Thank goodness they took a break in the show during Academy Awards week because that was worth watching. What is with the obsession with appealing to a “younger demographic?” Did the producers of the Oscars really think that Anne Hathaway would be anything more than a doll to dress up in a new outfit every half hour? Or that James Franco always looks like he wants to go to sleep? When Billy Crystal came onstage and gave a tribute to Bob Hope, you just knew that there was a host. He was comfortable, confident, funny, and then Bob Hope delivered the best material of the night…and he’s dead!
Ya I picked a lot of the winners and I’m not bragging but I did win the NLV88 Julie Ridder Memorial Oscar Party grand prize while still choosing a couple that I knew wouldn’t win (I like the Cohen brothers what can I say. They should win an award for every movie they make). What put me over the top were the three guesses I got right. I wish I could see all the short films but Langley just doesn’t have the theater, or the film community that would care about short films, to show them here. So thanks Julie even though I never met you and I used the gift card to take a friend to a movie for his birthday. I hope that’s appropriate.
Anyway, were we talking about Glee? The alcohol episode.
I’ve had this conversation with teens more times than I can count. What to do with teen drinking? Or what to do with drinking in general? I think the episode dealt with it fairly well. There was a problem identified that kids were coming to school drunk and the solution, in typical administrative fashion, was to do an awareness assembly so kids could see the dangers of drinking.
So the Glee kids got drunk in order to have a fun party and sang about getting drunk while getting drunk until someone puked in someone’s mouth. Other than Charlotte and Daniel’s dog eating her own feces then puking it up on Jenn’s bed, getting someone elses puke in your mouth is probably the grossest thing I can think of…ugh, I just gagged at the thought.
The other story line of Schuester going out with Biest and partying it up at the rodeo bar was good. The man needed to blow off steam and I can think of few other things than riding a bull that will do the trick. The drunk dial to Sue was classic. Who hasn’t done the drunk dial? We all need these embarrassing moments to teach us humility once in a while.
I think the message about drinking was that it will always be there at adolescent parties and that as long as one is willing to live with the consequences, it still is not “okay” or condoned, but is not the worst thing that a kid could do. I’ve seen kids killed in alcohol-related accidents; kids in my own class and at my own school. I’ve also seen many ICBC speakers try and teach kids a lesson every which way. As with most things in life, it probably falls to the parents and other adult role models who have the most influence over a kid to teach them anything about anything important in life. It may not stop them from drinking but knowing someone whom you respect cares about what you do is important.
I liked how Finn was the one who stayed sober and more or less narrated the episode. Kurt also had more of a significant role which he hasn’t had in a while although the beef with his dad about “educating himself on how Kurt might have a relationship” doesn’t really make sense. A relationship is a relationship regardless of the sexual orientation so his dad should be able to give him advice based on his relationship experience.
Glee has impressed me with the episodes after the Super Bowl/Thriller fiasco. I was introduced to Justin Bieber (with whom my kids are now obsessed…especially Elliott who needs to watch Baby every morning to get him pumped up for the day. He’s three), the music has been pretty good, more plot less fluffy filler, and they’ve stuck with Finn and Schuester as the main characters driving the plot.
Here’s to having Gwyneth back next week! Oh and write your comments about kids and alcohol because there’s probably some good advice out there.