Glee's Love Isn't Fair

The television show Glee deals with high school students on the margins of popularity. The show seeks to shine the spotlight on this group of students (which is diverse in race, gender, physical ability, and sexuality) in a way that is quite admirable, but still falls short. Glee’s handling of Kurt, a homosexual character, is a bit insensitive.

The struggling Glee Club receives its savior in Finn, the football team’s quarterback with a heart bigger than his brain and a wealth of untapped vocal potential. Finn is dating Quinn, a cheerleader and eventual Glee Club member herself, but other members of the Glee Club develop feelings for him. One, Rachel Berry, is the abrasive-yet-actually-pretty-hot starlet of Glee Club and the other is Kurt.

Early in the season, it becomes clear that Rachel’s feelings for Finn are at least a little mutual, but Finn’s relationship with Quinn complicates the ensuing love triangle. Rachel and Finn’s relationship is portrayed as one that should be rooted for, a forbidden love in the vein of Jim and Pam from The Office. They seem to be at their best when they are with one another and their intimate moments come complete with delicate background music.

Whenever Kurt and Finn interact, the portrayal is quite different. Finn does not display any tendencies other than heterosexual and does not foster any romantic feelings for Kurt. Scenes containing Kurt and Finn often focus on Finn’s discomfort around Kurt for comic effect. I take no issue with Finn’s discomfort because it simply reflects the reality that many in this world are not comfortable with homosexuality, but the humor in their interactions is very unsettling.

Kurt’s feelings are not taken seriously until a brief confrontation with Rachel late in the season. Hopefully later seasons will give some humanity to Kurt and his feelings because the first season treated them as little more than a running gag. Glee spends so much time developing the Rachel-Finn relationship that Kurt seems insignificant. I understand that Rachel and Finn are main characters and there is more to develop in a relationship in which feelings are mutual, but we push for Rachel so much that we forget her success with Finn would also cause heartbreak for Kurt. Even if they are not central to the story, Kurt’s feelings are just as real as Rachel’s and should be treated as such.