Glee – Not-so-hot for teacher

When I was still in school, if I loved my teachers, I loved loved loved my teachers.  I’ve always been enamored with the whole profession of teaching, which I can trace directly back to my nerdy parents who raised me to believe that there was no higher calling in the universe than the education of youngsters.

So when we first met the character of Will Schuester (played by long-time Broadway vet Matthew Morrison) in Glee, I was convinced I would love him above and beyond anything remotely reasonable. He’s so earnestly in love with teaching and his kids! He reminded me of my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Kershenbaum, who I was deeply, completely infatuated with in that pre-hormonal way you can only be in elementary school that really boils down to devoted hero-worship. (The man made me think math was awesome! Clearly, he was a god-like figure.) Like Mr. Kershenbaum (whose name I am not changing in the off-chance hope that he finds this and knows, a decade later, that I still think he’s pretty much the man), he  could sing and play the guitar, had a slightly broken-looking nose, and extraordinarily curly hair. Unlike Mr. Kershenbaum, he sang “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” which may be one of my favorite songs of all time.

Since the first two episodes, however, my feelings on Mr. Schuester have boiled down to one big, lumpy pile of what can only be described as “meh,” because I feel like the entire glee club — or, well, the entire show — is a giant exercise  in playing into Will’s self-centeredness.

Where’s the Will I loved so dearly in the pilot and “Showmance”? The one who takes a job as a night janitor, believes in his kids, and tries to help Emma get over her germophobia? Something about Emma’s speech at the end of “Showmance,” questioning what they were doing together, seems to have jolted him back to reality, but in the worst way possible. Now Will’s horribly self-centered — just look at the entire episode of “Acafellas.” Don’t get me wrong, I loved that episode. Color Me Badd was before my time (I was three when “I Wanna Sex You Up” came out, and was pretty safely ensconced in Raffi at the time), but I was laughing until I cried when Acafellas performed it, and I’ve seen the music video on enough specials on awesomely bad songs to appreciate the hilarity of Puck roughly approximating their moves.

But just because I enjoyed parts of the plot doesn’t mean I’m not at a loss for why this ridiculousness keeps continuing. How does Will continue to believe Terri is pregnant? I can believe to a certain point that it’s willful ignorance, that he has no reason to believe that she’s not pregnant so isn’t looking for signs the way we are, but really. The only explanation at this point for why he’s putting two and two together and still getting five is that he’s honestly so wrapped up in his own life that he’s barely paying any notice to his wife. Who, as far as he knows, is knocked up. C’mon, Will. Buy a clue. And am I honestly to believe that until that speech Will honestly never knew how bad his flirtation with Emma was? Never figured out her ginormous crush on him and stepped in to do something about it? Really?

I understand why Will is trying to take Rachel down a peg, and would probably have a similar campaign were I in his shoes, but the ends to which he takes it that constantly cause drama and put the club in jeopardy are stretching my patience with the man. At this point it reads like a petty vendetta, not a life lesson. Bringing in April (which, let’s be honest, I love love love love love love loved because Kristen Chenoweth is my girl) was the last straw for me. That’s an excellent idea, Will, re-living your high school crush on a constantly inebriated woman while swearing it’s for your kids when really it’s hurting them more than anything. All of this sours the fact that Will even re-started the glee club and makes me think Terri was right (I know, I’m agreeing with Terri?). This is all some ego trip for Will to vent every frustration he’s ever had and mold these kids into the things he’s afraid he’s never gotten the chance to be.

Now I am aware, to some extent, that this is a common psychological affliction amongst anyone who is raising or helping to guide a child to adulthood. No one wants to see a kid go through the pain they’ve been through or make the same mistakes as them. It’s noble. It’s understandable. But with some people (and, I’ve found, this manifests more often in teachers, since this is their profession), it becomes an ego thing.  They identify so strongly with their kids that every success or failure is their vicarious success or failure, and that what makes them feel good is ultimately what’s going to be best for their charges, even though that’s not necessarily true. Usually, this is the hallmark of a bad teacher or someone who’s in the profession for the wrong reason, and I never expected it to happen, of all people, to Will Schuester.

Clacked by Julia Hass
on Oct 03, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT