Glee and the Asian American Persona
Glee is one of the hottest tv shows out today blending catchy songs with all the fun high school drama that many of us can relate to. With a cast of multiple characters, there are many that we can relate to or even ones that we wish we were. We are quite pleased with how Glee is portraying Asian Americans along with breaking many other barriers.
Most noticeably, they are providing a strong character who is homosexual in a way that I can’t remember from other TV shows though I’m sure there are many I haven’t seen. Since this is a blog about Asians in the media though, I will switch attention to that. I’m really pleased that they haven’t gone the typical Hollywood way and made the Asian American male the homosexual (see Entourage).
Harry Shum, Jr., who we will delve into more later, is one of the characters who is starting to get a few more lines and TV time on Glee, but he is portrayed in a more balanced way than most Asian characters. In fact, I would say that it is in a much stronger way than typically done. He is a member of the football team. He has been shown as a sex symbol with his abs. He is an amazing dancer. Chalk one up for an Asian American role model.
Last week’s episode “Never Been Kissed” (Season 2, episode 6) depicted a rival school Glee group which included a homosexual who again is not Asian. That rival school though did have other Asian American males within the group, and in one scene it was mentioned that he had a girlfriend (as did the African American in the scene).
Congrats Glee on the success so far and for bringing out positive role models. I did wonder about the character of Tina who has a last name Cohen-Chang. I wonder if they’re going to explain that one at some point. Will Glee dare to have an Asian American male dating a non-Asian or even marrying a non-Asian? Maybe her parents were divorced and her father married a non-Asian? Or is she half-Asian in the series though she is not in real-life? Let the stories continue.
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