I'd just like to add a detail about the bathroom episode Lily mentions in the video for anyone watching this video who has not seen Glee. In this episode, Sue gives Will (the teacher in charge of the glee club) an ultimatum regarding Unique's issues with the public restrooms. Will is obsessed with making the glee club twerk for some reason, Sue finds this inappropriate and tells Will that Unique can have a key to the gender neutral staff bathroom if he stops the twerking. This man spends the entire episode refusing to stop twerking even when it would directly allow one of his students less discomfort in their daily life. Obviously Sue is still the primary asshole in the situation for holding Unique's safety and comfort hostage like that, but the fact that a grown ass man is choosing to die on the hill of having his teenage students twerk is definitely awful too.
That episode was so creepy! Will performing Blurred Lines with a bunch of minor students while twerking was just yikes and then refusing to give up twerking in order to actually improve a students life when he's supposed to be seen as the guy who actually cares about his students... That whole episode was a mess
This situation is so ridiculous it's funny. I watched this show as a kid but forgot most of it, so hearing it out of context like this is like jumping in a pool full of jelly
Lily's abject confusion over Sue being an actual war criminal but also a trans ally is sending me. Glee's tone is impossible to describe and should be studied in history books. They will make THE most offensive joke you have ever heard and then also have a heartwarming trans affirming conversation in the exact same scene, and it was like that about everything. It was... something.
That's very much Ryan Murphy's style. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but what made the emotional whiplash even worse in Glee was the introduction of heartfelt "very special episodes" alongside all the dark comedy.
I feel like in some ways the show was a victim of its own success. The early episodes lean very heavy on the dark comedy, and pretty much all the characters are some degree of terrible people, but then when the show became a huge hit it's like they decided these characters also needed to be role models for the audience. So you get this weird tonal shift where characters like Rachel or Kurt can be absolute monsters one minute, but then turn around and chastise someone else for being selfish or intolerant.
As much as I love trans people and trans characters being represented positively in media, I will maintain that Shannon Beiste, the masculine straight woman who coaches high school football and desperately wants to be respected and loved as any other woman would be, is a 1000x more progressive character than Sheldon Beiste, a generic trans man played by a lesbian actress in drag, ever could be
Yes I hated that they decided to make Coach Beiste trans. As you said a masculine presenting cis het woman was such a unique character and such rare representation.
it's also worth noting that the actor that played Sunshine (Jake Zyrus), who you showed at 33:03, is trans. he transitioned some time after his last appearance on glee and, from what i've heard, it was a pretty big deal in his home country, the Philippines
As much as I loved Kurt as a small gay child, I hate how much transphobia and biphobia he was written to express. It felt like he often got used as an author mouthpiece to be like "this far is fine but no farther"
I mean but it is a true type of gay guy. Especially one completely isolated from queer comunity. When being "one of the girls" was the only way gay guys found protection in high school, it came with a lot of comforming to the rule pf gender. It came with a huge "this is your place and you should play to our own steriotypes and expectations of gay guys". And when something works for you as a queer person to make you feel safe and accepted it becomes hard to dissociate from the patriarchy of it all. I'm not excusing, just explaining. After all gay guys are the closest type of queer to actual priviledge and many latch on to it. I am queer myself (a less accepted kind) and have had nasty experiences with some gay guys, but I still know the big bad guy behind it all, even their bigotry, is the oppression we share.
Honestly same!!! I was expecting it to be so much worse and the fact this passes The Simpson Test is wild! I hate to say it seems so little does pass the test but hopefully more and more media will!
As much as i hate glee it kiiinda makes sense that it passes the test? The trans characters are both played by queer people, there are numerous gay writers on the show. Idk 🤷🏻♀️ i feel like there was a level of personal connection from the people involved that gave them a bit more to work with and a generally more realistic idea of how conversations between trans people go.
I always found it confusing that Unique would supposedly be immediately recognized by the judges as GNC when to me she just passes as a cis woman. How would they even know?
@@Brightfire19 post-glee a lot of people that worked w/her on the show have claimed she made being on a show a living hell because of how shed treat them behind the scenes
SUUUUPER related to your take on Coach Bieste's transition - I literally stopped watching Glee BECAUSE of that writing choice. I am gender non-conforming and at the time was a huge fan of Coach Bieste's embracing of masculine interests/mannerisms or whatever you want to call it while still firmly identifying as a woman. I found it horribly contrived and confusing to transition that character. Thanks for another banger deep dive, Lily, I look forward to using the Simpson Test going forward.
10:31 sue actually really loves Becky, she’s the only character outside of her sister and daughter (who both also have downs) who sue seems to genuinely give a shit about
10:15 becky is basically sue's sidekick, that's why she's doing the free labor. based on what i remember about their relationship, i don't think they were implying she's being taken advantage of because of her down syndrome, but instead because she's besties with sue, lol
I also remember a moment when someone else (maybe Mr shue) was treating her differently cuz of her down syndrome and didn't like that Sue was being just as hard as she was with every other student. Sue then tells him that his attitude is the problem, and that Becky is just another student who deserves to be treated the same and that she won't patronize her when Becky clearly just wanted to be treated like everyone else. And for the ones that don't know, Sue has a sister with Down syndrome who she loves and respects, so she cares about Becky a lot. Not sure if the show fucks up irt Sue and Becky, or if there mightve been mistreatment of the Becky actress, but that scene wasn't trying to say that Sue treats her differently cuz of her Down Syndrome
i hate the trans storyline in glee which is sheldon beiste. it made 0 sense and was not relatable one bit the problem is: sheldon’s entire character beforehand was like “just because im masculine doesnt mean im a man please treat me like a girl” and it was a big struggle for them that they just wanted to be treated like a “pretty girl” despite their appearance… so for me didnt make sense to do an entire 180 to “masculine=man + i was never a girl” (i have watched glee 5 times, pray for me)
This was why Beiste's transition always felt off to me, because she had those story lines and that's just as important for everyone's understanding of gender and identity
I respectfully disagree. Trans guy who came out at 45. I spent years, actual decades, fighting to be seen as a feminine woman. Although via expression and body type I succeeded, I was usually clocked socially as a lesbian, even though I am generally not into women. People were seeing a masculine aspect to me and I rebelled against that until my egg finally began cracking at 40. The trans trope is that we all knew from toddlerhood that deep down inside we were a boy (or girl for trans fems). That we always did things to try to seem like the gender we knew ourselves to be. But especially for older trans folk, that isn't always the reality. I'd always said I'd have been better off born a boy, that my brain was half male, half female. Yet somehow, through lack of knowledge mostly, I never crossed that line to, "Yes I am a guy," until I was older than 40. I don't think Glee was being super inclusive of alternative trans narratives with Beist. Rather, they took an existing character that they thought could reasonably work as a trans narrative and went with it. But it doesn't nullify the fact that it is a narrative that at least some trans masc people will relate to.
@@khrysalis0289yeah, i'm not giving glee the benefit of the doubt, but that absolutely happens all the time, the trans experience is... Complicated, you could say
They don't say it explicitly in the show but I've always thought the cheerios wear the uniform all the time because Sue makes them or because of status (Cheerios are popular)
Glee is a mess, I kinda have a love-hate relationship with it because I watched it since I was 9, and it's so random I can't really hate on it. Coach Beiste being trans wasn't thought out, especially as Beiste had had a feeling insecure about not feeling "feminine" enough arc. I loved the trans choir scene though.
I remember being so upset with the coach beast transition storyline. I easn out as a lesbian yet, nor even nonbinar/trans, but I felt it was the wrong move for that character and actress! Now, a coming out as a trans masc butch lesbian would have been perfection, but i might be biased.
I was an extra for the shoot, we got paid around $100 but we were on set for like 17 hours, it was insane. And watching the episode was an exercise in cringe. And we had to lip sync over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. And that story line? Oy vey. They meant well, but goddamn.
If I ever got to be in a room of 100+ trans people, all celebrating our existence and joy, that'd be pretty freaking amazing. Actually got a bit emotional at the fact that her back-up choir was only trans people, that's very powerful.
The Simpson Test: When a piece of media portrays two gender non-conforming characters interacting with one another without the influence or input of cisgender characters.
Yes The Simpson Test: When a piece of media portrays two gender non-conforming characters interacting with one another without the influence or input of cisgender characters.
Wow, The Simpson test When a piece of media portrays multiple gender non-conforming characters interacting with one another without the influence or input of cisgender characters
I think a better term is ‘genderqueer’ (that’s the actual umbrella term for trans, enby, gender fluid, etc.) Gender non-conforming and Cisgender aren’t mutually exclusive (for example a cis man who likes traditionally feminine things is GNC) GNC isn’t really related to gender identity but more to gender expression.
5:53 brittany (the blonde "lesbian" cheerleader) is actually bi! just felt like i had to point it out to keep the facts straight (pun intended), love your vids!!
@@RogueVideoRaven well she never actually mentioned her sexuality, the closest thing was her saying she wasn't a unicorn but a "bicorn", so she is considered to be bi by most people but you could honestly headcanon her as pan without a problem
I was going to watch that Star Wars hotel episode everyone's been talking about, but I saw this in the thumbnail side and realized you're about to talk about a trainwreck and had to watch this first.
my dad has always traveled to new york for his job and a couple years ago he started talking about his new friend alex every time he came back from new york and how funny they were. i was like okay let’s go dad has a nonbinary friend and didn’t think about it again. until i made him watch glee one summer and he told me he recognized unique. his new friend alex was ALEX NEWELL. i can’t make this up they’re still friends and they wish me happy birthday every year :)
Man i wish i was the sidekick to an evil tv coach. Thats the dream. Being the right hand of the oppressor in a low stakes environment with clear guardrails? All playing out in a universe that is episodic and trends towards the "good guys" winning (and money only matters sometimes). Damn son. I'm in love with a life that no one will live. A simulacrum that only exists to be observed from the outside. Probably a lesson there somewhere. Oh well.
the side note about Unique's struggles with using the schools bathrooms is pretty relatable, unfortunately. every out trans person at my highschool used a single stall bathroom in the library bc the school didnt really allow any alternatives. at least i got to pee in peace ig
took me a minute to get the Simpson Test vs. what I thought you originaly said 'the Simpsons test'. I was trying to remember the episode from the Simpsons which had 2 trans characters talking until I recalled that you are Lily 'Simpson'. Oops.
My first introduction to Alex Newell was through Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, where I was completely unaware that they were gender-nonconforming. It wasn't until episode 4, where they actually address this aspect of the character's life, that I learned this fact. It'd be awesome if you were to cover that episode, or maybe even Mo as a character entirely.
I mean, the 3x16 storyline is more or less resolved in 3x21, where Unique performs at National and is given an MVP award. In a sense, the lack of closure in 3x16 was a hook. It's not really a huge "storyline" but it fits with the prize Alex won on TGP of a 2 (actually 3 given the quick cameo in 3x20) episodes arc before being brought back in s4.
I also very much like the Grease episode when Unique wants to play Rizzo. It’s sad but it’s a much deeper story than just 3x16. Which Mr Schue is being a pos bc he keeps misgendering and deadnaming Unique and being like “you can’t play Rizzo.” Fuck Mr Schue. Should’ve been in jail from the first episode when he spied on Finn in the shower. Also not a fan of Riley always misgendering and deadnaming Unique too. And while i don’t support catfishing, Riley deserved it.
I think what would have made these episodes a thousand times better is if everyone had an opportunity to experience the epic highs and lows of high school football.
Lily there's a 1985 anime about space work girls called "Dirty Pair". Ep 7 features an actual trans character, the actual episode and the release date of the show probably could make for some interesting analysis and commentary❤
I have been binge watching your channel Lily! I am so glad you made a video on Glee since I remember a few years back finding out about the trans rep in the show.
Even the gay stuff, by a gay man, and whilestill exposure, damn kurts actor is so chill, which means that , he was directed to act that weird and annoying, why? Also the social media shitstorm he had to deal with, the max that actor, sidelined despoite being the best portrayal and , nah. Not to mention, god ryan murphy, is something , i think his best gay characters are the couple from season one of american horror story, because it serves a real purpose and mirror the family at the house, which all fight over , leaving tht evil house. Ok the lesbian couple in tht political season are pretty good too
yeah esp after the first few seasons its like they just roll out each kind of minority to eke out as much "representation" as possible, handling each with the subtlety of a bull in a china shop "oh we're doing a trans thing - oh we're doing a eating disorder thing"
i remember really hating the coach sheldon storyline when i was watching it (i was maybe 10 or 11), which i thought was odd because i usually liked it when i got to see trans people on tv. but i really disliked how she was literally a cis woman who transitioned. like her character was trans, but the writers couldn't have possibly known that, so they were writing a character that was a woman, who just became trans because they were bored. i know that people transition later in life, and that could make a lot of sense, if the character was trans or the actor was trans, but she wasn't
i live in america but our school didn’t have cheerleaders and i genuinely thought this was just a tv show thing haha. why don’t they change before the game like every other member of a sports team?
@@ErikaCartet other sports teams went to school in their uniforms too on game days, i was on the basketball team and we wore our uniforms on game days but idk of thats shown in Glee, ive never seen the show before, football and soccer did it too, boys and girls. coaches told us to do it for school pride
I would sit thru "a brief look at Glee" you have so many juicy tangents that you kept yourself from and while I respect that, I would also encourage the long version lol
Is it just me or does the "I can't believe unique pulled that off" line seem to suggest the glee cast wouldn't support her if she didn't pass enough in that performance
Tbf cheerleaders sometimes wore their uniforms at school on days of football games at my high school at least. Maybe it's more than that on glee though.
Regionals are just a competition. Like you have the Sectionals which are a competition in the schools in the same general area as your own. When you win the sectionals, you go to the Regionals. And when you win the regionals, you go to the Nationals. Season 1 just makes more of a deal of Regionals bc the principal says they must classify for Regionals to go to Nationals in order to keep the Glee Club. Which they fail. So they lose their class for a while. But then end up still continuing the Glee Club in season 2. And by the end of season 2, they go to the Nationals. Which they don’t even end up in the top 10 bc Rachel and Finn kissed on the stage. I cringe every time i watch. And at the end of season 3, they win Nationals. Also Unique ends up winning the best performer award at the Nationals.
So just so I'm clear when i tell me friends, are we codifying the Simpson test as a story that includes: 1. At least two trans/genderqueer characters 2. Who have a conversation with each other 3. That is not interrupted by the opinions of a cis person Cuz I'm on board with that but i wanna make sure I'm following the standard right
I don't know if you read comments or if this has been pointed out, but at about the 10:30 mark you say "person with disabilities." This is super nitpicky and obviously not everyone agrees, but typically "disabled person" is preferred. A lot of "official sources" will tell you that person first language is better, but actual disabled people will almost universally prefer disability first language. To use myself as an example, I wouldn't be me without my disabilities; they're vital to who I am as a person, part of my identity rather than something I carry around, if that makes sense. Again, I'm being super nitpicky, I don't think anyone will ever be actually offended by the words "person with disabilities," and it's obviously still accurate, just thought I'd mention it. Love your videos, including this one.
By season four I was only watching scenes with Santana in them, and wow I missed a lot of wild stuff! I quite enjoyed this analysis. It's a lot more fun hearing about all the wacky stuff I missed years later from creators! More fun when you're cringing together. Will love Santana forever though
Hey, i'd like to recommend that you look into the trans storyline of shameless! It's not just one episode (i don't know how long trevor is around for exactly, it has been a while since i've seen the show), but i would love to hear your analysis and thoughts on it. :)
Having Beiste become a trans man is maybe the laziest and most stupid idea ever on this show. Throwing away her entire character of "being masculine doesn't invalidate me being a woman" just to have a trans episode WHEN YOU HAVE A CURRENT TRANS CHARACTER WHO IS TRYING TO TRANSITION. It's just so frustrating
If I remember the Glee Project well, which was the reality show Alex got casted in, they were presenting as a gay man at the time. It was Ryan Murphy who, in one of the challenges, mentioned they should have just "put on a wing and came out like Amy Winehouse" singing the song. So I would believe the character was much more a Ryan Murphy vision than trying to acomodate Alex. But that's just my speculation from whatI remember from the show and reality show.
Glee project (the first one) was kind of odd for me. To me it's clear that Alex Newell deserved a spot on Glee simply because Ryan Murphy could already envisioned the character future just from that audition. And since glee is all about LGBT but at the time did not have Trans rep yet, it just made sense that this one should win the main spot. But for some weird reason, they chose to pick someone else, whose character uniqueness was just that he was from Ireland and unless TGP was voted on like American Idol, it just seemed like a weird choice to proper him to win spots when after winning, the show runners just cannot think of anything else for him.
46:16 omfg, thank you for putting my exact thoughts into words lmao. I have such a love hate relationship with Glee. I loved coach Bieste and the way they challenged gender roles when the character was a cis woman. That was such a big plot point before their transition. I also liked this episode itself but it felt like it really cheapened the prior episodes about Bieste.
Glee's ideology reminds me of South Park's edgy humor. Sue is basically a slightly less cringe Garrison. On the state of Ohio, it used to be a swing state, but is red now like Iowa and Florida which all went red for Trump twice in 2016 and 2020. Also, you can look at Erin Reed's Erin in the Morning substack. She keeps track of anti trans laws with the Anti Trans Legislative Risk Assessment Map. May 2024 is the most recent update. States are categorized as Do Not Travel (Florida), Worst Laws Passed (Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Tennessee, Utah), High Risk (Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia), Moderate Risk (Alaska, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Wyoming), Low Risk (Arizona, Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhodes Island, Virginia, Wisconsin), and Safest States with Most Protections (California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington). Note: These are the Trans Adult rankings, as there are separate Trans Kids rankings. Also most rankings are fairly static over the past two or so years, except some moving around of Arizona, New Hampshire, and Virginia. Also worth noting that since Glee is set in Lima, Allen County, Ohio specifically in Northwest Ohio, it means that Glee is set somewhat south of the border with Michigan. It's 2024 which is an election year again. With the exception of New Hampshire, the rankings are a good summary or how blue or red a state is.
There are so many shows I have never seen and never will see, and I will gladly watch you explain them to me while talking about their trans representation.
New to the channel and BIG glee fan (self aware) . I loved how much historical references you included, I genuinely learned so much and was also interested to look further into topics mentioned!
For all of Glee's problems: at the time it was really forward thinking. Also Pretty Little Liars has... lesd than stellar Trans representation if you want to also tackle that monstrosity
I went to high school in the US and cheerleaders very much did wear their uniforms just as clothes outside of practice. Usually it was when there was some kind of cheer event that day but they did it. I think it might have also had to do with the fact that the cheer skirt was shorter than the dress code actually allowed so it was like a loophole
I think the “y wife” was supposed to be a show of the stereotype that southern men only trust women to be smart enough when it comes to caring for kids. That, or he’s saying “look at my woman womaning. Isn’t he such a woman?l”
Great video. Though I was waiting for you to talk about the episode where Unique tries to get on estrogen and to wear bra padding but the cis people tell her she doesn't need the things. And another character making a Hedwig and the Angry Inch joke at her. Maybe a topic for another video?
The person who came up with the idea of signing a huge bunch of naive unknown kids to the sort of skewed contracts that naive unknown kids are willing to sign for both TV *and* music at the same time, was an evil genius. They must have made a heck of a lot of money out of this and I imagine most of the actors got quite little.
I think the cheerleaders constantly wearing their uniforms thing is a pretty good example of how the writers approach topics on the show. They thought about a real thing (cheerleaders wearing their uniforms to school on game days, trans kid coming out) for two seconds and just made up the details
My tranphobic parents told me that glee ended at season 3, I had figured out they were lying and confronted them (glee was my favorite show as a closeted transmasc bi kid who’s parents thought was just a “butch/tom boy) they just said the rest was bad and I never went back to watch it, they tried to hide the trans representation from me. I always had a more masculine build, I always liked that part of myself, people would “mistake” me as a man because I had short hair and a masculine frame, my parents would always correct people but I didn’t care then. My parents always called me a little lesbian when I was younger I mean the first few people I dated were girls (in middle school, i was in middle school) most of them were straight. Then I realized that I wasn’t just a lesbian I was bi because I had a big crush on this guy in my class ( he was gay) and later realized I’m trans and as puberty hit I was more and more dysphoric as the difference between “boys” and “girls” became bigger, and I was considered one of the boys and started going by my preferred name(when I wouldn’t be outed to my parents because I knew the consequences and it’s a story for another time). This video showed me what my parents were hiding and how I relate to coach beast even though the show is kinda cringe.
Ok, as a Glee fan from childhood, I hated the trans spin on Bestie. For 4 seasons he was a female character that challenged gender norms and didn't conform to the traditional idea of femenine womanhood. There was absolutely no indication whatsoever that he experienced gender dysphoria and wished to live as a man until that one episode of the final season where he just announced he's transitioning. It felt like a slap to the face of fans who related to the character as a straight woman that struggled with traditional representations of what that should look like. Also, I'll always be fond of Unique because she was my first trans character. I was 14 or 15 when I saw her debut on the show, and I think until that point I was what you would call a standard ignorant cis person. I didn't understand trans people, I didn't know any trans person, I had only seen them referenced as a punchline. And seeing Unique and what she struggled with and why she wanted to be seen as a woman was a real game changer to me. People tend to forget that before Glee, having teen queer characters on TV was not common at all, and when it happened, it was more often than not portrayed as a traumatic solitary experience.
I hate that they made Coach Beiste trans tbh. The character was already gender nonconforming at that was a major arc for the characters. With this, it's like saying all gender nonconforming people either grow out of it or are secretly trans.
15:27 I may be stupid, but I can't figure out what the first two words that rhyme with "Hydrant Faulton" are. The third one (the one that rhymes with 'girder') is obvious, though.
I much prefer the way that Jan's character in But I'm a Cheerleader was handled vs. the reasoning for Coach Beiste's transition. I do appreciate when cis women call out the way in which all people are hurt by transphobia and stereotyping, but it does really feel like redirecting the issue based on a cis experience while also living up to/playing into stereotypes about masculine women. Jan in But I'm a Cheerleader (as well as Janice Ian in Mean Girls) are good examples of people who are stereotyped by their presentation and preferences (and, in Jan's case, even confused and mislead to believe she's a lesbian because according to everyone else she MUST be if she dresses so masculine/looks so masculine). It's a much better way to call out this issue, imo, to show someone being stereotyped that way and having the realization that "Just because I look/present a certain way, that doesn't assign me a gender/sexuality just because everyone else is so black and white thinking". But then, Glee just... well I avoided it for a reason, I'll go with that.
Fun fact: coach Sheldon CAN actually sing, and did a killer cover of Jolene, I don't remember what season it was because I haven't watched glee since I was in High School so like ten years ago but I remember it happened.
Well shit, this brought up some deep seeded egg memories. I remember being so jealous of Unique, but thought that it was impossible to actually transition
47:36 are you implying that that show....didnt?? romanticize jeffery dahmer???? when people were making thirst edits and jokes and harassing the real victims of these real crimes? like im genuinely curious as to what makes you think that (if im understanding this moment right)
25:36 This was actually the first Macklemore track I heard. Not because of Glee, the TV in my 6th-form center just played music videos all day, and this track (called Same Love btw) came on. I like to think it helped de-program my more casual homophobia. I've also since come out multiple times. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
i haven't ended this video, but I hope you talk about the episode The End of Twerk, an episode in which the glee club is fighting for the right to twerk, it has a subplot of Unique dealing with the trials and tribulations of using the bathroom as a trans girl, to express these struggles, she sings a gorgeous stripped back rendition of If I Were a Boy by Beyoncé. Sue Sylvester tells Will Shuester that she is going to give Unique a key to the teacher's lounge bathroom, only if the glee club stops twerking, to which he denies, because he thinks that underage children shaking their ass is more important than this girl getting the basic human right of taking a wee. He then sings Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke in protest.
Pre-Watching Comment. My first thought when I saw the title was: Which one? I'm gussing you'll takle Coach Beast but I kind of hope Unique gets at least a shoutout. Other than that:Hell yeah! I was such a huge Glee Fan back in the day. Very excited to see what you'll have to say about it. I dont think Sue was important for any of the trans stuff, but if you do mention her, then I hope she didn't piss you off too much. XD
@@marocat4749 Sue was, and will always be, my favorite. I just know that some people don't really vibe with her & write her off cause she's unappologetically herself. And that self can be a lot : P
Fun little things to point out: firstly the comment about Sue and tenure. I’m pretty sure high school teachers don’t get that. I work in the edu field and I’ve never heard about that but I may be wrong. So she’s done a long list of fireable offenses and gotten away with it for no reason. Also about the Ohio stuff, yeah no it’s not fun. I’m out about being gay and having a wife but my boss does not know about me being trans because she’s super religious and weird about shit like that. Already had a coworker pull some shit that was vaguely accusing me of grooming kids for having the audacity to mention I’m married to a woman
I'd just like to add a detail about the bathroom episode Lily mentions in the video for anyone watching this video who has not seen Glee. In this episode, Sue gives Will (the teacher in charge of the glee club) an ultimatum regarding Unique's issues with the public restrooms. Will is obsessed with making the glee club twerk for some reason, Sue finds this inappropriate and tells Will that Unique can have a key to the gender neutral staff bathroom if he stops the twerking. This man spends the entire episode refusing to stop twerking even when it would directly allow one of his students less discomfort in their daily life. Obviously Sue is still the primary asshole in the situation for holding Unique's safety and comfort hostage like that, but the fact that a grown ass man is choosing to die on the hill of having his teenage students twerk is definitely awful too.
The more i think back on glee, the more i remember it as a show where almost every character was varying degrees of awful.
For the villain, Sue was on the correct side of an issue far too often for comfort.
@@dinosaysrawr sue was never a villain in my eyes
That episode was so creepy! Will performing Blurred Lines with a bunch of minor students while twerking was just yikes and then refusing to give up twerking in order to actually improve a students life when he's supposed to be seen as the guy who actually cares about his students... That whole episode was a mess
This situation is so ridiculous it's funny. I watched this show as a kid but forgot most of it, so hearing it out of context like this is like jumping in a pool full of jelly
I like when Lily Simpson said “it’s simping time!” And preformed the Simpson test all over the place
Having the rich group try and "convince" the Glee club they are hateful, to "trigger" them, by COMMITTING A HATE CRIME is... certainly a choice.
The USA Republican Party
Lily's abject confusion over Sue being an actual war criminal but also a trans ally is sending me. Glee's tone is impossible to describe and should be studied in history books. They will make THE most offensive joke you have ever heard and then also have a heartwarming trans affirming conversation in the exact same scene, and it was like that about everything. It was... something.
YES. SO TRUE. It was so offensive, but also gave us the best representation at the time? So bizarre
That's very much Ryan Murphy's style. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but what made the emotional whiplash even worse in Glee was the introduction of heartfelt "very special episodes" alongside all the dark comedy.
glee is such a bewildering experience especially the later seasons, the whole show needs a deep dive analysis imo
I feel like in some ways the show was a victim of its own success. The early episodes lean very heavy on the dark comedy, and pretty much all the characters are some degree of terrible people, but then when the show became a huge hit it's like they decided these characters also needed to be role models for the audience. So you get this weird tonal shift where characters like Rachel or Kurt can be absolute monsters one minute, but then turn around and chastise someone else for being selfish or intolerant.
As much as I love trans people and trans characters being represented positively in media, I will maintain that Shannon Beiste, the masculine straight woman who coaches high school football and desperately wants to be respected and loved as any other woman would be, is a 1000x more progressive character than Sheldon Beiste, a generic trans man played by a lesbian actress in drag, ever could be
Yes I hated that they decided to make Coach Beiste trans. As you said a masculine presenting cis het woman was such a unique character and such rare representation.
have I ever watched glee? No, will I? No, but I'm going to watch this 50 minute video just to hear Lily explain Glee to me
Exactly. Well her and my ex-partner when they're in a writing mood.
Same tho
That's me with most of Lilly's content. The channel is very educational.
Same same and ditto
I do the same thing with "reality" dating shows lol. I refuse to consume the content without a literal therapist analyzing it with me
it's also worth noting that the actor that played Sunshine (Jake Zyrus), who you showed at 33:03, is trans. he transitioned some time after his last appearance on glee and, from what i've heard, it was a pretty big deal in his home country, the Philippines
As much as I loved Kurt as a small gay child, I hate how much transphobia and biphobia he was written to express. It felt like he often got used as an author mouthpiece to be like "this far is fine but no farther"
I mean but it is a true type of gay guy. Especially one completely isolated from queer comunity.
When being "one of the girls" was the only way gay guys found protection in high school, it came with a lot of comforming to the rule pf gender. It came with a huge "this is your place and you should play to our own steriotypes and expectations of gay guys". And when something works for you as a queer person to make you feel safe and accepted it becomes hard to dissociate from the patriarchy of it all.
I'm not excusing, just explaining. After all gay guys are the closest type of queer to actual priviledge and many latch on to it. I am queer myself (a less accepted kind) and have had nasty experiences with some gay guys, but I still know the big bad guy behind it all, even their bigotry, is the oppression we share.
“I’d say bye but i wouldn’t wanna make you angry”
i can't believe that glee of all pieces of media passes the simpson test
I don't think a neurology test applies to this show
To those asking what that is, finish watching the video. Or jump to 37:00.
Honestly same!!! I was expecting it to be so much worse and the fact this passes The Simpson Test is wild! I hate to say it seems so little does pass the test but hopefully more and more media will!
As much as i hate glee it kiiinda makes sense that it passes the test? The trans characters are both played by queer people, there are numerous gay writers on the show. Idk 🤷🏻♀️ i feel like there was a level of personal connection from the people involved that gave them a bit more to work with and a generally more realistic idea of how conversations between trans people go.
The timestamp was very helpful, thank you! But I just spent like a minute trying to work out when that happened in the Simpsons lol.
I always found it confusing that Unique would supposedly be immediately recognized by the judges as GNC when to me she just passes as a cis woman. How would they even know?
Could it be because she was on the team of an all boys school?
@@lucycr5761 Wait… she was in Vocal Adrenaline, right? It was the Warblers that were from an all-boys school.
Yeah, ironically I always felt like Beiste's original storyline resonated more with transfem experiences.
I think the best thing about Rachel Berry as a character is that she's only mildly less an insufferable asshole than the actress playing her.
What did the actress do?
@@Brightfire19 post-glee a lot of people that worked w/her on the show have claimed she made being on a show a living hell because of how shed treat them behind the scenes
SUUUUPER related to your take on Coach Bieste's transition - I literally stopped watching Glee BECAUSE of that writing choice. I am gender non-conforming and at the time was a huge fan of Coach Bieste's embracing of masculine interests/mannerisms or whatever you want to call it while still firmly identifying as a woman. I found it horribly contrived and confusing to transition that character. Thanks for another banger deep dive, Lily, I look forward to using the Simpson Test going forward.
10:31 sue actually really loves Becky, she’s the only character outside of her sister and daughter (who both also have downs) who sue seems to genuinely give a shit about
if memory serves me well Becky was supposed to be like badass evil henchmen so it would be described as "serving Sue"
also, from what I remember, they clearly portrayed becky as the third highest cheerleader in the hierarchy.
10:15 becky is basically sue's sidekick, that's why she's doing the free labor. based on what i remember about their relationship, i don't think they were implying she's being taken advantage of because of her down syndrome, but instead because she's besties with sue, lol
I also remember a moment when someone else (maybe Mr shue) was treating her differently cuz of her down syndrome and didn't like that Sue was being just as hard as she was with every other student. Sue then tells him that his attitude is the problem, and that Becky is just another student who deserves to be treated the same and that she won't patronize her when Becky clearly just wanted to be treated like everyone else.
And for the ones that don't know, Sue has a sister with Down syndrome who she loves and respects, so she cares about Becky a lot.
Not sure if the show fucks up irt Sue and Becky, or if there mightve been mistreatment of the Becky actress, but that scene wasn't trying to say that Sue treats her differently cuz of her Down Syndrome
Yes, was about to write this too. She was treating Becky just how she treated Santanna and Brittany - also as her 'minions'
i hate the trans storyline in glee which is sheldon beiste. it made 0 sense and was not relatable one bit
the problem is: sheldon’s entire character beforehand was like “just because im masculine doesnt mean im a man please treat me like a girl” and it was a big struggle for them that they just wanted to be treated like a “pretty girl” despite their appearance… so for me didnt make sense to do an entire 180 to “masculine=man + i was never a girl” (i have watched glee 5 times, pray for me)
This was why Beiste's transition always felt off to me, because she had those story lines and that's just as important for everyone's understanding of gender and identity
Terrible representation of a trans man, goes against the entire character
I respectfully disagree. Trans guy who came out at 45. I spent years, actual decades, fighting to be seen as a feminine woman. Although via expression and body type I succeeded, I was usually clocked socially as a lesbian, even though I am generally not into women. People were seeing a masculine aspect to me and I rebelled against that until my egg finally began cracking at 40.
The trans trope is that we all knew from toddlerhood that deep down inside we were a boy (or girl for trans fems). That we always did things to try to seem like the gender we knew ourselves to be. But especially for older trans folk, that isn't always the reality. I'd always said I'd have been better off born a boy, that my brain was half male, half female. Yet somehow, through lack of knowledge mostly, I never crossed that line to, "Yes I am a guy," until I was older than 40.
I don't think Glee was being super inclusive of alternative trans narratives with Beist. Rather, they took an existing character that they thought could reasonably work as a trans narrative and went with it. But it doesn't nullify the fact that it is a narrative that at least some trans masc people will relate to.
Honestly, my own story is very similar to his. I tried hard to "be a girl," but it wasn't fulfilling, and that's how I knew I was trans.
@@khrysalis0289yeah, i'm not giving glee the benefit of the doubt, but that absolutely happens all the time, the trans experience is... Complicated, you could say
her: I really hate how sometimes people misgender me and call me a guy
glee: perfect! you should play a guy in our show!
They don't say it explicitly in the show but I've always thought the cheerios wear the uniform all the time because Sue makes them or because of status (Cheerios are popular)
Glee is a mess, I kinda have a love-hate relationship with it because I watched it since I was 9, and it's so random I can't really hate on it. Coach Beiste being trans wasn't thought out, especially as Beiste had had a feeling insecure about not feeling "feminine" enough arc. I loved the trans choir scene though.
I tried to think of The Simpsons episode where two trans characters were speaking alone in a scene for an embarrassingly long time. I'm so sorry Lily.
Lol, same
What episode is this?! I must know!
I remember being so upset with the coach beast transition storyline. I easn out as a lesbian yet, nor even nonbinar/trans, but I felt it was the wrong move for that character and actress! Now, a coming out as a trans masc butch lesbian would have been perfection, but i might be biased.
I was an extra for the shoot, we got paid around $100 but we were on set for like 17 hours, it was insane. And watching the episode was an exercise in cringe. And we had to lip sync over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. And that story line? Oy vey. They meant well, but goddamn.
Wtf that really is insane
The fact that Ryan Murphy is behind both the nightmare that is Glee and the absolutely incredible Pose is so wild
"damn i need something to kill the next 50 minutes before my class starts"
*Lily Simpson has posted a New Video*
"oh yeah, its all coming together"
If I ever got to be in a room of 100+ trans people, all celebrating our existence and joy, that'd be pretty freaking amazing. Actually got a bit emotional at the fact that her back-up choir was only trans people, that's very powerful.
The Simpson Test: When a piece of media portrays two gender non-conforming characters interacting with one another without the influence or input of cisgender characters.
Yes The Simpson Test: When a piece of media portrays two gender non-conforming characters interacting with one another without the influence or input of cisgender characters.
Wow, The Simpson test When a piece of media portrays multiple gender non-conforming characters interacting with one another without the influence or input of cisgender characters
I think a better term is ‘genderqueer’ (that’s the actual umbrella term for trans, enby, gender fluid, etc.)
Gender non-conforming and Cisgender aren’t mutually exclusive (for example a cis man who likes traditionally feminine things is GNC) GNC isn’t really related to gender identity but more to gender expression.
@@oceansolstice608 Sorry, we codified the definition without you 3 weeks ago. Lol.
5:53 brittany (the blonde "lesbian" cheerleader) is actually bi!
just felt like i had to point it out to keep the facts straight (pun intended), love your vids!!
I thought she was pansexual according to the Glee wiki when I read it in 2014, did it change?
Not that Ryan Murphy would let anyone ID as bi on his shows back then
@@RogueVideoRaven well she never actually mentioned her sexuality, the closest thing was her saying she wasn't a unicorn but a "bicorn", so she is considered to be bi by most people but you could honestly headcanon her as pan without a problem
@@cationstshe also states in season 2 she’s bi-curious and santana states how brittany is bi when talking to dani in season 5
I was going to watch that Star Wars hotel episode everyone's been talking about, but I saw this in the thumbnail side and realized you're about to talk about a trainwreck and had to watch this first.
Spoilers... But the hotel was a Trainwreck too....
my dad has always traveled to new york for his job and a couple years ago he started talking about his new friend alex every time he came back from new york and how funny they were. i was like okay let’s go dad has a nonbinary friend and didn’t think about it again. until i made him watch glee one summer and he told me he recognized unique. his new friend alex was ALEX NEWELL. i can’t make this up they’re still friends and they wish me happy birthday every year :)
about becky jackson: becky jackson is kinda like sue's right hand man, she always helps sue carry out her evil plans
Man i wish i was the sidekick to an evil tv coach. Thats the dream. Being the right hand of the oppressor in a low stakes environment with clear guardrails? All playing out in a universe that is episodic and trends towards the "good guys" winning (and money only matters sometimes).
Damn son.
I'm in love with a life that no one will live. A simulacrum that only exists to be observed from the outside. Probably a lesson there somewhere. Oh well.
the side note about Unique's struggles with using the schools bathrooms is pretty relatable, unfortunately. every out trans person at my highschool used a single stall bathroom in the library bc the school didnt really allow any alternatives. at least i got to pee in peace ig
took me a minute to get the Simpson Test vs. what I thought you originaly said 'the Simpsons test'. I was trying to remember the episode from the Simpsons which had 2 trans characters talking until I recalled that you are Lily 'Simpson'. Oops.
I find Glee cloying in that Lin Manuel Miranda way but I do appreciate Sue taking the John Brown approach to allyship
Unique was really special to me (despite Glee’s general horrible-ness) and I’m happy to see this breakdown here. Fantastic work!! 💛
Realizing Mercedes was the true hero all along is a rite of passage for many people who grew out of their family's racism
My first introduction to Alex Newell was through Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, where I was completely unaware that they were gender-nonconforming. It wasn't until episode 4, where they actually address this aspect of the character's life, that I learned this fact. It'd be awesome if you were to cover that episode, or maybe even Mo as a character entirely.
ZEP is so underrated
I mean, the 3x16 storyline is more or less resolved in 3x21, where Unique performs at National and is given an MVP award. In a sense, the lack of closure in 3x16 was a hook. It's not really a huge "storyline" but it fits with the prize Alex won on TGP of a 2 (actually 3 given the quick cameo in 3x20) episodes arc before being brought back in s4.
I also very much like the Grease episode when Unique wants to play Rizzo. It’s sad but it’s a much deeper story than just 3x16. Which Mr Schue is being a pos bc he keeps misgendering and deadnaming Unique and being like “you can’t play Rizzo.” Fuck Mr Schue. Should’ve been in jail from the first episode when he spied on Finn in the shower. Also not a fan of Riley always misgendering and deadnaming Unique too. And while i don’t support catfishing, Riley deserved it.
I think what would have made these episodes a thousand times better is if everyone had an opportunity to experience the epic highs and lows of high school football.
Thank you Lily for this, when I watched Glee, I was still a little egg. So these scenes hit me a lot different than they do now.
13:45 “This is Ohio.” Cue JD from Heathers joking that bottled seltzer water is too queer for Ohio.
Lily there's a 1985 anime about space work girls called "Dirty Pair". Ep 7 features an actual trans character, the actual episode and the release date of the show probably could make for some interesting analysis and commentary❤
I have been binge watching your channel Lily! I am so glad you made a video on Glee since I remember a few years back finding out about the trans rep in the show.
i think its stated at some point that Sue requires the cheerios to wear their uniforms everyday
The Southen guy always sounds like that. Character actor who specializes in playing oil tycoons and aw-shucks attorneys. Name's Gary Grubbs (really!)
Finally a show I actually know! I love Unique sm, but Ill be the first to admit most of the real issues that Glee covered were handled horribly
Even the gay stuff, by a gay man, and whilestill exposure, damn kurts actor is so chill, which means that , he was directed to act that weird and annoying, why? Also the social media shitstorm he had to deal with, the max that actor, sidelined despoite being the best portrayal and , nah.
Not to mention, god ryan murphy, is something , i think his best gay characters are the couple from season one of american horror story, because it serves a real purpose and mirror the family at the house, which all fight over , leaving tht evil house.
Ok the lesbian couple in tht political season are pretty good too
yeah esp after the first few seasons its like they just roll out each kind of minority to eke out as much "representation" as possible, handling each with the subtlety of a bull in a china shop "oh we're doing a trans thing - oh we're doing a eating disorder thing"
What do you expect from a show saying they were all minorities bc they were part of the glee club?
Um, excuse me! He has a name, and it's Kurt.
Kurt Thegayguyfromglee.
i remember really hating the coach sheldon storyline when i was watching it (i was maybe 10 or 11), which i thought was odd because i usually liked it when i got to see trans people on tv. but i really disliked how she was literally a cis woman who transitioned. like her character was trans, but the writers couldn't have possibly known that, so they were writing a character that was a woman, who just became trans because they were bored. i know that people transition later in life, and that could make a lot of sense, if the character was trans or the actor was trans, but she wasn't
Can you do Princess Jellyfish?? It isn't *exactly* trans, but it's so queer and I love it so much!!!
in the USA cheerleaders wear their uniforms to school on game days
That's fair, though, as Lily said, the cheerleaders wear them in every. single. episode. Not just game days
@@beth5627Every episode is game day.
@@beth5627 maybe the message is that lesbians never change clothes
i live in america but our school didn’t have cheerleaders and i genuinely thought this was just a tv show thing haha. why don’t they change before the game like every other member of a sports team?
@@ErikaCartet other sports teams went to school in their uniforms too on game days, i was on the basketball team and we wore our uniforms on game days but idk of thats shown in Glee, ive never seen the show before, football and soccer did it too, boys and girls. coaches told us to do it for school pride
I would sit thru "a brief look at Glee" you have so many juicy tangents that you kept yourself from and while I respect that, I would also encourage the long version lol
Is it just me or does the "I can't believe unique pulled that off" line seem to suggest the glee cast wouldn't support her if she didn't pass enough in that performance
That's definitely how I took it, too. Like they definitely expected her to fail, and are only being supportive because she was good.
Tbf cheerleaders sometimes wore their uniforms at school on days of football games at my high school at least. Maybe it's more than that on glee though.
As Lily said they wear them all the time, every single day
Yes, they only did not wear it when they were temporarily kicked out of the team by Sue earlier. @@kirpat1212
All I know about Glee I learned from the Christmas episode of Community. And I never did find out what regionals are...
Regionals are just a competition. Like you have the Sectionals which are a competition in the schools in the same general area as your own. When you win the sectionals, you go to the Regionals. And when you win the regionals, you go to the Nationals. Season 1 just makes more of a deal of Regionals bc the principal says they must classify for Regionals to go to Nationals in order to keep the Glee Club. Which they fail. So they lose their class for a while. But then end up still continuing the Glee Club in season 2. And by the end of season 2, they go to the Nationals. Which they don’t even end up in the top 10 bc Rachel and Finn kissed on the stage. I cringe every time i watch. And at the end of season 3, they win Nationals. Also Unique ends up winning the best performer award at the Nationals.
when marley was suspended from glee for refusing to wear an aphrodite lady seashell bikini the world wept
So just so I'm clear when i tell me friends, are we codifying the Simpson test as a story that includes:
1. At least two trans/genderqueer characters
2. Who have a conversation with each other
3. That is not interrupted by the opinions of a cis person
Cuz I'm on board with that but i wanna make sure I'm following the standard right
I don't know if you read comments or if this has been pointed out, but at about the 10:30 mark you say "person with disabilities." This is super nitpicky and obviously not everyone agrees, but typically "disabled person" is preferred. A lot of "official sources" will tell you that person first language is better, but actual disabled people will almost universally prefer disability first language. To use myself as an example, I wouldn't be me without my disabilities; they're vital to who I am as a person, part of my identity rather than something I carry around, if that makes sense. Again, I'm being super nitpicky, I don't think anyone will ever be actually offended by the words "person with disabilities," and it's obviously still accurate, just thought I'd mention it. Love your videos, including this one.
seconding this, pwd sets me and every other disabled person i know on edge
By season four I was only watching scenes with Santana in them, and wow I missed a lot of wild stuff! I quite enjoyed this analysis. It's a lot more fun hearing about all the wacky stuff I missed years later from creators! More fun when you're cringing together. Will love Santana forever though
Hey, i'd like to recommend that you look into the trans storyline of shameless! It's not just one episode (i don't know how long trevor is around for exactly, it has been a while since i've seen the show), but i would love to hear your analysis and thoughts on it. :)
Seconding this!
I’ll always remember this show as that show that Jake Zyrus was once on
Having Beiste become a trans man is maybe the laziest and most stupid idea ever on this show. Throwing away her entire character of "being masculine doesn't invalidate me being a woman" just to have a trans episode WHEN YOU HAVE A CURRENT TRANS CHARACTER WHO IS TRYING TO TRANSITION. It's just so frustrating
If I remember the Glee Project well, which was the reality show Alex got casted in, they were presenting as a gay man at the time. It was Ryan Murphy who, in one of the challenges, mentioned they should have just "put on a wing and came out like Amy Winehouse" singing the song. So I would believe the character was much more a Ryan Murphy vision than trying to acomodate Alex. But that's just my speculation from whatI remember from the show and reality show.
Glee project (the first one) was kind of odd for me. To me it's clear that Alex Newell deserved a spot on Glee simply because Ryan Murphy could already envisioned the character future just from that audition. And since glee is all about LGBT but at the time did not have Trans rep yet, it just made sense that this one should win the main spot.
But for some weird reason, they chose to pick someone else, whose character uniqueness was just that he was from Ireland and unless TGP was voted on like American Idol, it just seemed like a weird choice to proper him to win spots when after winning, the show runners just cannot think of anything else for him.
Thanks for the update. Having a hectic week and a bit a bad day ex Gleek genderflux person so this made me feel alot better. 😊
46:16 omfg, thank you for putting my exact thoughts into words lmao. I have such a love hate relationship with Glee. I loved coach Bieste and the way they challenged gender roles when the character was a cis woman. That was such a big plot point before their transition. I also liked this episode itself but it felt like it really cheapened the prior episodes about Bieste.
Glee's ideology reminds me of South Park's edgy humor. Sue is basically a slightly less cringe Garrison.
On the state of Ohio, it used to be a swing state, but is red now like Iowa and Florida which all went red for Trump twice in 2016 and 2020. Also, you can look at Erin Reed's Erin in the Morning substack. She keeps track of anti trans laws with the Anti Trans Legislative Risk Assessment Map. May 2024 is the most recent update. States are categorized as Do Not Travel (Florida), Worst Laws Passed (Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Tennessee, Utah), High Risk (Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia), Moderate Risk (Alaska, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Wyoming), Low Risk (Arizona, Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhodes Island, Virginia, Wisconsin), and Safest States with Most Protections (California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington). Note: These are the Trans Adult rankings, as there are separate Trans Kids rankings. Also most rankings are fairly static over the past two or so years, except some moving around of Arizona, New Hampshire, and Virginia. Also worth noting that since Glee is set in Lima, Allen County, Ohio specifically in Northwest Ohio, it means that Glee is set somewhat south of the border with Michigan. It's 2024 which is an election year again. With the exception of New Hampshire, the rankings are a good summary or how blue or red a state is.
There are so many shows I have never seen and never will see, and I will gladly watch you explain them to me while talking about their trans representation.
Here to say let's definitely get The Simpson Test integrated into cinematic vernacular! This is a movement, people!
New to the channel and BIG glee fan (self aware) . I loved how much historical references you included, I genuinely learned so much and was also interested to look further into topics mentioned!
I watched a 2hr video essay and a 1hr video essay on glee yesterday, and today u, one of my favourite TH-camrs, upload this. What is happening 😂
Which ones?
@@Annadog40 “who’s the worst person in glee - Hosh On” and “everything you NEED to know about Glee’s crimes & controversies - coffee and cults”
One day later but... you too?
Why does referring to Kurt as the gay guy from Glee hit me right in the funny everytime you say it, we are going to hell I hope they have trans town.
For all of Glee's problems: at the time it was really forward thinking.
Also Pretty Little Liars has... lesd than stellar Trans representation if you want to also tackle that monstrosity
And the new pll series has a trans character too. Done much better though thank goodness
I went to high school in the US and cheerleaders very much did wear their uniforms just as clothes outside of practice. Usually it was when there was some kind of cheer event that day but they did it. I think it might have also had to do with the fact that the cheer skirt was shorter than the dress code actually allowed so it was like a loophole
I think the “y wife” was supposed to be a show of the stereotype that southern men only trust women to be smart enough when it comes to caring for kids. That, or he’s saying “look at my woman womaning. Isn’t he such a woman?l”
Great video. Though I was waiting for you to talk about the episode where Unique tries to get on estrogen and to wear bra padding but the cis people tell her she doesn't need the things. And another character making a Hedwig and the Angry Inch joke at her. Maybe a topic for another video?
The person who came up with the idea of signing a huge bunch of naive unknown kids to the sort of skewed contracts that naive unknown kids are willing to sign for both TV *and* music at the same time, was an evil genius. They must have made a heck of a lot of money out of this and I imagine most of the actors got quite little.
Thank you for the section on how harmful fatphobia is and yet how acceptable it is treated in society.
I think the cheerleaders constantly wearing their uniforms thing is a pretty good example of how the writers approach topics on the show. They thought about a real thing (cheerleaders wearing their uniforms to school on game days, trans kid coming out) for two seconds and just made up the details
Your videos are a blessing to this Earth. Thank you so much for making and sharing them.
My tranphobic parents told me that glee ended at season 3, I had figured out they were lying and confronted them (glee was my favorite show as a closeted transmasc bi kid who’s parents thought was just a “butch/tom boy) they just said the rest was bad and I never went back to watch it, they tried to hide the trans representation from me. I always had a more masculine build, I always liked that part of myself, people would “mistake” me as a man because I had short hair and a masculine frame, my parents would always correct people but I didn’t care then. My parents always called me a little lesbian when I was younger I mean the first few people I dated were girls (in middle school, i was in middle school) most of them were straight. Then I realized that I wasn’t just a lesbian I was bi because I had a big crush on this guy in my class ( he was gay) and later realized I’m trans and as puberty hit I was more and more dysphoric as the difference between “boys” and “girls” became bigger, and I was considered one of the boys and started going by my preferred name(when I wouldn’t be outed to my parents because I knew the consequences and it’s a story for another time). This video showed me what my parents were hiding and how I relate to coach beast even though the show is kinda cringe.
I always love your analyses of trans episodes. You have such a nuanced perspective in every video you do, and it's great to see your perspectives
Ok, as a Glee fan from childhood, I hated the trans spin on Bestie. For 4 seasons he was a female character that challenged gender norms and didn't conform to the traditional idea of femenine womanhood. There was absolutely no indication whatsoever that he experienced gender dysphoria and wished to live as a man until that one episode of the final season where he just announced he's transitioning. It felt like a slap to the face of fans who related to the character as a straight woman that struggled with traditional representations of what that should look like.
Also, I'll always be fond of Unique because she was my first trans character. I was 14 or 15 when I saw her debut on the show, and I think until that point I was what you would call a standard ignorant cis person. I didn't understand trans people, I didn't know any trans person, I had only seen them referenced as a punchline. And seeing Unique and what she struggled with and why she wanted to be seen as a woman was a real game changer to me. People tend to forget that before Glee, having teen queer characters on TV was not common at all, and when it happened, it was more often than not portrayed as a traumatic solitary experience.
I hate that they made Coach Beiste trans tbh. The character was already gender nonconforming at that was a major arc for the characters. With this, it's like saying all gender nonconforming people either grow out of it or are secretly trans.
not me trying to figure out what the simpson test had to do with the simpsons tv show...
I have not the slightest clue what glee is, but I'm gonna watch this video, in it's entirety, and enjoy it!
YOOOOO YOU HIT 100K!?!?!? CONGRATS!!!
The part of the video that shocked me most was learning Jane Lynch was in Glee
15:27 I may be stupid, but I can't figure out what the first two words that rhyme with "Hydrant Faulton" are. The third one (the one that rhymes with 'girder') is obvious, though.
That makes two of us. Somebody please let us know cuz I've been sitting here repeating them over and over again trying to figure it out.
i had to look up rhymes for hydrant and i still can’t figure it out… tyrant? vibrant? migrant??
good to know I'm not the only one
Same. If you (or someone else) figures it out please tell me I need to know
Me neither. Were they even supposed to rhyme with anything.
I much prefer the way that Jan's character in But I'm a Cheerleader was handled vs. the reasoning for Coach Beiste's transition. I do appreciate when cis women call out the way in which all people are hurt by transphobia and stereotyping, but it does really feel like redirecting the issue based on a cis experience while also living up to/playing into stereotypes about masculine women. Jan in But I'm a Cheerleader (as well as Janice Ian in Mean Girls) are good examples of people who are stereotyped by their presentation and preferences (and, in Jan's case, even confused and mislead to believe she's a lesbian because according to everyone else she MUST be if she dresses so masculine/looks so masculine). It's a much better way to call out this issue, imo, to show someone being stereotyped that way and having the realization that "Just because I look/present a certain way, that doesn't assign me a gender/sexuality just because everyone else is so black and white thinking". But then, Glee just... well I avoided it for a reason, I'll go with that.
Fun fact: coach Sheldon CAN actually sing, and did a killer cover of Jolene, I don't remember what season it was because I haven't watched glee since I was in High School so like ten years ago but I remember it happened.
LETS FREAKING GO IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE SINCE I FOUND UR CHANNEL
Well shit, this brought up some deep seeded egg memories. I remember being so jealous of Unique, but thought that it was impossible to actually transition
47:36 are you implying that that show....didnt?? romanticize jeffery dahmer???? when people were making thirst edits and jokes and harassing the real victims of these real crimes? like im genuinely curious as to what makes you think that (if im understanding this moment right)
25:36
This was actually the first Macklemore track I heard. Not because of Glee, the TV in my 6th-form center just played music videos all day, and this track (called Same Love btw) came on. I like to think it helped de-program my more casual homophobia.
I've also since come out multiple times. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
i haven't ended this video, but I hope you talk about the episode The End of Twerk, an episode in which the glee club is fighting for the right to twerk, it has a subplot of Unique dealing with the trials and tribulations of using the bathroom as a trans girl, to express these struggles, she sings a gorgeous stripped back rendition of If I Were a Boy by Beyoncé. Sue Sylvester tells Will Shuester that she is going to give Unique a key to the teacher's lounge bathroom, only if the glee club stops twerking, to which he denies, because he thinks that underage children shaking their ass is more important than this girl getting the basic human right of taking a wee. He then sings Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke in protest.
Yeah, that sounds like the standard glee amount of fuckedupness
I am so down for the Simpson test being a thing
Pre-Watching Comment.
My first thought when I saw the title was: Which one?
I'm gussing you'll takle Coach Beast but I kind of hope Unique gets at least a shoutout.
Other than that:Hell yeah! I was such a huge Glee Fan back in the day. Very excited to see what you'll have to say about it.
I dont think Sue was important for any of the trans stuff, but if you do mention her, then I hope she didn't piss you off too much. XD
Sue is still a better teacher than will, despite being cartoonish at times
@@marocat4749 Sue was, and will always be, my favorite. I just know that some people don't really vibe with her & write her off cause she's unappologetically herself. And that self can be a lot : P
thank you so much for providing me entertainment while i work on a doctor who fan art featuring jonathon groff who was also a guest star on glee :)
Idk about you guys but that pitch for the Simpson test just immediately won me over
i think im finally just the right amount of stoned to attempt to watch a lily video on this particular subject
Fun little things to point out: firstly the comment about Sue and tenure. I’m pretty sure high school teachers don’t get that. I work in the edu field and I’ve never heard about that but I may be wrong. So she’s done a long list of fireable offenses and gotten away with it for no reason.
Also about the Ohio stuff, yeah no it’s not fun. I’m out about being gay and having a wife but my boss does not know about me being trans because she’s super religious and weird about shit like that. Already had a coworker pull some shit that was vaguely accusing me of grooming kids for having the audacity to mention I’m married to a woman
There's a lot to love in this one, though I've never actually heard about Glee before.