From Twitter 07-25-2010

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Meme Lemming: 30 Days of TV - 10

Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving.

An easy one? Unbelievable.

This would be Glee. And it wasn't that I thought I'd not like it just for the premise or ads or what not. No I actually watched the pilot before I decided I didn't like it. There were so many things that were stupid about the pilot (mostly every single female character) that I only watched the shows first couple of eps because Myr was in love with the musical aspect. She kept saying "Just don't think about it." Don't think about it? How could I not think about it? The whole baby-swapping thing, the narrow-mindedness, the selfishness, the everyone is a walking cliché, the whole "girls are vain and stupid and needy" was the entire point of the show, was it not?

And then… it wasn't.

There were consequences for actions. There was change. There was amazing acting. Depth was added to all the main characters. And did I mention consequences? Not just outside, imposed consequences. No, actually internal recognition of stupid behavior that promotes change.

More than that, this show has some amazing portrayals of supportive parents in it. It also has probably the greatest TV father of all time: Burt Hummel. A man who doesn't understand his son but loves and supports him the best he can. I find it vaguely disturbing that a satirical musical/comedy is the only show on television that has a positive portrayal of parents.

My complete and unending adoration for the actors (especially Matthew Morrison) also has a lot to do with my love of the show. The musical aspect of the show provides for larger than life characters. It allows for emotion and grandeur that is usually scorned on television – but that is often present in real life.

And the writing… I love the writers. Let's face it, this satirical genre is so easy to do wrong and is often very limiting. It's hard to make the characters likeable or relatable when they are basically stereotypes. It's daring (and dangerous) to bring change and self-awareness to such characters. But they manage to do so.

A quote from Time magazine sums up what I love about the show: that having established a world of primary-color stereotypes, it's now willing to subvert those expectations.

In many ways, we all walk around the world viewing it in "primary-color stereotypes". We construct entire personalities based on a single aspect of another person, be it their politics, religion, job or sexuality. We refuse to read books or watch movies or get to know someone if their primary colors don't compliment ours. We rarely acknowledge that people never are just made up of primary colors and we openly deride any possibility that life may be more complicated than "red, blue or yellow".

I love Glee. The fact I love I for it's writing above it's music shouldn't really surprise anyone.

Meme Lemming: You Know You're From...

Stolen from stickers83

If only because she's Minnesotan!

1. Go to Google (or Yahoo) and type, "You know you're from (your state) when..."
2. Cut and paste the list.
3. Bold the items that apply to you.

I just nabbed one of the many out there.

Subject: You know you're from Wisconsin if...

The town you grew up in had a bar called Ma's Place. No but as a child I did eat chili at a bar called "Shorty's"
You know how to polka. Doesn't everyone?
The FFA was the most popular club in high school.
You know what knee-high by the Fourth of July means. And it's only up here North of the 45th that it really means something.
You know it's traditional for the bride and groom to go bar hopping between the ceremony and the reception. It is. I didn't but a lot of people do. Free drinks to the wedding party, usually.
You know that there is no "r" in Wausau.
You were delighted to get a miniature snow shovel for your 3rd birthday. I got a set of mounted antlers for my 3rd birthday and still love them.
You can recognize someone from Illinois by their driving. Duh.
You buy Christmas presents at Fleet Farm. Of course, why wouldn't you?
You are a connoisseur of cheese curds and find anyone unfamiliar with them to be frighteningly foreign. Very frightening.
You get irritated at sports announcers that pronounce it "Wes-con-sin."
You own at least one cheese head.
You spent more on beer than you did on food at your wedding. Actually this wasn't true for us.
You know that Kaukauna is NOT an Hawaiian Island.
You hear someone use the word "oof-dah" and you don't immediately break into uncontrollable laughter.
You think fast food is hitting a deer at 65 mph.
You or someone you know was a "Dairy Princess" at a county fair.
You know that "combine" is a noun.
You know what a FIB is. Ha!
You know that pasties are not articles of clothing. I have some of these in my freezer right now. Homemade.
You let your older siblings talk you into putting your tongue on a steel post in the middle of winter. I was much smarter than this.
You think Lutheran and Catholic are THE major religions. As I was neither Lutheran nor Catholic, this wasn't true for me.
You can tell the difference between "real Wisconsin cheese" and "that Illinois stuff."
You know that creek rhymes with pick. Doesn't everyone?
Your class took a field trip to a brewery...in second grade, Borden's in third and the cheese factory in fourth.Never did the brewery, but I have toured a cheese factory or two in my life. Still buy most of my cheese directly from one.
Football schedules are checked before wedding dates are set. They are checked before any big event, along with hunting, fishing and trapping seasons.
You can visit Luxemburg, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Berlin, and Poland all in one afternoon.
A Friday night date consists of taking you girlfriend shining for deer. Saturday you go the local bowling ally.
At least one kid in your class had to help with morning chores. I had to help with morning chores.
You have driven your car on a lake.
You can make sense out of the word "upnort" and "batree." And it's often "upnort" that the "batree" fails.
The Packers will always be better than the Vikings, no matter what the standings are. Damn straight.
You know that De Pere is not a wooden structure extending into "Da Lake."
You can leave your ice cream in the car while you go into Fleet Farm, and it won't melt. Well, not in summer. (Usually)
You always believed that vacation meant "going up North."
At every wedding you have been to, you've had to dance the hokey poky & the chicken dance.
You know what a bubbler is.
Your definition of a small town is one that only has one bar. Goodrich!
Your local gas station sells live bait. - As do some of the drug stores and the liquor stores.
At least twice a year, the kitchen doubles as a meat processing plant.
You laugh aloud every time you see a news report about a blizzard shutting down the entire east coast.
Your mom asks, "Were you born in a barn?" and you know exactly what she means.
You include beer as one of the major food groups.
You know which leaves make good toilet paper.
Your sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightgown.
You are a member of the Polar Bear Club and proud of it.
You think that the start of deer season is a national holiday.
You learned to drive a tractor before the training wheels were off your bike.
Your bank has the name of your town included in its name.

There is usually a comment in these things about the difference between "pop" and "soda". It actually varies across the state, in my little neck of the woods, it's 'soda' or 'soda pop' but rarely pop alone. But we're smart enough to understand both.