I have a friend who once said that Glee’s writing was awful and that the script only served to showcase the actors’ talent. He said that the only reason it was even a scripted show was because it wasn’t 1970 and variety shows just weren’t hip anymore. He needs to watch “Home.”
Normally, I’m not very big on over-analyzing TV shows, but sometimes it just has to be done. The episode was a huge downer. There was only one fairly upbeat song, “Fire.” The rest were hugely depressing, especially Kurt’s performance of “A House Is Not a Home.” Like I said, it was good, but extremely depressing when positioned against last week’s “Power of Madonna” episode.
Despite all the sadness though, the theme of “home” was examined in so many ways throughout the episode. First, Finn had issues with his mother moving out the old furniture that had been in their home since before his father’s death, and he is incredibly distraught when she talks about removing his father’s chair. He wants his home to remain intact and views Kurt’s father as a threat. Kurt wants to create a new home with his father, Finn’s mother, and Finn. This doesn’t go as well as Kurt had hoped, resulting in his own extreme jealousy of Finn’s relationship with his father.
Second, Will is shown adjusting to life alone. This is the first time he’s seemed distraught about his separation from Terri. While it was depressing, it was an important character development. He and April Rhodes (played excellently by Kristen Chenoweth) both bond over their lack of a home and companionship.
The most interesting use of the “home” theme was Mercedes’s story line for the week. Last episode, she and Kurt joined the Cheerios. As Sue is about to be interviewed by a magazine, she tells Mercedes she needs to lose ten pounds before the interviewer arrives and be willing to wear a “gender-appropriate” cheerleading uniform. Quinn tells Mercedes that she’s always been at home in her body and shouldn’t let Sue make her feel ashamed. This leads to Mercedes singing “beautiful” at the pep rally.*
My favorite plot of the night was Mercedes trying to lose weight. While Margaret at Jezebel thought that it was odd that Mercedes went from being so confident in her body to hating it then back to confidence, I liked the arc.** It showed that even the most confident girls can be brought down easily by criticism, especially from someone they admire. It would have been unrealistic if Mercedes had deflected the criticism from Sue easily. She is a teenage girl, and of course she will be sensitive about her body. As for her quick recovery, it’s a show. Wrapping it up tidily allows for the inspirational message to be easily digested.
Mercedes tries to lose weight in a healthy manner first then realizes how far she has to go so quickly. She stops eating and ends up fainting. Quinn speaks to her in the nurse’s station and tells her that she understands. Since the pregnancy, she’s been eating better to nourish the baby and realizes that she should have been more willing to support her own system the same way. I found this extremely interesting since two episodes ago, Puck made a crack about her eating habits. I like that Quinn has become more likable, by the way.
A part I thought should have been addressed better was Sue’s ipecac-laced concoction. In “Hell-O,” I’d wondered how Santana and Brittany had eaten so much pasta; then in the Madonna episode, Santana had craved hamburgers. The girls are actually bulimic, a theme also brought up when Rachel was trying to induce vomiting. I really wish the writers would tackle the issue in a more serious way though. Right now, binging and purging is being played for laughs. True, the way they handled the issue was funny. I laughed, but I feel like there should have been some serious discussion about eating disorders. “The girls make themselves throw up. Silly girls. Haha” route isn’t enough.
So many girls have gone through binges and purges in their lives. I know I have, and I’ve been entertaining the notion of discussing it seriously once I feel more comfortable. The show is watched by so many girls, and it seems like the perfect venue to seriously discuss the implications of eating disorders without coming across as cliche. Hell, the serious discussion could be played for laughs too as long as the message got out there that making yourself throw up is not healthy. Have an ex-Cheerio come back with no teeth and a transplanted esophagus. Make her fat. After a few months of throwing up most of my food, I ballooned up. Make her bald with damaged knuckles. Don’t just show the pretty girls doing it. Make it funny, just don’t glamorize it.
I’m off my soapbox now. On a way less serious note, I am seriously freaking out becuase Josh and I don’t have cable at our place yet. I go back next week and won’t be able to watch! Eek!
*I found the performance to be kind of lacklustre. Her voice just doesn’t have the rich layers that one hears in Celine Dion, Leona Lewis, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, or her costar Lea Michele. She does awesome on songs with loud music to support her, but without it, her voice sounds a little hollow.
**If you want to see a gallery and synopsis, check out the Jezebel post: http://jezebel.com/5526704/glee-eating-disorders—incestuous-gay-hookups/gallery/
btw, I know that the picture isn’t from this episode…
