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massromanticfool:

notaiden:

singingtomysoul:

alluponeachother:

Ah. 

Saying offensive things in an ironic manner that reinforces the offensive thinking rather than lampshading why it’s a problem is what is loosely known, in academic circles, as “Douchebag Ironic Hipster Racism.”  It does not get you points.  It means you are aware of what you’re doing and you’re doing it anyway and you SUCK.

::sighs:: Dear Murphy and Co: satire only works if it is obviously outlandish.  Look at one of the founding works of Western satire, Swift’s Modest Proposal, it recommends eating babies.  It spends the entire time explaining why Irish poverty is so horrible while maintaining an upper class tone so that you come to hate the narrator for lacking empathy.

The audience has to be aware of the problem and know that you’re mocking it in order for something to truly be satire.  Reinforcing the idea that Kurt is a fluffy gay accessory or Santana is a hot lesbian sex symbol or Mercedes is a lazy black diva without making sure your audience understands that those beliefs are ridiculous is not satire.  It’s just bad.

The problem with Glee is tries to be a satire, an after school special, and a dark comedy all at the same time without ever bothering to shift the tone, so what you get is episodes that they maybe think are satire? I hope? but end up with messages so muddled that they’re even more problematic than the thing supposedly being satirized. I Am Unicorn is like the prime example of this. 

The unfortunate thing about Glee is that it tries to do so much. Not that that’s inherently bad, it’s just hard and to make it work you need people who know what they’re doing and care enough to not churn out a half-assed creative product. 

When it does pull off that crazy mix of satire and social commentary and comedy with biting wit, it’s so crazy it works great. It’s what made early Season 1 stand out. I was constantly surprised by how well all the jarring elements balanced each other out.

Now it’s a mess. And it’s a confusing, potentially harmful mess because its audience might take its attempts at satire as something more serious. 

/thoughts 

(via dealanexmachina)