Glee: Can I complain about Emma?

[shipperx]

:
When Glee started, the character was an endearing kook. Then they amped up the indiosyncracies and last night they made her significantly messed-up (more than just 'OCD and insecurity' messed-up). It's one thing to give her no sexual experience and an amped degree of innocence and OCD. That goes back to idiosyncracies. But when they've written a thirty-something woman who married someone of her own free will (and under no pressure from anyone to do so), someone who she claims to love, someone who is kind, understanding, and supportive (and handsome and sexy to boot) and then they tell us that after months of marriage she is still incapable of having sex with the wholly unobjectionable guy that she chose but also incapable of even discussing sex, or even picking up blatantly obvious, well-known sexual inuendo then something is WRONG. Seriously wrong. Get thee into therapy wrong.

As with many things on Glee, they pushed this off a cliff. Where they've left her is no cutesy thing. At this point, this is sexual dysfunction. (And why are so many female characters on Glee insane? I grant you, many male characters are disturbingly stupid, but why are so many females corn flakes?)

Kurt's dad is awesome, though.

And if I want to watch women with hang-ups and issues, I'd actually prefer watching Big Love. Nicki Walker Hendrickson may be as screwed-up as they come, but she is both entertaining about it and earned her screwed-upedness in spades. (Seriously, given her history, religion, and family she couldn't be anything else... which is why it doesn't bother me nearly as much).

Comments

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I actually liked what lj user=roz_K said about Murphy - he's misanthropic.
I think that fits both Nip/Tuck and Glee far better. There's a lot of anger in the writer, which makes sense - because Satire is an angry form of comedy. Parody often is far lighter. Satire tends to have rage somewhere in there and often can feel harsh or cruel as a result.

I think Glee's being marketed to 18-45 year olds - that's the big demo everyone wants right now. Below 18, they don't really care about (that crowd isn't buying the products). Above 45, they don't care about either. Also keep in mind the writers are between the ages of 35-45 for most of these shows.

I'd read that Glee was originally meant to be much darker - but Murphy lightened it up.

As for whether it is suitable for people below the age of 18? Eh. I'm not the best person to judge that considering I think people were nuts for letting teens under the age of 18 watch Buffy, Dollhouse, and Supernatural - which are actually worse and sigh were marketed by Fox and WB to that age group. CW certainly markets Supernatural to 15 year olds. But hey, not a parent (thank god). ;-)

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I think Glee's being marketed to 18-45 year olds - that's the big demo everyone wants right now. Below 18, they don't really care about (that crowd isn't buying the products).

It's anecdotal, I know, but the only people I know who download the MP3s and i-tunes are my neice and her friends. And Glee products are sold in Claire's (http://www.claires.com/site/style-files/Gleek-Out!/4000140?styleDetail=true&styleType=girls&id=4000140) and that zinc and mystery-metal crap is marketed to tweens. No one in my office (except me) even watches. (Which isn't really a boon to their 'taste' as several of them are huge American Idol fans, and I've never understood the point of that. )

On the one hand, I'm quite happy that Glee has such positive homosexual roll models. And I applaud their efforts at body image. I just wish they wouldn't go for "women are bitches and nuts" quite so often.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Oh, my Aunts love it - so does my mother. Most of the people I know who like it are over the age of 45. LOL!

Don't know anyone younger who watches. Flist? The younger bunch seems to have drifted away from it and has told me that it's unrealistic or does not work for them. (They prefer Community). But the older bunch seems to like it.

At the office? I think one or two did ( in their 50s), but most just watch Two and Half Men, Reality TV, and Hot in Cleveland. They rarely discuss tv and the tv shows they watch - I don't. (The average age at my work place is 48)

Had more or less a similar experience with Buffy actually. One friend told me - "you realize this show is marketed to tweens, right" and I thought, really? It's very dark for tweens and I think some of the stuff probably goes over their heads, but okay. Went online and did a tally of ages?
A good percentage of the people online watching were between the ages of
35-70. I kid you not.

Course, I admittedly don't know any teenagers. My neice is 6.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

My mom enjoyed last season, but now she won't watch it, she was basically turned off by that Maxim pictorial that Entertainment Tonight covered to death.

My sis watches with my niece and her friends who are basically obsessed with the show. (My nephews wouldn't be caught dead watching... but then, they've always been that way about just about everything that doesn't involve gaming. LOL)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Hee. My mother on the other hand didn't discover it until this year. (She was oblivious to the Maxim pictorial.) And enjoys the show numbers. We are basically musical junkies. I have to admit I watch the thing mainly for the musical numbers. I don't take the rest of it seriously. And have been known to fast-forward through the non-musical bits at times. The character of Emma grates on my nerves...I think I like her in maybe three or four episodes (I loved her in Rocky Horror episode). In this one - I found her unwatchable. (This was not an episode I liked that much or found all that effective. I agree that Gwenyth was miscast and that they took Emma over-the-top. I'm sorry it's just not believable that she hasn't slept with John Stamos dentist yet. )

Not a lot of men I know watch it. My father wouldn't. My brother? He hates musicals, so no. My friends? No. One friend can't stand it - she really hates it. I asked her why - and it has to do with the whole show choir aspect and the fact that she wants to kick all the characters. (She also hates Lady Gaga). My flist? Half of my flist hates the show, which is why I rarely post on it. (Although they are being polite and not discussing their hate of it that often. Only read five rants this year.)

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I've been watching it for the musical numbers as well. Those are frequently fun and what are keeping me on board. Unfortunately, I don't take any of the characters seriously... except possibly Kurt's dad.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Pretty much the same. The only characters I take seriously are Kurt, Kurt's Dad, and I think Mercedes.

It's hard to take the kids too seriously - considering they are obviously being played by people in their 20s and 30s. LOL! And I don't think we're meant to take any of the teachers seriously. Although it is interesting that the ONLY male teacher or faculty outside of Will is the prinicipal. Even the football coach is female now. This show actually has more female roles, and far more diverse female roles (both body type, age, and ethnicity) than any other tv series on. Think about it - what other tv show has that level of diversity? And on network tv?