It's no wonder the writers at Glee picked this week for mash-ups. After last week's first time episode gave gay teens a sneak peek at picture perfect with Kurt and Blaine getting physical, this week we got the flip-side. Now we know what happens when you're a gay teen still living in the closet and word gets out that you're hot for your fellow cheerleader. You're mashed between two worlds.
Come on. Take a guess ...
Welcome to the life of Santana, and the most powerful Glee episode ... bar none. She's about to be outed to the whole world as a lesbian, and she hasn't even had the chance to tell her parents ... or really admit to Brittany that she's head over heels.
Gleeks, this is the first time I think I've taken Santana's side. Ever. I ached for her tonight.
When Finn yelled down the halls of McKinley to Santana that she needs to come out of the closet, I thought they were just playing with us. He's not just the clueless quarterback; he's the dopey football player who lost his virginity to her. I expected him to deviate into a tongue-lashing on coming out as a coward because she hides behind her bullying. Maybe I saw an "oh, tell us about your bad childhood" angle coming.
But then, these are kids living in the fishbowl that is high school. You can't hide as much as you think. It had to come out eventually in the halls of McKinley High that Santana loves Brittany for reals.
When I saw Sue Sylvester's mud-slinging campaign ads (I admit I giggled over her assertion that Burt Hummel's possible baboon heart was linked to socialism) getting Santana outed to TV viewers in the greater Lima area, I didn't see that coming. I didn't see the writers forcing this girl out of the closet and smacking her in the ass with the doorknob.
Coming out isn't easy. But in comparison to last week's peachy keen first time for gay teens episode, this was strikingly painful. This was cruel. Vicious. Mean.
And yet, there it is. One of those "greater social lessons" that seems to crop up in every Glee episode lately. This was the Mash-Off episode, after all, when we learned that mashed-up songs represent two things that shouldn't work together but do anyway. And so a teenage girl who had nothing to be ashamed of was told by a mud-slinging campaign ad that two girls don't work together ... but we watchers have all seen that they do just fine when they're left alone.
That's the greater Glee lesson, isn't it? That the more time you spend worrying about what other people think of you and your choices, the more of your own precious time you're wasting?
When's the last time you felt yourself letting the way others judge you affect the way you feel about yourself?
Image via Fox