Don't Stop Believing: Glee

Have you seen the first two episodes of Glee yet? If not, let this trailer whet your appetite for what is quickly becoming my new favorite show on television! (You can catch it on Fox tonight.)

This show is amazing: quirky, campy and poignant all at once! So poignant, in fact, that the pilot episode made me all teary-eyed! What's not to love about a show that has amazing musical numbers, hilarious character actors, and a dreamy straight man playing the new director of the glee club?! This show is well-written, beautifully shot, and flawlessly acted. I was hooked by the first musical number, and I don't see myself missing a single episode of this show.

Sadly, "Christians" are portrayed as the hypocritical and arrogant antagonists in this show. I write it in quotations because these characters behave in a way that would offend most of the Christians I know. I realize that stereotypes exist for a reason, but it saddens me to see these stereotypes playing out for the next generation of Christian kids to have to overcome. (These characters are, after all, high school kids.) While the idea of a high school chastity club called the "Christ Crusaders" is certainly a hilarious one, I just can't totally embrace it with open arms, even though the show is a comedy. Certainly, we can all laugh at the idea that any high school would have a chastity club, but the virtue of chastity is a noble one, and it is treated with utter disregard and disrespect in this show. Yes, I know it's a comedy, but it's still a cheap shot.

That was an unexpected tangent, I know. Like I said, I love this show, but everything on television is broadcasting certain ideologies right into our homes, and if we don't stop and think about them, we tend to ingest them hook, line and sinker.

That being said, I will continue to watch the show. (See? Not all Christians boycott something just because it doesn't reflect their world view!) It's hard not to come running back for more of a show (and here's where the good ideology comes through) with the message that doing what you're passionate about in life matters--in your career, in your hobbies, in your after school activities.

I finished watching the pilot episode with the awesome reminder not to ever stop believing in the beauty of my dreams.

And not only do they talk about it on Glee, they SING about it, too!