Glee will be honored on November 22nd at The Diversity Awards. The ensemble cast was a big favorite, and it earned the cast an award for their diversity.
The Diversity Awards executive committee issued a statement that read: ""The bunch are determined to overcome the odds and make it to the big time both in high school and the world beyond."
The show features a boy using a wheelchair, a "geeky girl" (words of Reuters), a gay student, an Asian, and an "overweight African-American girl" (again, the words of Reuters).
Before I begin, I'll say this: Glee is doing something very different by casting these roles on a prime time show with this amount of popularity. It's great that they're winning this award and being recognized for it. That said, onto my critique.
Representation alone isn't enough. The only characters we receive any background information on, or any substantial plot line, are white and presented as objects worth idolizing.
We know next to nothing about the home life, background, or other aspirations of Artie, Mercedes, and Tina. While Kurt, Quinn, Finn, Rachel, and Puck have all had episodes devoted to their story lines. Quinn's back up cheerleader, Santana, and the other non-white Glee members, receive very little attention in the grand scheme of the show.
Kurt, a gay male, had an entire episode devoted to his interaction with his father, which ended positively. This is nothing new, there have been lesbian and gay characters portrayed in deep and meaningful ways on prime time television for years. Surely, there aren't enough - but they're there.
Mercedes has an episode where she trashes Kurt's car, living up to the stereotype of the Angry Black Woman. There has been a lot of work done with African American characters on television since the Cosby Show in the 1980s, but how often do they carry a leading role without a majority black supporting cast?
Artie is mocked constantly from all angles because he uses a wheelchair. We know nothing about him - and he's referred to by name so infrequently that I struggled to remember it. His participation in New Directions as a club, and as a performer on stage, is very important. He is a constant reminder of the able bodies of the other characters, we know nothing about him except that he uses a wheelchair.
Tina, the Asian girl, received a little bit of screen time after Rachel temporarily removed herself from New Directions, but we have learned nothing positive about her. She stutters when she's nervous, and has very little confidence in herself.
We have only seen a few episodes of Glee, so some of this critique may be pointless. If there's an episode about Artie, Tina, or Mercedes that casts them in a positive light, I will gladly eat my words. Very gladly.
What is there to look up to about these characters? Representation is only one step towards a truly diverse television show. You have to go beyond color and able-bodied conscious casting and create deeper stories for these characters.
Congratulations to the Glee cast for winning this award, and here's hoping you can generate some good material for the characters that helped you to win this diversity award.
Image from Fox.