Glee: The Complete First Season

Murhpy, Ryan. Glee: The Complete First Season. 2oth Century Fox: 2010. ASIN: B0032JTV6U.

Plot Summary:
William McKinley High School is your average suburban school. The social order is typically ruled by jocks and cheerleaders who show their dominance by throwing slushies into the faces of the less popular or depositing them into the dumpster. The teaching staff is populated by an OCD counselor, an overweight gym teacher, a caring Spanish teacher and the cheerleading coach from hell. The premise of the show is an attempt by the caring Spanish teacher, Mr. Schuester, to start a Glee Club. This small action begins a war over funding with the cheerleading coach from hell, Sue Sylvester. The goal for the first season is for the Glee Club to win Regionals to justify their funding. There is humor, drama and teenage pregnancy along the way. Each episode features lots of music and fun.

Critical Evaluation:
Glee effectively uses stereotyping to set up the cast at William McKinley High School with these groups represented: jocks, cheerleaders, geeks, homosexuals, handicapped individuals, students of ethnicity, sluts and a bad boy. The stereotyping goes even further with a 'dumb jock', slutty cheerleaders and fashion savvy gay student. The basic high school stereotyping works because for many students it is true and they can relate to the characters. In the midst of the fluff, the shows does tackle some heavy issues like: teen pregnancy, abstinence, bullying, loyalty and having a place to fit in. As typical with television this is not a program based on complete reality, there is no way a regular high school student could come up with the costumes they wear or that a school board would allow some of the more suggestive dance/song numbers. Enough of the program resonates with students to out weigh the missteps.

Reader's Annotation:
A good song can fix just about anything.

Genre:
Contemporary Life/Coming of Age/Romance/Sports

Talking Points:
Teen Pregnancy
Being Gay in High School
Acceptance

Interest Age:
6th +

Why I Included This Item:
I heard teens talking about the program and was interested.