Some argue that Seinfeld may bring about a 20th century, "no holds barred" way of life but many argue that it's vice versa; that the thoughts evoked and often pronounced throughout the show were and are imitations of a subconscious reality that Americans traditionally suppress. The controversy of the show springs from violating several mainstream conventions in the media, specifically seen as having a postmodern point of view.
Post-Seinfeld ten years later, I want to point us to the television series GLEE, which has truly become an international phenomenon. The show is famous for its use of music, but also for the underlying, controversial issues it addresses. This past week's episode, "Never Been Kissed", brought about many societal issues that are currently looming in America yet are untouched in public for the most part. Because of the recent suicides of several gay teens, the episode spoke volumes about anti-hate. (Ironically, though, I would have to assume that most of the viewers of GLEE are already anti-hate to begin with.)
During the episode, the issue of identity is pushed to a new degree, and the director seems to handle two specific story lines in very careful ways. One: Kurt Hummel, played by Chris Colfer, the only openly-gay student at his school, meets another gay teen from an all-boys academy who eventually encourages him to have courage throughout his trials. I will be giving more emphasis on the second, however: Shannon Bieste, played by Dot-Marie Jones, a football coach who is neither "feminine" nor lesbian. Bieste's character calls into question the idea of sexual identity [and identity in general]. Before "Never Been Kissed" was aired, several other episodes had already placed the character of Bieste in a comprosing, vunerable position: her sexuality was unknown, she is a female football coach for an all-male team, and, as a result of her position of leadership and authority, she had to act tough and strong, both mentally and physically.
Although the writers choose to allow Seinfeld-like thinking (i.e. the students do make fun of her and do not repress their thoughts), they must also show strong opposition, with Mr. Schuester, played by Matthew Morrison, pointing out their wrong. Along with asserting that she is not gay, Bieste only appears masculine on the outside, whether it be the demeanor or physical attributes (Jones is a strength-based athlete - weight-training, shot put, arm wrestling, etc. - in real life). But who first defined masculine in the first place? Where do the ideas of masculinity and femininity come from? And why is it that society, in general, automatically looked at Bieste's character as not normal or even wrong? Even the position of a football coach is reserved for males.
Without delving further into the topic, as I only wanted to brush upon the questions looming around last week's GLEE episode, I conclude by stating that sexuality and gender appear more and more to be social constructs, especially when individuals are harassed and put down for not meeting the status quo. As an implicit attack on the base-superstructure model of Marxism, GLEE calls us to begin understanding where our ideologies come from - allowing ideologies to be questioned instead of complete acceptance without thought.
Falchuk, B. (Writer), & Buecker, B. (Director). (2010). Never Been Kissed [Television series episode]. In R. Murphuy (Producer), Glee. Los Angeles, CA: 20th Century Fox Television.
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The girls of GLEE perform a mash-up of "Livin' On a Prayer" by Bon Jovi and "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones in last week's boys as girls against girls as boys episode.
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