Glee's Gap Moment: A Gay Valentine's Serenade... But I wanted MORE!

Okay, if you haven't seen last week's whole episode of Glee (Silly Love Songs) you can check it out here.

There was this amazing moment in it, when Blaine (played by Darren Criss) serenades the guy he's crushing on, with the entire Warblers backing him up... and it's at a GAP store!

You can check just that song out here:



It felt like Glee's Valentine to gay viewers everywhere - a cute guy, singing a great song about his liking another cute guy in a really public, joyful way.

But, here's my question:

The song, When I Get You Alone, by Robin Thicke, is about a guy crushing on a girl. Why couldn't they have changed just a few of the words? It would have been even more awesome.

Look at the Lyrics:

Oooh...
Eah!

[Verse 1:]
Baby girl, where you at? Baby Boy, where you at?
Got no strings, got men attached
Can't stop that feelin' for long no
Mmmm
You makin' dogs wanna beg
Breaking them off your fancy legs
But they make you feel right at home, now

[Hook 1:]
(Ooooh)
See all these illusions just take us too long
(Ooooh) And I want it bad..
Because you walk pretty,
Because you talk pretty,
'Cause you make me sick
And I'm not leavin', till you're leavin'

[Hook 2:]
(Ahhh)
Oh I swear there's something when she's pumpin', Oh I swear there's something when he's pumpin'
Asking for a raise
(Oooh) Well does she want me to carry her home now? Well does he want me to carry him home now?
(Oooh) So does she want me to buy her things? So does he want me to buy him things?
On my house, on my job
On my loot, shoes, my shirt,
My crew, my mind, my father's last name?

[Chorus:]
(Ahhh)
When I get you alone ('lone)
When I get you you'll know baby (know)
When I get you alone ('lone)
When I get you alone now (it's all mine)

(Ahhhh....oh)
Come on
Oh yeah-yeah

[Verse 2:]
Baby girl you da shit Baby boy you da shi... (look I slurred it, just like Darren Criss did on Glee!)
That makes you my equivalent
Well you can keep your toys in the drawer tonight,
All right
All my dawgs talkin' fast-
Aint you got some photographs?
'Cause you shook that room like a star, now
Yes you did, oh

[Hook 1:]
(Ooooh)
All these intrusions just take us too long
(Ooooh) And I want you so bad..
Because you walk city,
Because you talk city,
'Cause you make me sick
And I'm not leavin', till you're leavin'

[Hook 2:]
(Ahhh)
So I pray to something she aint bluffin', So I pray to something he ain't bluffin'
Rubbin' up on me
(Oooh) Well does she want me to make a vow? Well does he want me to make a vow?
Check it
(Oooh)Well does she want me to make it now? Well does he want me to make it now?
On my house, on my job
On my loot, shoes, my voice,
My crew, my mind, my father's last name?

[Chorus:]
(Ahhh)
When I get you alone ('lone)
When I get you you'll know baby (know)
When I get you alone ('lone)
When I get you alone now (it's all mine)

(Ahhhh....oh)

Oh no
Get you alone baby
Oohh..

I'm grateful for this moment on Glee, but I want a little bit more for Valentine's Day. I want those nine words.

Namaste, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Lee

Glee's Bully (Well, Max Adler, The Actor Playing The Bully) Does An "It Gets Better" Video

And he shares the secret about most bullies:



Thanks Max! It's really great that you've put this out there, and are standing UP!

Namaste,
Lee

Glee's Kurt Gets His First Gay Kiss... (spoiler alert!)

So in last night's episode of Glee, "Never Been Kissed" (you can watch it here) Kurt (played by Chris Colfer) finally gets kissed... only it's not what you might expect. It's the episode that really focuses on his being harassed and bullied for just being himself, for just being Gay, and shows a number of times where he's slammed into the lockers by a huge football jock/bully - it's physical intimidation that's shown as habitual, and when Kurt finally confronts this guy about what he's so scared of that he has to be so horrible to him, the jock kisses Kurt!

The Gay Kiss

Kurt's reaction

...basically revealing that the source of this guy's homophobia is his own conflict about being attracted to guys - his own conflict about being gay and closeted - his own self-hate.

It's a plot that's pretty much ripped from headlines, what with stories of all these extreme homophobes in our political and religious landscape who have been revealed to be Gay. Remember George Rekers? Larry Craig? Roy Ashburn? Ted Haggard?

Maybe we're approaching a time when anyone who is too homophobic, too upset about gay people will actually be seen by our larger culture as probably just another closeted, self-hating gay man, trying to throw us off the scent.

Like I've said before, I think we're approaching The Queen in Hamlet Tipping Point:

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

(Act III, scene 2, line 230)

We've seen it in our political world. In our religious world. And now, we've seen it on Glee.

We also saw what I'm guessing is a potential boyfriend for Kurt, Blaine (played by Darren Criss)

Kurt's New Boyfriend?

and that's pretty exciting. After all, with more than ONE out gay teen on TV, it takes the pressure off of Kurt to be the perfect representative for Gay people. The more representations there are of GLBTQ Teens in the media, the more of our stories are heard, the less powerful the stereotypes become - and then Kurt can just be Kurt. Fabulous Kurt. With the new hot boyfriend.

Okay, I'm a Gleek.

A Gay Gleek.

And I can't wait to see what happens next. What did you think of the episode?

Namaste,
Lee

Lee on the Radio! Here's the podcast of this week's Katie Davis' Brain Burps About Books Radio Show!

Listen to internet radio with BrainBurps on Blog Talk Radio

click on the image above to play the audio file of the show!

I admit, I had butterflies – LIVE Radio?!? – but it ended up being an awesome experience.

I loved listening to Susan Taylor Brown talk about her poetry and how it led to her discovering family - and a sense of family she’d never had. I got all emotional listening to her read her poem, “Ring, Ring.”

And then, I was the guest! I had so much fun talking about Gay Dads and books and censorship and even



Glee’s invisible gay dads

and these books:

“And Tango Makes Three”




“Daddy, Papa, and Me”



“Luv Ya Bunches,”



“The Real Life Channel,”



“King and King”






and “King and King and Family.”



Katie was a wonderful host, and it was truly an honor.




The show runs just over a half hour, and my interview begins at 14:20. There’s even a bonus book review by the fantabulous Betsy Bird at the end...

I hope you enjoy listening to it!

Namaste,
Lee

Why the Gay Teen on "Glee" drives me nuts... and makes me want to sing at the same time.

He has a crush on a straight guy.

He sighs over toile.

He gives the lady he wants to set his dad up with a makeover.

Argh!

But then there was the episode where he was the football star. Kicking in the winning field goal. (To Beyonce's "Single Ladies", blasting over the football stadium.)

And those scenes with his Dad, who's a bit lost about having a gay son - but bottom line, loves Kurt and accepts him. Those scenes make me so happy it almost hurts.


The character Kurt is this frustrating mix of stereotype and not-stereotype, and I guess it's really a reflection of how few gay teen characters there are on TV that I care so much about how this one is representing for us.

And that's really the crux of it, isn't it? If you had 20 gay teen characters on major network shows during a TV season, it wouldn't be a big deal if one was a bit swishy. It wouldn't feel like that one character had to represent for ALL gay people, right?

But Kurt Hummel seems to be the only out gay teen on my TV, and so I cringe at each new exclamation of "fabulous!"

And it's not that I don't love my effeminate gay brothers and butch sisters - but I'm sensitive about the stereotypes. And I'm uncomfortable that one of the few representations of gay teens on TV is feeding into that stereotype.

And yet, people are falling in love with Kurt. Moisturizer regimen and all.

And that's something remarkable.

And really, playing a complex, three-dimensional queer character - even if some of those dimensions are what middle America expects - is progress. Especially because some of the dimensions Chris (and the writers) add to it aren't cliche gay - they're just "Kurt." And those are my favorite moments.

And did I mention, the boy can sing?

Last week's Dionne Warwick hit "A House Is Not A Home" was Bee Gees-high, and well... beautiful.

I downloaded it, and I've been playing it. And guess what? I found myself singing along.

What do you think of the gay teen character (Kurt Hummel) on Glee?


There's this great interview with the openly gay actor Chris Colfer, who plays Kurt, here at Vanity Fair online. The best line is when he's asked about his upcoming gay love interest on the show, and he explains why he wants the guy to be less hot than him...


Namaste,
Lee