Glee star Jane Lynch talks about how the teen comedy-drama likely wouldn't be made today, citing the poor behavior of its characters, particularly mentioning her own, Sue Sylvester. Lynch, currently returning for the fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel premiering on February 18, found success with Glee, winning an Emmy for her performance in 2010 and becoming the show's breakout star. Lynch is also known for her roles on The L Word, Criminal Minds, and The Good Fight.
Created by Ryan Murphy, Glee follows a high school glee club as they deal with the difficulties of growing up, touching on many social issues such as bullying, sexuality, race, and family. The show ran for 6 seasons and 121 episodes, receiving a wide fan base and praise for its characters, humor, and musical numbers. Since its end, Glee has been retrospectively criticized for its creative decisions, with its use of stereotypes and humor that hasn't aged well.
Speaking with The Guardian, Lynch talks about how some of Glee's elements have aged poorly, particularly with her character and how she would make racist and sizeist comments about the students she was an authority figure for. She mentions that Sue would be canceled by today's standards, but for good reason. Despite this, she mentions that cancel culture is too obsessed with finding reasons to cancel a person, that it can lose sight of what truly toxic behavior looks like. Read her full quote below:
"I don’t know if we were describing people as 'problematic' even as recently as 2015, when Glee ended, but Sylvester goes way beyond that. As the villain, she is clearly deliberately awful, but I wonder if she would be able to get away with the things she said – racist, fat-shaming – were Glee still running. I think there would have been people out there who would have wanted to cancel Sue Sylvester, I don’t know that we could have done that show today, and it was only like … We started that 10 years ago."
Lynch is far from the first person to think Glee hasn't aged well, with many critics citing the show's veneer of comedy as a way to excuse bad behavior. Murphy's own behavior has been cited as toxic during the show's production, with his public criticism of artists who declined to have their songs used in the show dubbed as inappropriate. Murphy's work as a whole has been criticized for its use of stereotypes, with his film adaptation of the Broadway musical The Prom being the latest example due to James Cordon's panned performance.
Glee and Murphy's work as a whole has a history of using progressive ideas in very misguided ways, whether through one-dimensional characters, over-the-top performances, or stilted humor. In an age where minorities no longer have to live in the tiny boxes set for them by an oppressive society, diversity is becoming more and more tangible in the media with every passing year. And while Glee has undoubtedly had a positive impact on some, with Lynch herself talking about how it's helped some of its fans, it's important to remember that there's still lots of work to be done.
Source: The Guardian