Okay, I know a bunch of you are furious. How couldn’t I like the Britney Spears episode? It’s GLEE. It’s Britney Spears? What else could I want?
Simple. I wanted substance.
Don’t get me wrong. The musical numbers were entertaining. Heather Morris proved herself to be an incredibly talented member of the cast. I still laughed several times.
But I don’t think it is GLEE at its best. As much as I love the show, it still hasn’t ever captured that magic of the very first episode. There is a reason the GLEE cover of “Don’t Stop Believing” shot to the top of the iTunes charts. There is a reason that so many people shared that first episode. It wasn’t just the singing. It wasn’t just Jane Lynch. It was the heart of the show.
GLEE excels when it lets plot and character dictate music or when music serves plot and character, rather than when the show picks an artist and crowbars the music into the show.
Yes, the Madonna episode was entertaining. Yes, the Lady Gaga episode had its moments (although I still think the duet between Rachel and her mom was one of the strangest mother/daughter song choices in the history of mankind). Yes, even the Britney episode was enjoyable.
But it wasn’t the best GLEE had to offer. The shot for shot video recreations of Spears’ videos were impressive, but they didn’t serve anything other than being a musical number. I didn’t feel like I learned about any character. I don’t feel that any plotline was really advanced. I just enjoyed an hour.
As I spoke to a group of student leaders today, I found myself asking this same question of us as leaders.
Are we just forcing things? Do our actions and activities dictate our values and our character, or do we let our values and character dictate what we do? Are we just copying others and trying to wrap it up in our own packaging, or are we taking an amazing entity and truly making it our own (the way GLEE did with that first Journey cover)?
The sad thing is that people may be entertained either way. Sure, we can continue to do the same thing. Many won’t be affected.
But then I think about friends of mine who started watching GLEE after the Madonna episode. In June, I showed them the pilot and they were blown away.
“I had no idea this show could be this good. This is incredible!”
Why? Because the show had heart, not just pop culture.
Find your heart and let it guide you.
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