The politics of coming out are at once intensely private and innately public. It’s a complex subject, one singularly experienced in the gay community with far-reaching personal and political implications. There comes a point in all of our lives when we must speak this simple truth, if even only to ourselves at first, about who we are. Yet more complicated still is the prickly practice of outing. So then it matters how these most sensitive subjects gets portrayed, both on screen and in the media.
This week’s Glee tackled it head-on, bringing Santana’s sexuality out in the most public way possible and stirring debate about outing in the mainstream and LGBT communities. Finn outing Santana in the middle of a crowded high school hallway, and then that news being spread to everyone via a political ad (yes, it’s a ridiculous flouting of election law – let’s just go with it for now) was by far the most powerful centerpiece to the episode.
Here’s a look at how some of the more mainstream media sites reviewed the incident.
The Hollywood Reporter (and friend of AfterEllen.com Lesley Goldberg):
While Kurt’s coming out to his father was a tender moment and reflected the best possible outcome, Santana’s forced outing was just as real and Rivera played the scenes with the perfect blend of anger, hurt and fear one would expect when such a personal decision is no longer yours to control.
Time The last segment of the show, with the Adele mash-up and Santana’s confronting the fact that she’s a lesbian, was by far the strongest of the episode. Now: a high school student facing being outed to the entire school? Perfectly interesting, fruitful plot in and of itself.
This week’s Glee tackled it head-on, bringing Santana’s sexuality out in the most public way possible and stirring debate about outing in the mainstream and LGBT communities. Finn outing Santana in the middle of a crowded high school hallway, and then that news being spread to everyone via a political ad (yes, it’s a ridiculous flouting of election law – let’s just go with it for now) was by far the most powerful centerpiece to the episode.
Here’s a look at how some of the more mainstream media sites reviewed the incident.
The Hollywood Reporter (and friend of AfterEllen.com Lesley Goldberg):
While Kurt’s coming out to his father was a tender moment and reflected the best possible outcome, Santana’s forced outing was just as real and Rivera played the scenes with the perfect blend of anger, hurt and fear one would expect when such a personal decision is no longer yours to control.
Time The last segment of the show, with the Adele mash-up and Santana’s confronting the fact that she’s a lesbian, was by far the strongest of the episode. Now: a high school student facing being outed to the entire school? Perfectly interesting, fruitful plot in and of itself.
It would appear rumors of Glee‘s eroding influence on the music biz have been greatly exaggerated.
Who does this Sebastian think he is?!
All I'm saying is it's about damn time. On November 15, Glee will finally reveal why Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) hates musical theater. As the kids prepare to stage West Side Story, "we wanted to show that Sue at one point had Broadway dreams," teases exec producer Ian Brennan.
