Thursday, March 29, 2012

Queer Theory: Glee- Does Bisexuality exist?

One thing before I get started: I haven't watched Glee in quite sometime so if there are any plot twists that I do not mention, please realize that I am only focusing on the first (maybe second) season.

We discussed earlier this semester that media does not represent reality but rather reflects a distorted view of it. Raymond also explains that as more and more homosexual characters appear on T.V., then it might mean that homosexuality is becoming less and less taboo. But she also says briefly on page 106 that "...the possibility of bisexuality, a more fluid sexuality, or even a recurrence is rarely entertained".

I would like to look at the homosexual characters in season's one and two of Glee. We have Kurt, the flamboyant, open homosexual, Blaine, the more manly homosexual who later becomes Kurt's first boyfriend, Karofsky, the football player who bullies Kurt because of his sexuality who later reveals his sexuality when he kisses Kurt, and Santana and Brittany, the members of the cheerios who hint at their sexual experiences together. Santana comes out later as a Lesbian with her love for Brittany.

The season begins with one gay character and as the season went on and the audience demanded more, we were presented with many more situations. But there only seems to be either gay or straight.
It has been suggested that sexuality is a fluid dichotomy that flows between gay and straight, which would suggest that there is such thing as bisexuality. By alienating that kind of characteristic, it seems that those who do associate with bisexuality are also alienated.

Raymond examines this briefly when she describes the short lived homosexual relationships among characters in ER and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (106). Brief homosexual relationships are used as a fantasy or a means of receiving higher ratings.

But let's look at the diversity that the homosexual characters that Glee does offer. Kurt, being the general stereotype dates Blaine, who is a lot like Will from Will and Grace in the sense that he is "less gay" than Jack. I think that this reflects reality in the sense that people are realizing that every gay man or woman for that matter share the same identity, a concept that Raymond touches on herself.

No comments:

Post a Comment