Why Did the Glee writers Hate Black Men?
An honest look into the hit show's aversion to Black male characters
If you have read some of my other stories I've posted on here, you probably know that I am a big Glee fan. My love for Glee, however, does not absolve the show of some of the problematic behaviors it exhibited during its run. One of the most problematic being the show's bias and outright aversion to Black men. During its six season run, the show only managed to feature two Black male characters as part of the main cast and even then, there were many problems surrounding their characterization. From my perspective, Glee had three overarching problems when it came to their approach to portraying Black men.
1. The Artie Problem
Throughout most of the show, Artie Abrams became somewhat of a stand-in for the lack of Black male representation. The writers seemed to somehow think that Artie being disabled would manage to water down his whiteness and this was seen through the song selections Artie was given on the show. While I enjoy Artie's voice and do not believe that there is anything wrong with white artists covering songs originally by Black artists as long as credit is given to the original, it became problematic when nearly every song that was originally by a Black male artist was given to Artie to sing. Outkast's "Hey Ya", "Pony" by Ginuwine, "Blame it On the Alcohol" by Jamie Foxx, "Let Me Love You" by Mario, and "PYT" by Michael Jackson, just to name a few.
The problem with giving Artie almost exclusive reign on songs done by Black male artists is that it was an attempt to push away the need for Black male representation on the show. By getting the viewers of the show to accept Artie as being the only person who could cover these songs, the writers were painting this idea that Black male artists were not needed because Artie could easily fill their place. It also reduced the role of Black men on the show to just being there to represent Black art, rather than represent Black people.
In season 1, we never saw Matt Rutherford sing and while this may have been because the actor who played him couldn't sing, if the character himself were more developed and actually treated as a real person rather than just someone there to fill a quota, it is possible that it could have been overlooked. But instead, we got Artie singing almost all of the Black songs along with Mercedes and even taking on this pseudo-Black persona in the way he talked and even in some of his mannerisms.
2. The Biracial Problem
The second major problem with the Black male representation on the show was that the two Black male characters that were introduced were both biracial. These characters were Matt Rutherford in season 1 and Jake Puckerman is seasons 4-5. While having Black biracial characters is not a problem in itself, when these are the only Black male characters on the show, it presents this idea that their proximity to whiteness through having a white parent is what makes them acceptable enough to be portrayed.
Even though it was never explicitly stated on the show that Matt was biracial, he definitely looked it and even if it wasn't a part of his characterization, it affected the way viewers saw him, whether consciously or unconsciously. In Jake's case, it was a major part of his characterization. His introduction into the show was as Puck's half-brother and we saw him struggle with identity issues that were directly tied to him being half Black and half Jewish. While on their own, these issues are fine to explore, imagine the kind of story lines and issues that could have been explored with a fully Black male character as well.
3. The Interracial Problem
Much like the biracial problem, the Glee writers' bias could been seen through what I call the "interracial problem." In the show, we were given a few interesting Black female characters: Mercedes, Unique, and Jane. These characters were fun to watch for the most part and introducing love interests for these characters would have been an easy way to introduce prominent Black male characters, but we didn't get that. Instead we got relationships like Sam and Mercedes (which I loved), Unique having a crush on Ryder, and Jane and Mason (which I also enjoyed). All relationships with white men. Now it's 2020, so most people would agree that interracial relationships are fine and in many cases it can even be a great thing, but when a show exclusively chooses to introduce interracial relationships for Black characters, it's a problem. (Yes, we got to see Mercedes and Shane together in season 3 but he wasn't a regular character and she ended up cheating on him with Sam a few episodes later).
We don't see this happening with any other group of characters except the Black ones. All of Rachel's lovers were white: Finn, Jesse, Puck, Brody, Sam - all white. All of Quinn's lovers were also white: Finn, Sam, Puck, Joe, that guy she dated for a little bit in college - all white. Even Tina was able to have a same race relationship with Mike for years, despite her ending up with Artie in the end. But for the Black female characters, this was not the case. And in this way, the writers were able to find yet another way to sidestep the need for Black men on the show.
This lack of Black male representation is not exclusive to Glee but is actually a phenomenon throughout the media. The fact is that many of the shows we watch, even if we love them, are not exempt from this horrible bias that is undoubtedly rooted in anti-Blackness. And part of correcting this issue is for us as viewers and consumers to hold the writers of our favorite shows accountable for it and voice our desire to see proper Black male representation on our television screens.
About the Creator
C.R. Hughes
I write things sometimes. Tips are always appreciated.
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