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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.
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.
