CAST: Chris Colfer, Cory Monteith, Dianna Agron, Lea Michele, Amber Riley, Darren Criss, Heather Morris, Kevin McHale, Mark Salling; DIRECTOR: Kevin Tancharoen;
GENRE: Musical, Performing Arts;CINEMATOGRAPHER: Glen MacPherson; DISTRIBUTOR: 20th Century Fox; LOCATION: USA; RUNNING TIME: 84 minutes
Technical Assessment: 3
Moral Assessment: 2.5
Cinema Rating: For viewers age 14 years old and above
What story can you find in a “3D concert movie” that is semi-fiction, and neither a movie nor a concert but tries to be both? Hybrids can be interesting—for the new flavor they bring (remember “mangapple”, a cross between a mango and an apple?) or for the novelty they are (like the “zebronkey”, the offspring of the union between a donkey and a zebra?)—but how enduring are they? More importantly, what are they for? Why create them?
Well, in this world where people seem to be looking always for something new and exciting, marketing is the name of the game.
A film critique in North America called this concert movie a “Gleekumentary” precisely because in it actors assume roles of singers who sing other people’s songs, but because there is a real “Glee” TV series, one wonders if the 3D concert movie is the real life story of the television performers, and if those “Gleeks” (hard core fans of the TV series) are for real, or are they just more actors or fans willing to appear as “gleeks” for their 10-seconds’ moment of glory.
It has the look of a documentary—“singers” and “fans” being interviewed and portrayed in such a manner that unsuspecting viewers would think they’re delivering testimonials. Here teens are played by grown ups—alphabetically, Artie (Kevin McHale), Blaine (Darren Criss), Brittany (Heather Morris), Finn (Corey Monteith), Kurt (Chris Colfer), Mercedes (Amber Riley), Rachel (Lea Michele), Santana, (Naya Rivera) and others. There are real teenagers, too: Josey Pickering who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, the midget high school cheerleader Janae Meraz, and the just-out-of-the-closet gay Trenton Thompson who practically swear they owe their newfound self-worth to the TV series that taught them to “embrace their inner-Gleek”.
Whatever Glee 3D concert-movie is or should be called, whether it’s fact or fantasy, done with actors playing roles, it underscores the verity that entertainment not only matters—it also helps shape the life of fans.
Glee 3D concert-movie aims to put across some positive messages of self-acceptance and tolerance. For one Janae, the dwarf who becomes prom princess, says it’s not only okay to be different—one can be different (in the way that she is) and be popular, too. It sounds like a fairy tale but her smiling countenance adds credibility to her claim. Josey witnesses to her own transformation, a before-and-after case of social anxiety remedied by bonding with other Glee fans. Former closet queen Trenton is virtually awed by his (her?) own experience of being uncovered and being accepted in spite of it, thanks to the inspiring gay character Kurt.
It tells the youth “Glee is good for you, it helps you accept yourself even if others reject you, not be afraid to be different, muster your courage and win in this world.” Certain song lyrics exhort the young to believe in their individual worth, to stay optimistic and afloat in rough sailing, to never let go of dreams, to look for the good in people’s differences, and trust in the power and beauty of love. These uplifting messages are mixed and matched with song-and-dance routines that sometimes sizzle with fireworks and at other times are so “over-miked” the numbers make you feel you’re in evangelical prayer meetings minus the hallelujahs.
What is Glee really trying to influence the viewers to think? Is it afraid it will sound syrupy if it leaves its pure message unadulterated? Or is the sugar meant to aid in the swallowing of the unsavory morsels? It says physical, emotional, social and cultural differences must be respected and in fact celebrated, but why did it not reinforce these positive messages until they’re driven home?
Why the suggestive dancing, the seductive lines? What is being said is belied by what is being sung. The upside values earlier cited are overshadowed by song lyrics that extol premarital sex (Don’t Stop Believin’ and Teenage Dream): "Let's go all the way tonight… No regrets, just love … I'm a get your heart racing in my skintight jeans… Be your teenage dream tonight… Let you put your hands on me in my skintight jeans." In I’m a slave 4 U Brittany mimics Britney Spears’ sexy-dancing, portraying emotional and sexual bondage in skimpy belly-dance costume. Boys and girls hop across the stage and grab their crotches a la Michael Jackson. Girls wear breast-baring tops and lift their micro-mini skirts giving a glimpse of their underwear. And these are supposedly high school characters.
The glowing “testimonials” underscoring the value of a healthy self-image and the stand that those in the social fringes must also be viewed with compassion are upstaged by the repeated endorsement of gay tolerance through Trenton’s self-disclosure. Featured at the concert climax is Lady Gaga’s Born This Way, the flagship song of gay America, sung by Kurt wearing a “Likes boys” t-shirt which Trenton also wears. If your ears are quick they might pick up a line from the audience saying her young daughter is so enamored of gay characters Kurt and Blaine that she wishes them to be her “two dads”. Which makes one wonder if this is not advocating SSM (same sex marriage).If Glee 3D concert-movie were just made up of the empowering messages, CINEMA might have given it an above-average moral rating, even if its smiles-and-sunshine approach smacks of prefabricated fairy tales. But because of the subliminal manner by which it mesmerizes the young by music and movement into embracing a questionable love style, it creeps into the realm of the ambiguous. Smashing prejudice and intolerance by polishing the image of homosexuality is hardly a commendable message to save a Third World country where a sizeable chunk of the population lives below poverty level—and certainly does not hate the gays in their midst. Think about that.
