February 22, 2011 with 8 Comments

273.

Has Glee Gone Too Far?

I caught up on a little TV last night. It’s probably my greatest motivation for getting on the treadmill.

As it were, the lucky show that I got to see was Entertainment Tonight, and the million dollar question that was asked was this:

Has Glee Gone Too Far?


In other words, has the drinking and stripping among high schoolers become too much for most prime time viewers to handle?

It’s an interesting question worth pondering.

You may not be familiar with the Television show Glee. I’ll update you. It’s about a high school glee club on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues. Or as yahoo answers puts it: “it’s about a group of misfit teenagers in a high school glee club. You have the gay kid, pregnant cheerleader, jock, and many others thrown into a crazy exhilarating mess of stories and pasts. They make songs from bad to good and reputations from good to bad.”

So when all of a sudden ET reports a story on whether Glee has gone too far, my ears perk up and I beg to ask the follow up question: is it too late to ask if Glee has gone too far?

We are living in an era where sex has become so mainstream on prime time TV that its standard form is too boring for most people to watch.  We now have to throw in some live debacles of bachelors seeking love in a hot tub. And if we’re not watching an eligible bachelor getting it on with a handful of gals, we have the option to watch today’s modern family where any2 or more people living together form a family. The list of controversial shows is long. And while you can take your pick in pushing the viewing envelope, most of us won’t even notice. We’ve been trained to be jaded.

I’m sure I just lost half of my readers for even suggesting my disapproval with our number one social media, but I’ll just have to live with the harsh reality of my growing unpopularity. After all, if Glee has gone too far, nothing else I ever do or say will ever cause a ripple in this world.

I find it even more interesting that a show like ET is asking the loaded question about viewer discretion. Where have all the Christians gone? To go by twitter updates, I know where all the Christians are. They are sitting comfortably on their sofas with their hand sewn afghans and snuggies chuckling over the antics of yet another offensive show, while twittering about the depth of the plot.

Do I sound harsh? Forgive me. I didn’t mean to offend you. Let me just coddle you instead, or maybe just give you a sideways hug. It was only a cross after all. I’m sure He didn’t mean to offend anyone either. So go on your merry way, and enjoy the show, and whatever you do, please don’t stop to ask the obvious question:

Has Glee gone too far?

Has Hollywood gone too far?

Have we gone too far?

Maybe it’s time to stop.

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  • Suzanne Heckathorne

    Thanks, Lina. Christ hasn’t called us to holiness in just a few areas of our lives. Holiness is something that needs to pervade our thinking…..how we view t.v., how we listen to music, how we relate to others, how we communicate! Your post is calling each believer to live out the righteousness that Christ has given us through his death on the cross….thank you for speaking the truth boldly. I know I appreciate it.

  • Denise Archambault

    Amen and Amen again. In a prior church I attended, as we were fighting against the pull of the television shows that other kids my sons age were being allowed to watch, the church we attended at that time embraced a popular TV14 show, and did an entire “teaching” series based upon that show, even reconstructing the set on the stage of the church and having pastors and other members of the worship team etc. dress up like the characters on this show. This show very much earned every bit of its TV14 rating for sexual situations, violence, etc. We were left shaking our heads, as we tried to teach our son what it means to be “set apart” only to have our church completely undermine those efforts by embracing the show to be culturally “relevant” in its “teaching”. That’s the problem when Christians decide that being relevant and being able to talk about the same things everyone else is talking about is somehow more important that God’s call to be set apart – salt and light, and relevant for Him. It’s as though we think He didn’t realize that if we don’t watch the same things those in around us are watching, we simply will not be able to connect with them and will not be able to be a compelling witness for Christ. In a world where so many Mom’s I know count it as “quality time” to watch Desparate Housewives and other similar shows with their kids, I get that lost people act lost….but what about those of us who have been found? What’s our excuse?

  • Milo

    TV is no more an entertainment means but a degraded pornographic means. The best deal is to turn it off.

  • emilyvj

    Never seen an episode of Glee – but I completely agree that if E! is asking this question… then it’s gone WAY too far.
    I used to be pretty addicted to TV, especially reality TV shows in college – but after hearing a message by HBC Pastor Jeff Donaldson, my whole view of media changed. I started asking myself “is this really what I want to entertain myself with?” more and more… and found fewer and fewer shows to watch.
    Now whenever I want to relax and watch tv… I watch my favorite dvd series: Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. No, I’m not joking. Yes, you can keep laughing at me, everyone does :) I own every episode (plus 2 movies) and have probably seen all of them at least 3 times! I will admit it’s cheesy sometimes and I laugh at it – but I still love it. Here’s a little fact most people don’t know – at the end of the 6th season, the entire cast was ready and signed on for the 7th… but CBS pulled the plug because it was TOO family friendly and they wanted something more scandalous for that Saturday night spot. Just goes to show how sick the media system can be :(

  • lina

    thanks for the comments everyone! emily, i particularly enjoyed your tidbit on dr.quinn. i will have to borrow your dvd’s as i’ve never seen 1 episode! I personally do enjoy HGTV in small doses, and don’t mind the travel channel or my occasional hallmark movie (don’t tell anyone i confessed that last part!!).

  • emilyvj

    You can totally borrow it Lina – or you can join Amanda and I whenever we have our DQ night (she’s such a good friend to watch it with me sometimes :)
    And I also love a good Hallmark movie every now and then! You have no idea how bummed I was to findo out I missed two movies that recently aired with Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn) & Joe Lando (Sully on Dr. Quinn)! I keep twittering @hallmarkchannel to re-air them! lol.

  • Ana-Maria

    I will take this opportunity to advertise the best show ever- The Amazing Race. So if anyone needs to wean off reality shows, this is the best one to watch:)

  • Kina

    I do not have a digital TV nor a converter box. I rent DVD’s if I am going to watch the television. It’s been about two years. And though I plan to purchase one in the near future its not to watch the foolishness such as Glee. Most of the shows are crap and a pure waste of my time. Lina, no need to apologize and it’s not harsh. Christians can not afford to be desensitized to what is happening around us! Amen sister!