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Most powerful “Glee” moment of the season came last night when Kurt’s dad kicked Finn out for using the word “faggy”
Last night’s Lady Gaga episode of Glee had one scene that touched me deeply and I hope it made people think. Finn (Cory Monteith) is upset that his mother has agreed to move in with Kurt (Chris Colfer) and his dad, Burt.
Finn has one of his most unpleasant scenes all season when he starts telling Kurt that the room he has redecorated for them is “faggy” and lashes out at his friend. I gotta say, Finn was put in a difficult position of having to move and deal with the adjustment of all of that and he is aware that Kurt has more than brotherly feelings for him.
But the show decided to use the situation as a teaching moment. Burt (Mike O’Malley), who has really bonded with Finn, overhears the yelling and is furious: “When you use that word, you’re talking about [Kurt]. … You live a few years, you start seeing the hate in people’s hearts — even the best people.”
He compares use of the word to the N-word or using the word “retard” like he and his buddies did when they were in school: “We meant it exactly the way you meant it. That being gay is wrong, like some kind of punishable offense.”
“This is our home! HE is my son!”
Then, he kicks Finn out!
“Out in the world, you do what you want. Not under my roof,” Burt says to Finn.
Love this zero-tolerance policy!
I love this message because we are living in a world where kids are still using the f-word as a slur and it leaves a gay kid deeply wounded and terrified. This I know from experience. It’s such a cruel weapon and just kills a little bit of you when you are already vulnerable.
Then we have a lot of parents who in this world who kick their gay kids out of the house or force them to go seek therapy or any number of horrible things. Here’s a dad who, from the heart, gives an impassioned defense of his son without a moment’s hesitation.
To have this kind of message, on one of the most popular shows on television that is watched by entire families, is HUGE. Some say it is preaching to the choir but not true: this is a top 20 show and it can really have an impact.
I also liked how Finn is not suddenly a villain. He is a work in progress and in the end, comes through for Kurt against a coupla jock bullies who are not just homophobic, but against anyone expressing their individuality.
Colfer, who is also gay in real life, reflected on the scene to Hollywood Crush: : “When I was reading the scene, on paper I had no idea how emotional it was going to be until I actually got it and I realized, ‘Oh my gosh, this is huge.'” Still, as it turns out, the script — as meaningful as it was — wasn’t tough for Chris to conquer. “It was really easy to film because it hit so close to home. It was so touching and so moving the tears just came.”
Here is the scene:
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
D says:
Whoa. Wait a minute. I’m a gay man. I think that, all “Glee” humor aside, what Kurt has been doing to Finn for the past half dozen or so episodes is not appropriate and is just as wrong as Finn’s use of the word “faggy”. Be serious. Kurt has manipulated his father’s emotions to start dating Finn’s mom so he could, in his fantasy, force Kurt to move into the same room with him so Kurt could ramp up his putting the moves on Finn, who is clearly goodhearted towards Kurt but certainly does not want constant (albeit occasionally subtle) sexual harassment in all sorts of uncomfortable and inappropriate ways. I think that Kurt, who initiated and persisted in this sort of improper behavior, bears a large part of the responsibility here. Finn is not even homophobic. He has stood up for Kurt many times previously. He was pushed and prodded and provoked by Kurt until he finally felt he had to set limits, albeit inartfully. I hope that the producers/writers have Kurt own up to his part in this scenario.
D says:
… p.s. – You should put the entire scene on as a clip and not just the part right before Finn’s use of the “f” word, because I think you are doing a discredit to Finn’s character, who previously in the scene tried to express the reality that Kurt has been manipulating the situation because he wants Finn as a lover and that he feels extremely uncomfortable with that, and instead Kurt lies and denies it and throws a fit and starts yelling about redecoration. Again, making a saint out of Kurt just because he’s the gay character is a disservice to all involved in this story arc.
David says:
While I agree with D’s comment, I don’t think they were trying to make Kurt a saint. There was a point to Burt’s comment, a real message about using the words faggot and gay in the way today’s youth use it (along with the conservative right). It was an end to a means, I guess.
I had hoped that Kurt would see the error of his way – the later scene in school where Finn tried to talk to Kurt disappointed me – but I too have hope that Kurt admits his culpability.
Mike says:
Wow, this must have been the episode I was determined to skip, the Lady Gaga one as I still don’t know what a Lady Gaga is or why she’s famous, but, this seems like a good one.
The tolerance thing is all good, but, the way Kurt “schemed” to get Finn was a bit over the top, but, then again, maybe I’m too old to figure out how the young gays go about things these days, even on TV.
Alek says:
THANK YOU D!
I agreed with all of that, and upon rewatch, i don’t think Burt was totally right, Going off on Finn about uing that word, absolutely, but He took things way to far and there seemed to be a LOT of projecting himself/teenyears on Finn. I was with him UNTIL he kicked Finn out. A big no-no for me. “your 16, you still see the good in people” guess what, Finn..he’s 16 too.
I too thought that was a great message. BUT Kurt came off looking very bad to me in this episode. Gay or not, Kurt has some serious making up to do- to finn. Kurt became my least liked character after this, i usually reserve that right to Puck.
Damn you Glee, for making me comment about a TV show!
LD says:
I don’t really watch Glee that much but I have a pretty good idea of the relationship between Kurt and Finn. Yeah, Kurt is over the top and is behaving very inappropriately and it really does need to stop. But Finn’s use of the word, even though it wasn’t specifcally targetted at Kurt had only one context in which it could be interpretted. It was designed to hurt and that’s clearly what it did.
The point is that kids these days say stuff like that all the time. It’s a powerful weapon against anybody who’s different. I watched the scene knowing full well exactly what was going to happen and yet it was still extremely difficult. As a gay male, I had to deal with stuff like that at school (allbeit without the ridiculous scheming that Kurt is guilty of). Even my mother and brother said crap like that to me not to mention the dozens of people at school who would approach me just to hurl that word at me.
It does send a clear message. When you use words like that there’s only one way it’s meant and it’s dispicable, hurtful and cruel. It brings light to the fact that words are said in anger without someone realizing what they’re actually saying.
mign82 says:
What Finn said was wrong and Burt was right with what he said, but I also understand Finn’s point of view. He was very clear about the fact that he didn’t reciprocate Kurt’s feelings but Kurt just won’t let go. What he is doing is no different than what Quinn did to Finn (with the difference that at least she was doing it for her baby while Kurt is doing it for himself): he is manipulating Burt, Finn and Finn’s mom to get what he wants. That isn’t right either. I really hope he owns up to that and makes things right with all people involved.
That being said, it has to be taken into account that Burt didn’t hear the whole conversation and he most certainly didn’t understand its context. He acted according to what he knew and stood up for his son. That’s admirable and his speech has a lot of merit.