Just four months ago was the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Last night, the show Glee decided to feature an episode where a shooting took place inside its fictional school and the parents in Newtown are not happy about it and received no advance warning save from a letter from the principal at the school which went out to parents just a few hours before the episode aired. Glee is in a ratings dive this season and I understand they would love to see a boost in ratings but this does not seem the right way to go about it. I'm not sure why Ryan Murphy felt the need to go there. Yes, his show is not always sugary sweet innocent fun, but shootings in school is at the opposite end of the spectrum from that. Also, if you are going to do a show like that, then maybe you could wait to next season? Give it a year or so. Maybe they felt four months was an appropriate amount of time.
Um, Spoiler Alert!!!!! Some people haven't had time to clear off their DVRs from last night yet (namely me)
ReplyDeleteEnty really needs to proof read and check his punctuation before posting.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea Glee was still on the air
ReplyDeleteRatings = money and that is what drives Mr. Murphy .
ReplyDeleteRyan Murphy never knows when to end a show's run. He lets his shows go to shit. He did the same thing with Nip/Tuck. That show was great for four seasons and plain ridiculous for the last three. Murphy is either extremely greedy or doesn't know when to say stop for his TV series.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to next season.
ReplyDeleteWhy just Newtown? I don't watch Glee, but believe it to be a high school. Wouldn't any of the high schools that have had shootings be affected emotionally too? What about the people that were shot at in movie theaters, malls or colleges?
ReplyDeleteLeave it to Ryan Murphy and Glee to Catfish an episode about a school shooting. The whole episode was in bad taste. And, to be honest, when Degrassi tackles a topic better than you do, you know you've done something wrong.
ReplyDeleteUm, what songs do they sing for this episode?
ReplyDelete"Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun?"
Delete"(Bang bang) my baby shot me down?"
DeleteYesterday my alma mater, Greenwich High School (less than an hour away from Sandy Hook Elementary School) was on lockdown because of a suspected student with a gun. As if the people in that area aren't already on edge, seeing this episode of "Glee" must have been beyond horrible for them.
ReplyDeleteHit Me With Your Best Shot?
ReplyDeleteYou Give Love a Bad Name?
He is DESPERATE for ratings for this show. What a pathetic excuse for an episode. Cancel this dreck already.
ReplyDeleteIf yer watchin Glee, you deserve what you get.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't a show like this have story lines like that set out way in advance? Especially stories that would affect things way down the line. Maybe it was a done deal? Also, and I don't mean to sound too insensitive, but wouldn't it be almost impossible NOT to air a school shooting episode without offending someone? Even if it happened 4 years ago it would still hurt so very badly. And, honestly, school shootings almost seem to happen on a regular basis now...
ReplyDeleteSomeone please take that piece of shit show out back and shoot it!
ReplyDeleteAgree Lab. I saw it. I liked it. What's with all the Glee hate? Is it a thing?
ReplyDeletethere has been more than just sandy hook..... that one just got the most publicity. ALL of the effected schools, students, parents, teachers, family, friends, etc were probably offended.
ReplyDeleteJanie Got a Gun
ReplyDelete@discoflux. I love you.
Delete@discoflux - you missed the obvious: "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam.
DeleteAnd I missed the in-depth discussion of it later in the thread. I should really read ALL the comments before replying.
DeleteThe Warrior by Patty Smyth and Scandal?
ReplyDeleteIf some school is offended by this, every person in Chicago should be offended whenever someone is shooted in a film.
ReplyDeleteThat no-gun town is a paradise for gun killings outside Venezuela, Mexico and some Mid Eastern and African countries.
Obviously, a school shooting is badtasteful, but it is not more than a lot of things aired on TV.
I haven't watched the episode yet, but I think it is appropriate to address important topics like this on a tv show. We can't shy away from these issues.
ReplyDeleteCan't comment on the content of the ep because I haven't seen it yet, but a lot of shows have done school shooting episodes. Like it or not, school shootings are a part of the American culture, and part of what TV shows do is reflect that back to us.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for shooting songs, obviously Filter's "Hey Man Nice Shot"
I know this is a wacky concept, Enty, but perhaps you should either watch the episode, or know what's in it, before you begin pontificating on whether it's appropriate to show it.
ReplyDeleteSchool shootings are unfortunately a regular part of life now. I see no read to pretend otherwise. The audience for this show is not the parents of those kids, it's teenagers and young adults. Perhaps they were trying to reach those kids rather than stick their heads up their asses and pretend it doesn't exist like every other bullshit teen show on the air. To that, I say, good for Ryan Murphy. No one has the right to not be offended.
ReplyDeleteI understand why some people may have been upset by the episode but it did come with warnings. And if Glee was to wait a "reasonable amount of time" this episode would never be aired due to the fact there is a high school gun incident almost every month.
ReplyDeleteI think the important part is this episode - well part of it, most of it was pretty terrible - tackled a sensitive subject that is prevalent in the media with more grace than it has done most issues (eating disorders, teen pregnancy, teen suicide, homophobia ect. ect.)
And to all the Glee haters, I guarantee you watch shit that I think is brain dead schlock too. But the difference is, I don't give a shit what you watch because I just don't have that much time on my hands. Plus, it's getting old, lame and tired.
ReplyDeleteAnd by "it's" I mean, YOU are getting old, lame and tired. Move on.
ReplyDeleteThat's in poor taste. Whoever came up with this idea should tour Sandy Hook and go visit the graves of the little kids. Glee and Sandy Hook type school shootings do not go together. I know in this time of political incorrectness, no one wants to care about any groups feelings, and it's funny to be controversial, but to parents that just lost young children violently? Can't we be a little more sensitive to those people?
ReplyDeleteWhoa Amy Scott... sensitive about your show much? Geeeez. Take it easy lady.
ReplyDelete@Anna, I was just about to ask the same!
DeleteAnd get rid of all the shows that depict a rape, or a kidnapping, or a domestic assault, or an armed robbery or a foreclosure, or whatever. You always run the risk of offending ANY group of people with these shows! It's ridiculous to think that they did this with malice, but instead to capitalize on ratings. C'mon, even Jersey Shore has been boycotted because it was offensive to Italians. My point is that if you don't want to see this stuff, don't watch the show. If you say you 'love' the series and will watch it regardless, then you have to deal with the subject matter they present.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot live life in a bubble of someone else's choosing. This week it's school shootings. Next week its rape of a teenager. Whatever the biggest outrage of the week will be, we'll focus on.
I'm not saying any of these things are good, don't get me wrong, but they have money to make in order to stay on the air, and to stay relevant. They need to go extreme to do it when they lack substance otherwise.
If you don't like it, don't watch.
I don't think anyone had their head up their ass concerning school shootings. You don't need a crappy show to touch on it to know it is happening. There have been many teen shows prior to this that have had a school shooting. I find it in poor taste to have one as the problem of the week.
ReplyDeleteI agree with @Unknown; Degrassi did the school shooting thing and it was actually well done. I haven't seen this episode of Glee and I probably won't. I liked the show during the first two seasons, but it went so far downhill after that. It became way too preachy and I couldn't take it anymore.
ReplyDeleteWe bitch and attack topics here, or people in the public eye, but not each other. Your remarks come off as nasty and antisocial.
ReplyDeleteIs there ever a good time for a school shooting episode? He was probably just trying to get this one in before the next school shooting makes it "too soon" for another 5 months.
ReplyDeleteSadly, school shootings do happen so addressing it shouldn't be taken personal. Of course it hits home for them; they are still reeling from their children's deaths. Newton was not the first time and as awful and cynical as it may seem, is more than likely not the last.
ReplyDeleteIs DeGrassi still on? I watched it back when Drake was on. Once they went to college and the storylines focused on Liberty and her friends, I started tuning out.
ReplyDelete" they have money to make in order to stay on the air"
ReplyDeleteThat is what I was saying up thread : Ratings = money and that is what drives Mr. Murphy .
Do you remember the music video for Pearl Jam's Jeremy? Did you know that Jeremy didn't shoot up his classmates at the end? Jeremy killed himself in the classroom, but some short-sighted exec made them edit out of the part of the video where Jeremy shoots himself, do all we see is the "reaction shots" of the kids splattered in blood. To me, it's always looked like he killed everyone in the classroom but in an "arty" way. I only learned about the original intention of the video years later in a documentary; the story is also on Wikipedia
ReplyDeleteLaw and Order SVU does this sort of stuff all the time and they get a pass. That whole 'ripped from the headlines' stuff. Are folks more upset that it's a somewhat kiddo show or that the principal made a big deal about it right at the last minute?
ReplyDeleteIt's human interest I guess and very topical.
Then again I would rather have my ears ripped out than watch Glee so take the opinion for what it's worth.
I always thought Jeremy shot the kids in his class until now!
ReplyDeleteAgreed @ABlake. Not sure why Newton parents in particular would be upset - this happens all over the place. The first major one I (me personally) remember happened here in Oregon - Springfield 1994 - Kip Kinkel killed his parents & then some students. Sandy Hook was about little kids (which was *horrible*), if they'd done an episode where one of the teens was working at an elementary school that was hit by a gunman, maybe.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I agree with the above Murphy letting his shows go to crap. He runs a tight ship and then it's like he leaves the helm to go build another ship.
As opposed to all the other show creators? ;)
ReplyDeleteReno, LOL:)
DeleteOT, I preapologize,but how's your Dad?
I used to watch Glee but I think it has gone to pot this season and haven't watched since it came back after Christmas, however school shootings are a reality. A terrible, sad and scary reality and if Ryan Murphy wants to make an episode about it he can and I don't think he needed to warn the families of Sandy Hook.
ReplyDeleteDo they need to inform New Orleans when there is a hurricane in a show? New York when they have terrorists? The mid west when there are tornadoes? I feel bad for the parents, I cried every time those little angels faces were shown and I can not understand their loss or grief but unfortunately the world moves on.
Gosh Izzie, I forgot about that one (and I lived in Oregon for a few years) along with the kid from Paducah,KY and of course Colombine. Then you can look at the shootings at UT,VA Tech...Where is the line drawn?
ReplyDeleteAgain I don't watch the show (I've seen it a couple of times, not mah thing) but of its flaws I can't really see this being one of them.
For anyone interested, the book The Narcissism Epidemic has an interesting theory for why school shootings/mass shootings may be getting more popular.
ReplyDeleteAmy must be on the Glee payroll.It's gonna be OK, girl. Tired, lame and old....yep, that's Glee.
ReplyDeleteApparently I never watched the video for Jeremy because I had no idea he shot anyone in it (and I have the CD. I know Jeremy's broken, broken....) God I'm going to have that song stuck in my head all day.
ReplyDeleteAs for the current topic, sadly school shootings are a part of life in America and I don't think there's ever going to be a "good" time to air shows about them. It's always going to be x months after, the anniversay of, either we ignore the topic entirely (which helps no one really,) or we move on with our lives.
Disclosure: I've never watched Glee. Of course, I've never watched Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Real Housewifes of Anywhere, anything past the first season of Walking Dead. I'm two seasons behind on Supernatural. But totally current on Oscar's Oasis, Go Diego Go, Timmy Time and almost anything to do with Power Rangers.
i'm tired of hearing about the feelings of the newtown families. their pain is NOT greater than anyone elses. we have all lost loved ones. many of us have also lost children. life goes on. if something on TV is offensive to them; they can change the channel.
ReplyDeleteThe only issue I had with the ep was making Becky be the shooter. Of all the possibilities, Ryan Murphy chose Becky, the girl with Downs to bring the gun to school to shoot everyone up. Seriously?
ReplyDeleteAnna, obviously you didn't see Wednesday's Todays Blind Item thread. Or any other thread where someone's opinion is different from the majority.
Cara - but isn't that what the shooting was about? Mainstreaming a kid with very special needs? Isn't that why the parents divorced?? Mom was pro- mainstreaming for her son the killer. While Dad was not in favor of that at all and thought his son the killer should have been on lock down of some sort. That's what I thought.
Delete@Cara Dee JESUS CHRIST Becky was the shooter??? WAT. Admittedly I left Glee after that incredibly tacky handling of Santana's coming out ("I kissed a girl"?!! Really?!) but that just sounds absolutely insane. I was going to say that I hope that was a situation that came up organically but knowing Glee that would probably be giving them way too much credit.
DeleteMe prepare for some backlash, but I agree with you. What happened there was horrible, but horrible things happen to everyone else every single day. No ones pain and suffering should get precedence over another's.
ReplyDeleteME - I had friend in Newtown directly affected by the shooting, but I tend to agree with you. These things happen everywhere. And the point made earlier about not being able to alert rape victims, stabbing victims, people whose children have gone missing, etc. rings true. Did they have to get clearance from every parent of an abducted child to make Taken? I think not. We all have a tendency to get touchy when we're directly affected by a topic, but thank goodness we didn't stop talking about AIDS when people started dying from it. And thank goodness for the model who is now an advocate against female genital mutilation. I'm not saying Glee, in any way shape or form, contributes to society in a exceptionally meaningful manner, but if a positive dialogue can be sparked by it, what is wrong with it?
ReplyDeleteI no longer watch the show. However, i want to know if anyone died. can someone please tell me?
ReplyDeleteNobody died. There wasn't even a school shooting. A gun accidently went off and they were all in lockdown till sue took the blame for having a gun in school covering for Becky, her down syndrome sister who purchased and brought the gun to school.
DeleteNobody died. There wasn't even a school shooting. A gun accidently went off and they were all in lockdown till sue took the blame for having a gun in school covering for Becky, her down syndrome sister who purchased and brought the gun to school.
DeleteBeckys not her sister she's her student and she didn't buy it it was her dads. Did u even watch it?
DeleteIt's funny how the ones on here commenting about it being out of order don't even watch the show.
In 96 we had a primary school shooting here 17 kids died, their teacher and the sick sob who did it committed suicide. After that guns were made illegal here and there hasn't been a school shooting here since. No outcries of "my rights my rights blah blah blah" thank god
I stopped watching after S2, it just got so bad. I watched one or two episodes for S3 but one of those was only for the amazing Matt Bomer.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to see both sides to an argument like this but I imagine there are a lot of school shootings we don't hear about through out the year because they are on a smaller scale. There are rape and murder everyday, yet people who have lived through it see it on TV as well.
There is no easy answer to what is right.
I suggest to anyone that says that the episode was in poor taste should actually watch it. The beginning was cheesy, but you notice that that was because of the heaviness of the second act. The acting was amazing and the acual "shooter" will break your heart.
ReplyDeleteI've never watched Glee but I've been under the impression it's directed to younger (high school and younger) viewers (although there are adult themes). Perhaps it's upsetting people because so many school aged kids watch this show.
ReplyDeleteI will say up front that I am a fan of Glee. Sure, it's silly but I enjoy it. I just thought I'd add my thoughts to the mix, please don't throw tomatoes at me!!!
ReplyDeleteI saw the ep with my nieces, we watch it together every week. When the shootings happened in the news, they didn't have a lot to say other that "that's so sad". After the ep last night, we talked for over an hour. Its easier for them to talk and ask questions about hypothetical situations as opposed to real life tragedy.
And for those who don't watch, no one was shot, a kid had a gun bc they were scared and it went off accidentally, and the focus was on what you would do if it were the last time, so lots of love declarations and the like. It was emotional and slightly scary for the girls, but tasteful. Just sayin.
:::running away from the mob of glee haters:::
No, no one died.
ReplyDeleteWhatever. School shooting storylines are not that uncommon. One Tree Hill did it years ago, Ryan Murphy also did a super graphic school shooting in the first season of American Horror Story. It's not like it hasn't been touched before.
ReplyDeleteALSO, there was a disclaimer at the beginning of the episode that stated;
ReplyDelete"This episode of Glee deals with the topic if school violence. Viewer discretion is advised."
This is a timely issue, and I have no problem with Glee tackling it. As others have said, it will never really be a "good" time to show something so horrific. It's good that we're disgusted by school shootings, not so much that somehow some have decided Ryan Murphy is the problem.
ReplyDeleteWhen they filmed the movie WTC, 5 years after the WTC's fell, granted, it had been 5 years that had passed and SandyHook has only been 4 mos, but it doesn't matter. Time never make you forget what you went through when it comes to a tragedy. I thought it was too soon and in poor taste to make the WTC movie, but instead of complaining, I just didn't see the movie, because I knew it would upset me. SandyHook parents should have just turned the TV off and not watched the Glee episode. What Sandy Hook went through was more tragic than imaginable...but the rest of the world will not stop living. Just like they didn't when the towers fell.
ReplyDelete1. it wasn't a school shooting episode. It was a nitwit brings gun to school and learns powerful life lesson that guns get people in trouble episode
ReplyDelete2. I've looked for stories about who actually was doing the complaining and only saw 2 parents who complained, after being contacted by media outlets who were outraged, outraged I say.
3. is this the new rule? If something bad happens nothing that even vaguely reminds people of it can occur? This seems like a bad rule, one that is unenforceable, or vague enough to be only selectively enforceable.
If you really care about the Newtown parents and other survivors, realize that most of them probably were not aware of this Very Special Episode of Glee until the media brought it to their attention.
@Amartel...completely agree. you just summed it up beautifully.
ReplyDelete@Whedon and Amartel, you guys are right (I didn't see the episode), after hearing about the episode, it wasn't really about a school shooting. Just someone trying to rattle people and stir up controversy. Way to go too, Enty, mission accomplished.
ReplyDeleteSchool shootings go all the way back to the 1800s. List of School Shootings in the US. The one that stunned me was in Bath Township in 1927 -- 44 people were killed when the school was bombed.
ReplyDeleteHow much of it is not so much a modern problem, but that we know of them more now that information travels so quickly?
That Bath township one is creepy. I've lived in MI all my life and have never heard of the Bath one until late last year. Weird that it's now all over the media as the most lethal of the school shootings, but I think it was really a bomb, if I remember right.
ReplyDeletePretty much in agreement with everyone who has said above that not portraying a horrible event - be it a school shooting, kidnapping, murder, etc - because it might "offend" someone who has been victimized by a similar occurrence is just a ridiculous concept. As human beings, we are particularly sensitive to anything which reopens an emotional wound. Which is part of every story line in every movie, tv show, play, opera... Hell, listen to the lyrics of any song on he radio and I'm sure you can find some subset of society that will be emotionally affected in a negative way hearing it.
ReplyDeleteI date myself when I bring up Julie Brown's "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" don't I? (A song that couldn't get produced today, let alone get airtime.)
What about Aerosmith's Janie's Got a Gun? No one's outraged at that?
ReplyDeleteSilly, it was a bomb, not a shooting. I live semi near Bath. I think it was the janitor who used the bombs.
ReplyDeleteLucas - How about "I Don't Like Mondays" by Boomtown Rats?
ReplyDeleteOr "Violence Rules" by Dead Milkmen?
Now I have to go listen to Dead Milkmen...
Add "Pumped Up Kicks" by foster the People to the list.
DeleteMore actual facts apparently unworthy of inclusion: the school principal was informed by the Glee producers that the episode was being aired and he or she informed parents to warn them off from potentially offensive material. One of the two parents who has since complained then proceeded to watch the show WITH HER CHILDREN. And was offended. Good grief.
ReplyDeleteQuestions: Why? Why call it a "school shooting" episode when it was not? Why manufacture and publicize fake outrage? Why co-opt devastating grief?
Other Questions: Why don't we ever hear from the Newtown parents who are pro-gun and recognize that the charade that is currently under consideration in Congress would not have prevented Newtown?
BTW, Connecticut already had an automatic weapons ban and background checks. Didn't stop Adam Lanza. Background checks would not have stopped Adam Lanza because he stole the guns he used. The Colorado theater mass murderer and the Virginia Tech mass murderer, and many others, passed background checks.
Amartel, because they are on a commercial flight vs AF1.
DeleteI liked the episode, Ryan Murphy or Newtown aside. I thought it depicted a lot of good "honest" reactions from students and staff, and the point was emotional and well conveyed. It made me sad that kids have to even think about these things, but I hope it got kids and parents or guardians to talk about the overall message, which is "what happens if..." which is something we should all have a discussion about. There was no shooting, no one died and it was a transition for the show, but it was well written.
ReplyDelete@discoflux - "I don't like Mondays"...that girl was/is seriously creepy, like in a Hannibal Lecter kind of way!
ReplyDeleteI don't watch Glee, but really? School shootings happen what, every 2.4 minutes in the US? How many school shootings have there been in the last 4 months?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry if anyone already touched on this, and I feel for any victims of violent acts, but do you avoid every single thing that occurs in the world? I know some people say you should wait on certain topics, but how often are people murdered and raped and yet it's still shown on a regular basis in tv and film? Sometimes these things just need to be put out in the open and not avoided. While I don't fool myself into thinking that majority of the time the tragedies aren't really just exploited for ratings or money, I also don't think movies and tv shows are supposed to not put out something that they filmed. Who decides when something is 'too soon' or hits 'too close to home?' I just choose not to watch something or turn the channel if it bothers me or if I think it's insensitive and if other people actually did that instead of watching the show anyway, then it would show in the ratings and there would not be such a need for it. But people will still watch it even while they are complaining about it.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the rant.
This answers the age old question: Does art imitate life or does like imitate art?
ReplyDeleteNo hate here Honeykatt....You said it eloquently.
Ditto AnnaN. You want to disagree fine, but no name calling please.
I still watch Glee, despite the suckitude of the last two seasons. I watch it because I like the actors, even if I despise Ryan Murphy and what he is doing them.
ReplyDeleteI watched last night's episode, without knowing any spoilers or what was going on. There was a disclaimer at the beginning, but it was way too quick. It should have been left on the screen longer.
The episode started off with the theme of what would you want to say if an asteroid was really approaching the earth and the end was really coming. That's what the songs focused on, and in the middle of that plot device a gun goes off, they lock themselves in the choir room and really begin to wonder if the end is near and these are their last moments. It was some of the best work I have seen on Glee. The fear, the emotions, the confessions, the forgiving, the bonds, all of it, were intense and kudos to those actors for getting it right. Even a broken watch is right twice a day, so Glee can manage to not suck once or twice a season.
So yeah, please watch the episode. Hulu, Fox online, Project Free TV, whatever. I think they did an okay job with this episode, and if it got kids to talk to each other or their families, more power to him.
*goes to @disco's room to listen to Dead Milkmen with her*
ReplyDelete@Agent Thanks so much for asking. He is good. Broken femur is on the mend. He is broken hearted though. The other person involved didn't make it. So any good thoughts are aporeciated.
ReplyDelete@Reno, glad to hear your dad is recovering and sorry for the loss, I'll be sending positive thoughts your way.
ReplyDeleteThings that make me sad or thoughtful must be banned!
ReplyDeleteThings that make me happy and buyingy must be all encompassing!
"buyingy"? Hahahaha......Oh so very very true.
ReplyDelete"Jeannie Needs A Shooter" - Warren Zevon.
ReplyDeleteIVS,
ReplyDeleteI was trying to avoid making the spoiler worse, but to be clear, Becky wasn't a 'shooter' so to speak. Becky was scared, she thought having the gun would make her less scared, she panicked and the gun went off, she dropped it, it went off again. In Sue's office.
I think "Janie's Got A Gun" is about a woman who shoots her sexually abusive father. I wouldn't think there would be too much outrage over that.
ReplyDeleteRyan Murphy is a tool.
ReplyDeleteI remember when the Buffy episode with the school shooter in the tower was pulled due to Columbine. Ah, those were the days. Now *that* was a good episode. I watched the episode too and am on the fence. I've been really disappointed with this season and hate the newbies and the Lima storyline. I also really hated the asteroid and Lord Tubbington of it all. That said, the lock down portion was really well done. I'm curious if they will actually follow up with reaction from others (Kurt, Santana, parents, etc.) or if the storyline will be dropped and ignored like so many other storylines on Glee have been in the past.
ReplyDelete