Why Kurt Hummel is Important

November 11, 2010 — 5 Comments

This week’s episode of Glee created a bit of a ripple. Some of my friends said “intense” because people were surprised that the football (?) – let’s just call him jock – that he smack one on Kurt. At first I was like Kurt, kinda quiet, but then thought to myself “Oh, okay… I’m not really surprised.”

I went to the ever present IMDb boards to read some of the things people were saying, and was surprised at the amount of people that have begun to hate Kurt… or should I say Kurt’s gay storyline. Okay, I’ll concede in that Glee’s not doing a great balance of the funny, the cheesy and the drama — Popular had a bit of that plus more — but I don’t have a problem with that. I usually like Glee’s cheese, I can handle my drama fine, and I like the funny. But I know what you mean when you guys talk about Glee not being the same.

However, some of the comments left me perplexed with things like “I don’t have a problem with Kurt being gay, but why does his story need to revolve around him being gay?” People saying that Will & Grace was a better representation of homosexuals, and other programs that do the “gay thing” much better.

1. Glee is some sort of phenomenon. I don’t really know how successful is Glee outside America, but I wouldn’t be surprised of some kid from a remote location somewhere around the world singing a song featured on Glee . It’s because of this exposure that a character like Kurt is important.

You might argue that Kurt’s a diva, and a gay television cliche. Okay… just like Finn is the jock television cliche, like Rachel is the annoyingly talented drama queen cliche, Quinn is the Queen B cliche, Santana is the bitch cliche – and you get my drift.

We cannot argue that everything Kurt is around needs to be about him being gay, because well… he’s gay. In a show about high school teens who fall in love, sing, and try to have sex with each other while singing for a competition, Kurt is going to have to fall in love, sing and try to have sex while singing with a boy. Whenever he holds someone’s hands in a romantic way, it’s going to be with a boy. He’s first “proper” romantic kiss is going to be a boy. If he’s going to do a new rendition of Like a Virgin… it’s going to be with a boy.

By the way, how perfectly adorable was Kurt visiting that all boy school, the hand holding across the halls to watch them perform Teenage Dream. Why Glee do you make me listen to Katy Perry?

[iframe src=”https://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XMjczNTM0NTY0/v.swf” width=”480″ height=”400″]

Anyway, digressing~~~

Kurt being gay is important to Glee because we’re talking about teens being picked on for being different, teens falling in lust, singing duets, falling in love, fighting. Kurt is never going to be a pregnant teenage girl like Quinn because he’s gay. He’s never going to have Finn’s problems with who-the-baby-daddy-is because he’s gay. Kurt’s never going to be a jock — despite his short football career — because he probably bruises like a peach.

In order to be a proper character, Kurt is going to have to make out with someone, he’s going to have to duet with someone, he may sleep with someone – and yes, all of those things are going to have to deal with him being gay because he’s going to do that with a boy.

But yeh, I concede. Glee is losing its balance of drama and comedy, and I understand why some people don’t like it. But please do not talk about how it’s “the gay thing”. And do not tell me that you’re okay with Kurt being gay, but not okay with dealing with all of Kurt’s gay issues.

Also, Chris Colfer is a pretty good actor. Though, I really find it difficult to see him outside this Kurt image. He’s gonna have to change physically and do something to his voice if he wants to play other roles.

What do you think of the latest Glee episodes?

Is the show really “too gay”?

I know I’ve referred to it as a “very gay” show, but that’s because I liked the musical aspect to it, and the wacky humor, and the references. I was also happy to see a gay boy as one of the main characters instead of just a token gay who cracks joke, or just serves as a companion to the female lead. Will & Grace, you know – as much as I used to like Jack, I ended up not liking him much — same as Will and Grace though. The only one I still like is Karen. The very though of her makes me laugh.

Sharing this on the YAM 2011 LGBT Blogathon~

5 responses to Why Kurt Hummel is Important

  1. a friend doesn't watch Glee because she doesn't like musicals. xD

    do ur friends think it's "too gay" because they sing and dance? Because all gay people sing and dance, right? Right… tell ur friends to watch some futbol xD

  2. Just re-read this thing again.

    I had no problems with the first two Kurt-driven episodes. Grilled Cheesus was one of Colfer’s best performances and Never Been Kissed, while a bit rushed, was still acceptable.

    Then, Furt happened. Putting the guy on a pedestal above everyone else – including his father’s marriage, which should have been treated as a big deal – as if he was a deity was a major fuck-up from the writing team. Could be considered as a jump-the-shark moment for Kurt and worthy of legitimate backlash.

    My two cents.

    • I’m blaming Furt on Finn. LOL But Kurt being a deity fits the idea that Ryan Murphy IS Kurt. xD

      I actually think Ryan Murphy does better with the unlikable characters, and I’m not counting Finn because I think he’s supposed to be one of the “good guys” but ends up a jerk by chance. Think about it… Troy, Santana… Nicole Julian, Sue (on the first 13eps) and Ms. Glass with all the Glass family variations.

  3. makayla davis-smith January 12, 2013 at 2:48 am

    i think Kurt hummel is very adorable or even chris cofler is really talented and amazing too but i love them both

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