-growing cast of outcast protagonists through their high school and young adult careers as a part of their school’s show choir, the New Directions. Glee’s main female characters include the driven and self-proclaimed controlling ‘star’; Rachel Berry (Lea Michelle); American Sweetheart and head cheerleader Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron); self-assured Latina lesbian Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera), and diva Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), but today I will be focusing on the boys of Glee, and what they taught us.

Warning: major spoilers ahead

What it means to be a man:

The boys of Glee are all so unique. When we first meet Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith), he is the clueless yet dreamy quarterback of the school’s football team and sees no ethical ramifications in dumping school outcasts such as the fabulously flamboyant Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) into the ‘dumpster’ or giving show choir divas like Rachel Berry a ‘slushie facial’.

Once Finn is blackmailed into joining the glee club, with marijuana planted into his locker (yes really), by show choir director Will Scheuster (Mathew Morrison) we get to see him blossom into an incredible and inspiring young man. After some initial problems accepting the homosexuality of his admirer Kurt who later becomes his stepbrother (again yes really), he learns that being a man is not what he first believed. At his mother’s wedding to Kurt’s father, he gives a heartwarming speech to Kurt. Finn tells Kurt that he taught him more about being a man than anyone else in his life before dedicating Bruno Mar’s, ‘Just The Way You Are’ to him.

Glee teaches us that there is not just one way of being a man, and what’s really important is compassion, understanding and respect. This is a lesson for everyone, not just those who identify as male.

How to make an awesome mash-up:

It is no secret that Glee does a musical mashup well, and I am not ashamed to say that I definitely have a few to my Spotify playlist. The boys have no shortage of wonderful and creative mashup’s, honourable mentions include ‘Moves Like Jagger / Jumpin’ Jack Flash’, ‘It’s My Life / Confessions’ and ‘Hungry Like The Wolf / Rio’. The best by far however is ‘Stop! In The Name Of Love / Free Your Mind’. For this mash-up, the boys were challenged to perform songs traditionally sung by women and they did a wonderful job. Finn, Artie and Sam (Chord Overstreat) take the leads of this song and the mix of their voices along with the fun and dorky dance moves from all the boys is a treat for both the ears and eyes.

How to be a wonderful parent:

If there are any parents out there, take note from Burt Hummel. Mike O’Malley’s portrayal of Kurt’s father and Finn’s stepfather, is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Burt does a fantastic job of raising Kurt alone after his wife died when Kurt was only 8, and Kurt’s sexuality and femininity does not phase him in the slightest.

When we first meet Burt in the 4th episode, he comes downstairs to Kurts basement bedroom complaining of the noise that Kurt and two glee girls, Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Brittany (Heather Morris) are making, as they are practising the infamous ‘Single Ladies’ dance routine. When we first see blue-collar, hyper-masculine Burt, we take in a collective gasp, expecting him to be the typical old-fashioned homophobic parent that we have seen time and time again.

Burt, however, turns out to be the most accepting character on the entire show, and the scenes we see between him and Kurt were a breath of fresh air that broke down many walls for network TV. Kurt coming out to Burt is very anti-climatic, Burt neither disowns Kurt or gets him tickets to go to see Ellen live, instead, he just says ‘I know’.

The scene as written in the script:

KURT: I’m gay.

BURT: I know.

KURT: Really?

BURT: I’ve known since you were three. All you wanted for your birthday was a pair of sensible heels. I guess I’m not totally in love with the idea, but if that’s who you are, there’s nothing I can do about it. And I love you just as much. Okay?

This is not the end of Burt’s amazing parenting scenes however, there is much more to raising any child, whether gay or straight then just accepting their sexuality. In season 2, after concerns about Kurt and fellow gay Blaine’s (Darren Criss) growing friendship, and finding Blaine in Kurt’s bed (although innocent), Burt decides its time for Kurt to have the talk, yes that talk. This can be awkward for any parent but Burt handles the situation with grace and teaches Kurt the most important lesson, self-respect. He tells Kurt to make sure he never ‘throws himself around’ and to save sex for making a connection with someone, and then, of course, he gives Kurt pamphlets which have all the awkward yet necessary information inside.

Boy’s have insecurities too:

We see female body insecurities played out on TV all the time, but we rarely see males dealing with the same problems. This is obviously misleading as it suggests that men don’t have the same worries about their appearances that women have - this is obviously not the case. Seeing Finn and Sam both struggle with fears of their topless scenes in the Rocky Horror episode in season 2, and Artie even opt-out of the topless calendar in season 4 helps break down the stigma that men cannot show ‘weakness’ or insecurity, and this is obviously a move in the right direction.

I could say so much more about how great the boys of Glee are, but I think the four points I have discussed are a great representation of what the boys brought to this Fox hit. Not only is Glee hilarious and full of musical genius it also touches on hard-hitting topics and teaches us so much more than most TV shows and films of the kind.

Ps. If you love Glee as much as me and don’t want to stop believing just yet, check out Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz’s podcast Showmance on Spotify or podcast one to hear the episode, by episode rundowns with new gossip and guests, like the one and only Mike O’Malley every week.

*This post was written by myself and originally published on Her Campus Leeds*