TASK 6

Introduction
In all American teen dramas ideologies of teenagers and youth are constructed in a way that their teenage target audience can identify themselves with. Most American teen dramas acknowledge their teenage target audience my constructing ideologies that can offer them escapism, sexual gratifications or educational purposes that the audiences are attracted to, since they yearn for these things. And the audience receive this with the all important entertainment value- that’s why American teen dramas are successful. American teen dramas can be responsible for constructing negative and positive ideologies of youth, which can shape the overall ideology of youth in society as a whole.


Paragraph 1
American teen dramas all possess ideologies that either shape or construct the overall ideologies of youth in the present society. American teen dramas seem to consist of the same ideological ingredients such as sex before marriage, anti-racism and superficiality. These common ideologies present in American teen dramas are what seem to make them successful and appealing to the target audience. Anti-racism and multi-culturalism are somewhat a new popular ideology that appears in American teen dramas. For example 90210’s Dixon, who is an adopted black child that lives with his white, perfect nuclear family. The fact that this perfect family have an adopted black child makes the matter seem as if it is normal and acceptable, shown through his school mates accepting his situation as well. So essentially this perfect, nuclear family is promoting an anti-racist ideology and therefore in terms of the hypodermic needle, is injecting this ideology into the audience and shaping new ideologies into youth culture. Sex before marriage is another popular ideology present in most American teen dramas because sex and love are very popular themes in teen media texts and also in youth culture on a whole, so American teen dramas try to incorporate this to appeal to the teen target audience. The fact that American teen dramas present the ideology of sex before marriage can affect the youth culture and even construct it because ‘’Teen sex is a ‘major public health problem’ according to the American Academy of Paediatrics. The physical, emotional, and social consequences of teen sexual activity include high rates of teen pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS. Each year 25% of sexually active teenagers contract a sexually transmitted disease’’.

Frontier Mythology in American Teen Film
Rowena Harper
December 2008

TASK 5

ESSAY PLAN

Paragraph 1/2/3

Sex before marriage , anti-racism, multi-culturalism, superficiality, equality in terms of homosexuality, pop culture
90210 and Glee how they present some of the common ideologies in contemporary American teen dramas

Media A-Z keywords
Stereotypes, escapism, cameo appreances and pop culture

Paragraph 4/5
Target audience of teen dramas are essentially teenagers aged between 13 to 19 and secondary audience of 20-25.

What do the target audience look for in teen American drama media texts?
Escapism (90210- the luxurious setting, being the most glamorous post code in the world and Glee allows the audience to escape with the uplifting songs and sense of being able to achieve no matter one skin colour (Ethnography) or appearance),

Entertainment (humour- innuendo, crude humour, humour assocaioted with sex and teenagers)

Pop culture, celebrity culture (cameo appearance in glee and 90210 such Britney Spears and Kim Kardashian)

Paragraph 5/6
Why are the ideologies presented in contemporary American teen drama constructed like that?
To appeal to their target audience
Sexual urges
Wanting to be accepted
Wanting to escape from their own life

Address the two articles I found
‘’Being good looking seems to be important’
‘’ Glee also seems to celebrate the fact that it is multicultural’’
‘’ Also glee ‘ditches’ realism in favour of escapism’’

Paragraph 7
Conclusion

TASK 4

'Teen Film is developing, but it has been defined by critics as being- ostensibly- about and for youth.'

Frontier Mythology in American Teen Film
Rowena Harper
December 2008

Teen sex is a “major public health problem” according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP “Sexuality”). The physical, emotional, and social consequences of teen sexual activity include high rates of teen pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS. Each year 25% of sexually active teenagers contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD)

Teens, Sex, and Media
The Influence of Electronic Entertainment on American Teen Sexual Culture
Eileen M. Hart, M.A

'By having souped-up karaoke renditions of well-loved hits (a recent episode was devoted entirely to Madonna songs) sung by a cast of good-looking American teenagers, Glee neatly manages to snaffle both the t(w)eenage market and the ever-growing demographic of so-called kidults''.

Glee: camp, fun, won’t change the world
David Bowden
May 2010

“The superficial teen stereotype depicts teenagers as consumed by unimportant school-related problems, such as playing truant, avoiding detentions and attending the prom with a dream date”

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20800200/35-Teenagers-Teen-Drama

"Sex has achieved a normalised and often celebrated status amongst mainstream audiences

Elisha McIntyre"

Can True Love Wait? Christian Morality Meets Adolescent Sexuality in Teen Film

(Margaret R. Miles: Seeing and Believing: Religion and Values in the Movies, Boston, Beacon Press,

1996, 109)

Teen films frequently use sex as

a source of comedy, drama, and even plot

Elisha McIntyre"

Can True Love Wait? Christian Morality Meets Adolescent Sexuality in Teen Film

TASK 3

Historical Text

This Boy's Life 1993

I chose this scene from the drama film ‘This Boy’s Life’ which is set in the 1950 because it depicts the representation of a young homosexual character which can also be apparent in American teen dramas and presents an interesting representation due to its ‘spirit of the age’.

This scene shows three heterosexual young boys who come across another young effeminate boy who they assume is a ‘homo’. However the effeminate boy, Arthur Gayle seems to be very offended when one of the boys calls him a ‘homo’, yet later throughout the film he is shown to be in fact a homosexual. Arthur Gayle begins a fight with Jack, which depicts the homosexual character as somewhat violent which seems to be a opposing the stereotypes within that zeitgeist that homosexual are weak and not violent. This can be suggested due to the fact that homosexuality was not accepted and therefore he was not self accepting himself, which is very different from today’s contemporary representation of homosexual characters in media text who seems to be more self acceptant of themselves and proud, such as the character of Kurt in glee and Justin in Ugly Betty.

TASK 2

‘’Male sensitivity has become sufficiently accepted on television’’
‘’Masculinity was created in Classic Hollywood to keep the male superior’’
‘’As so often in mainstream entertainment, homosexuality is welcomed’’
''Masculine hegemony is formed from the people's common sense by, perhaps above all television, film, advertising and sports''
''Subordinated masculinities... gay,black and working class masculinities''
Kenneth MacKinnon
2003
Representing Men, Maleness and Masculinity in the Media
Arnold

‘’Multicultural societies are becoming recognised and positively represented in the media’’

Robert Ferguson
1998
Representing ‘Race’
Arnold

"A teen-utopian Hughesian world of adolescent pleasure and liberating hedonism"
"90210 justified their prurient focus on teenage sex on grounds of public service- that they were tackling important issues as part of noble campaign to raise awareness about sexual diseases and birth control"
Niel Campell,
2004,
American Youth Cultures,
Routledge

"Characters are often too superficial"

Roger Ebert

2003

Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2004

Andrew McMeel

"through the characterization of its sympathetic and sensitive young hero"

Mark Bould, Andrew.M Butler, Adam Roberts, Sherryl Vint
2009,
The Routledge companion to science fiction,
Routledge

"There are, regularly non-white characters in teen genre movies and television, though almost never in central roles"

"The boys are all handsome, the girls are all beautiful , even the one who wear glasses and talk of themselves as geeks and losers"

Roz Kaveney

2006

Teen Dreams, Reading Teen Film and Television from Heathers to Vericona Mars

I.B Tauris & Co Ltd

TASK 1

Close textual analysis
90210 – Naomi and Silver meet Teddy



In this particular scene, there is a common ideology of American teen dramas present, such as the cast being beautiful, and that good looking guys or girls should go out with other good looking people, as well as constructing the ideology that sex is not a taboo.

This scene allows the audience to gain sexual gratification from the characters, through the long shots used, which clearly shows the characters perfect bodies that are in short clothing.
Within the text the female characters Naomi and Silver are objectifying the male character, Teddy so there is a female gaze, however the audience can also ‘gaze’ at the female character s that have good bodies and dressed in short tennis dresses.

There are two distinctive representations of female characters in this clip. The blonde female seems to be represented in the stereotypical ideology that she is good looking and a bit slow for example not understanding Silver’s sarcasm and that she ‘doesn’t go by the numbers’, which shows that she isn’t intellectual . Also, the fact that she is somewhat yearning for the attention of the good looking boy represents her as ‘The Blonde’ since she seems to be boy-driven.
On the hand the other female character doesn’t seem to be that interested in the guy and seems more calm and collective over the good looking boy rather that being all over him, so to speak.

The fact that there is an injection of pop culture within Silver’s dialogue of the film ‘Vicky, Christina, Barcelona, shows that as well as the film, the show is mainstream, with a mainstream audience, who both have a good looking cast. Pop culture is another popular convention apparent in American teen dramas such as Glee and Gossip girl, because this youth generation seems to be very interested in pop culture.

The actual show, 90210 is a comedy-drama, which is a very popular hybrid genre within teen American shows. In this particular clip the characters use sarcasm and innuendo for humour, which are very popular types of humour in youth culture because of the fact they are very sexual and the youth culture are very interested in sex and other sex related things. The ideology presented here is that sex can be a topic that can be discussed, one which is not a taboo.

There can be a sense of escapism and utopia within this scene because of the luxurious and nice location and not forgetting the good looking cast, which seems a bit too good to be true; none of the supposed teenagers seems to possess the odd spot or excess fat. Escapism is yet another popular convention in American teen dramas, which somewhat paints a picture of the audiences and the youth culture. Maybe the young audience of American teen dramas do not have the perfect lives or perfect bodies and shows such as 90210 and Glee allows them to escapism which can explain their popularity.

Soundtrack for Hoverfield High

Essay Plan and Linked Production Proposal

Essay Plan for Critical Investigation

How do contemporary American Teen Dramas construct ideologies of youth and why might this be so?

• Introduction

• Common ideologies in present contemporary American Teen Dramas - Mention my case studies – Mention most of the key words from the A-Z posted on the blog. THREE PARAGRAPHS

• Talk about the target audience of teen dramas on a whole and then specifically to my case studies. ONE PARAGRAPH (Audience Theory)

• What ideologies might the target audience look for in terms of class, ethnicity or sexuality – Mention relevant audience theory, ethnography, gender and ethnicity theory, Uses and Gratification Theory, Hypodermic Needle Theory. ONE PARAGRAPH

• Why the ideologies presented in these contemporary American teen drama are constructed like that – To appeal to target audience essentially - Address the information from the articles that I found. TWO PARAGRAPHS (Queer Theory Richard Dyer )

• Conclusion- Conclude how ideologies are constructed with specific example and why this might so in terms of what the target audience look for.

Proposal for Linked Production

I’d like to produce an opening to a new American teen drama set in a High school. Within my opening ideologies such as sex before marriage, anti- racism, homophobia etc, with scenes that can allow audience to ‘escape’.

Relevent Article for Critical Investigation

Whenever something becomes hugely popular,
I have to fight a strong aversion to following the
crowd that instantly makes me want to dislike
whatever the latest fad is. However, I have been
unable to deny that the latest craze to hit the
small screen, Fox’s new series Glee is deserving of
the hype that has surrounded it.
The show focuses on a set of niches or
cliques that fight for control of a high school.
These cliques consist of cheerleaders, nerds,
jocks, and even subsets of various teacher
stereotypes. Not that original then. So how
creative are the makers of Glee?
A friend recently argued that it is the least
original show on television: all it does is cover
old songs and follow the trend started by High
School Musical and Simon Cowell’s string of
talent TV reality shows. I’d like to think that there
is slightly more to the show than that. Glee gives
us social truths mixed with humour, frivolity and
camp over-the-top melodrama – if this was the
late Victorian era we’d be mistaking the series for
an Oscar Wilde play (after we’d got over the shock
of that bit of hocus-pocus we call the invention of
the television).
Glee as recession-buster?
OK, so maybe that is a bit of an over-statement
but I do think Glee deserves credit for its
combination of sharp mockery of high school
stereotypes and modern culture on the one
hand, and the hugely entertaining, cheesy song
and dance numbers on the other. Glee provides
the perfect level of light-hearted optimism to
allow us to momentarily escape the doom and
gloom of the recession, plus, unlike some other
high school dramas (*cough* 90210 *cough* )
and talent-focused television shows (Britain’s
Got Talent anyone?), it is intelligent enough
that we don’t have to feel embarrassed that
we enjoy it. Media buffs will be well aware that
the musical genre itself surged in popularity
following the Wall Street Crash in 1929, when
stars such as Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and
Busby Berkeley helped to deliver a muchneeded
morale boost to audiences during the
depression of the 1930s. Now, during the longest
UK economic recession since records began,
audiences are turning to the same brand of
fantasy and escapism.
The producers of Glee could not have
anticipated the phenomenal success that the
series enjoys. Although the show was mostly
targeted at teenage girls and gay people, it has
captured a wider audience through its use of
dark humour and intelligent witticisms, mainly
focused on the character of Sue Sylvester. Glee
does address real personal and social issues
throughout; one episode revolves around Kurt’s
homosexuality and the personal conflict he faces
when he almost pulls out of a show to spare
his father from homophobic abuse. However,
these topics are always balanced out by upbeat
humour and energetic performances, never
dwelling on serious issues for too long – unlike
many UK teen offerings.
Gleeful music?
It also employs a broad range of popular
music, ranging from the 60s to the current charts.
The unlikely ‘mash-up’ that is Beyoncé’s ‘Halo’
combined with Katrina and the Wave’s ‘Walking
on Sunshine’ helped to transfer the TV show’s
success to the music charts, with the release of
the first Glee album. There are now two albums
on release, which at the present time are the
No.1 albums in both the UK and America.
The Glee club itself is all about creativity; the
club is assigned a different theme each week,
often celebrating figures of creative music talent,
as in the Madonna episode; and the teams are
encouraged to use their own experience to create
the winning performance. The result usually is
temporarily to unite the various high school
cliques through the spirit of putting on a good
show, excepting of course the Glee club’s arch
nemesis Sue Sylvester who, despite her mission
to shut the club down, fails to stifle the students’
creativity.
The talented cast embrace (rather than deny)
their cardboard cut-out characters to deliver pithy lines such as
What you call insanity, I call inspiration
Sue Sylvester
and close-to-the-mark observations on
modern culture:
being anonymous is worse than being poor.
Fame is the most important thing in our
culture now
Rachel Berry
Personally, I feel that this cocktail of clever
comedy and entertainment makes Glee more
than just another teenage TV drama.

Relevent Theories

Gender and ethnicity- in both Glee and 90210 the cast is multicultural more so however in Glee. I can look at how the ideologies of the different ethnic characters within the text are constructed, why that's so and what attracts the youth audience to these ideologies.

Ethnography-

They make sense of media texts according to their social position (in terms of their identity) – and their gender, race, class etc.

Audience theories-

Uses and Gratification-

The audience is seen as active, and reasonably intelligent. Life experience in general is regarded
as more influential than experience of media. The pleasures that the media offer audiences are not regarded as negative!

Hypodermic Needle-

Just like the syringe used to inject a drug into a body, the media ‘injects’ messages directly into the minds of the viewers/listeners/readers; and they can be as addictive as heroin.
This approach draws attention to
The power that media producers have, and to the importance of the forms of media to which audiences have access The ‘injected’ audience is seen as passive and powerless. This model is mostly used when the effects of media on women or children are the subject of research. The way people use media remains unaccounted for.

Genre theories-

Media A-Z

Key Words I can use in my critical investigation.

• Cameo- In glee there has been many cameo appearances e.g Olivia Newton-John, Kristen Chenoworth, Idina Menzel, Neil Patrick Harris and more recently Gweneth Paltrow.
• Construction- Every media text is constructed, and particularly in Glee the fact that their is song and dance makes it more different.
• Genre Theory- Genre theorists consider the relationship between audience, media texts and media producers. Genres can appeal to their audience by also offering escapism.
• Homage- In some of Glees musical numbers they pay homage, for example the Madonna episode.
• Iconography
• Interpellation- Due to Glees massive success, its fans respond to the media text by repeating fimiliar forms, for example fans can upload themselves singing songs from the show or remaking a particular scene from the show.
• Intertexuality- Glee also references other works in its shows for example...
• Multiculturalism- 902010, has a multicultral cast, including a white family with an adopted black son. There is also a persian teenager 'Navid' as one of the main cast which can atract a diverse audience, unlike the orginal 902010 in the 90's.
• Narrative Theory -
• Popular Culture- Glee and 90210, incorporates pop culture within their text, which is appealing to their mainstream audience who are interested in this.
• Stereotypes- Mostly all american teen dramas have stereotypes of characters and places so audience can easily identify themselves with them.
• Todorov, Equiblibrium Theory-
• Utopia, Escapism- Glee and a bit of 902010 offers escapim to their audience; Glee through their ideolgies that you can reach your dreams and that you can be popular no matter your intelligence, appearance or sexuality and in 902010 its simply the glamourisation of Hollywood and Beverly Hills, the houses, the cars and good- looking cast.
• Youth Culture-

MEDIA THEORY

• Queery Theory- Judith Butler
• Character theory - Stereotypes
• Uses and Gratifications
• Psychographics

Issues and Debates (Article)

The American hit show, currently showing on Channel 4 in the UK. Glee is the hottest property in showbiz right now. The show follows a high school glee club – a sort of amateur performing arts group, made up of various oddballs and outcasts – as they make their way through a national competition and, inevitably, grow as performers and people. It’s like The Breakfast Club with songs or High School Musical for slightly older kids.

At one point America’s Billboard 100 was occupied by 25 of the show’s songs: the most from any single source since Beatlemania hit the States in 1964. Even Gordon Brown claims to be a fan. Perhaps the show’s messages of tolerance (even for bigots) and being true to your ideals no matter what, along with its championing of the oddball outcast, struck a chord with the Clunking Fist.

In fact, the show’s broad appeal is fairly obvious. By having souped-up karaoke renditions of well-loved hits (a recent episode was devoted entirely to Madonna songs) sung by a cast of good-looking American teenagers, Glee neatly manages to snaffle both the t(w)eenage market and the ever-growing demographic of so-called kidults. Throw in its message of diversity and inclusiveness (everyone – gay or straight, wheelchair-bound or star jock – can be in the glee club) and multiply it with jazz hands, and you have the makings of a sure-fire hit.

But while it is easy to be cynical about the formula, it is nearly impossible not to be charmed by Glee. There’s no denying that it is cleverly written: for all its sugary schmaltz, it is interspersed with moments of witty, sarcastic humour and gentle absurdity. One of the show’s stars is the embittered cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester who is given a string of classy one-liners (‘Yes we cane’, she says in defence of corporal punishment). In being unafraid to take pot-shots at various idiosyncrasies of US culture – from abstinence societies (whose president gets knocked up) to hyper regulation of speech codes – while also being unafraid to mock its own genre conventions, the show’s writers have clearly learned from that other great US export, The Simpsons.

More importantly, however, Glee also manages to keep its heart. Where other teen hits, such as The O.C. or 90210, drift into self-referential and arch soullessness, and the likes of The Hills and Jersey Shore continue to mine the depths of ‘reality’ television, Glee is not frightened of dreaming of other things and offering a bit of magic. Realism gets ditched in favour of elaborate song-and-dance numbers while we’re never asked to dwell on the unlikelihood of every deadbeat loser suddenly discovering a talent for performance.

Even better, it takes this spirit of joyful camp abandon into the calling card of a teen-themed drama: The Issues. Where other dramas dwell on and draw out the stereotypes of teen life – remember how many teeth-grindingly serious series of Dawson’s Creek it took for Joey to lose her virginity? And then how many teeth-grindingly earnest series it took her to get over it? – Glee tends to take them up and spit them out with all the gravity of a sugared-up toddler. Gay teen with a macho, sports-mad father? It has them tearfully accepting each other in the space of an episode. Losing your virginity to someone who may not be The One? Dealt with in the space of a song. Being bullied? Your real friends will Stand By You.

It’s difficult to imagine a UK show aimed at teenagers displaying such joie de vivre. British teen soap Hollyoaks seems to be one long advert for helplines for viewers who might be affected by the issues raised by the programme. ITV’s homegrown equivalent to Glee, Britannia High, had the enthusiastic message of diversity, but lacked humour. Skins continues its depiction of the fevered dream of a paranoiac self-loathing thirtysomething: one where all teenagers are lithe, perennially on drugs and have lots of top-quality sex, while everyone over 21 is past it, deranged and totally screwed up.

In Glee the grown-ups’ lives – strewn with divorce, neuroses and disappointment – can be just as messy as the kids’, but at least there’s an assumption that with experience comes wisdom while, conversely, adult engagement with youth offers renewal and rejuvenation.

Watching Glee, you are inevitably reminded of the expression ‘bubblegum pop’ and the way in which it encapsulates the instant (and instantly disposable) pleasures offered by consumer society. At a time when pessimism and cynicism is the default setting of contemporary culture, Glee’s jazz-hand enthusiasm is almost revolutionary.

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/8855/
David Bowden is spiked’s TV columnist

Ideologies Represented

• Being good looking seems to be important, Rachel Finn, Puck, Quinn, Santana, Brittany etc are all a beautiful cast who have good bodies and flawless skin, which could show that is important and that young people should be good looking.
  
• Glee also seems to celebrate the fact that it is multicultural, and it also has a gay character, a disabled, character and black character all as the main cast, which loads of people can identify with. Homophobia and racism are things that glee tries to abolish. So the ideologies of the show seem to be very positive and popular, especially in today’s society.
  
• Also glee ‘ditches’ realism in favour of escapism, which the audience seems to like- also explaining why the show is so successful
  .

Critcal Investigation- Introduction

How do contemporary American Teen Dramas construct ideologies of youth and why might this be so?

In all American teen dramas ideologies of teenagers and youth are constructed in a way that their teenage target audience can identify themselves with. Most American teen dramas acknowledge their teenage target audience my constructing ideologies that can offer them escapism, sexual gratifications or educational purposes that the audiences are attracted to, since they yearn for these things. And the audience receive this with the all important entertainment value- that’s why American teen dramas are successful. American teen dramas can be responsible for constructing negative and positive ideologies of youth, which can shape the overall ideology of youth in society as a whole.

Migrain

GLEE

Media language- Being set in an ordinary high school, the mise-en-scene isn't at all extravangant or expensive looking.

Institution- The show airs on 'Fox'. The creator of the show is Ryan Murphy who is also known for Nip/tuck. In the uk the show airs on E4, a broadcaster known for broadcasting teenage dramas and comedies for its big teenage and young adult audience.

Genre- Glee is a Comedy-drama- Musical, therefore it classifies itself as a hybrid genre.

Representation- The representations of character is this text challenges the well-known stereotypes of high school characters. For example the character of 'Kurt' is not fully represented through the 'Queer Theory' which states that gay relationships are much more unfortunate and unsuccessful compared to heterosexual relationship, however in season two of Glee 'Kurt', gets involved with a Jock, which challenges the stereotypes of both the Jock and Kurt.

Audiene- The target audience are can range from 12- 19 and the secondary audience can be older since there are adult character that have sub-plots which can attract an older audience. The show could be the reason for the uprise of the new term of audiece called 'Kidults', since the show as an odd audience of kids, teenagers and adults.

Ideolgy- The Ideologies of Glee are very positive e.g you can reach your goals and dreams no matter what. The ideologies of glee are the reasons for the shows feel-goodness and allows the audience to feel a sense of escapism.

Narrative- Linear Narrative- with the use of songs to help push the narrative forward and to also express a characters emotions.

90210

Media Language - Focusing on the promo trailer for season 2, The mise-en- scene that is present, is mostly materialistic, e.g expensive cars and pools. The scenery (Beverly Hills) is very beautiful and extravagant looking. The facial expression of the characters through the close-up and medium close-ups show that is a feel-good show and humorous, since the characters are smiling and laughing. A long shot a female character in a Bikini allows some of the audience to gain sexual gratifications.

Institution- It is produced by CBS Television Studios. In the UK it airs on E4, which is very well known for its teen dramas and huge teenage and young adult audience.

Genre- 90210 is a teen text that is a Comedy/drama.

Representation- The representation of characters follow the well-known stereotypes of high school (The Jocks, The Plastics, the girl/boy next door)

Audience- The audience for 90210 is a predominantly teenage audience ranging from 15 to 19 and can also attract an older audience since it is a remake of a famous television series and this can appeal to the shows ealier generation who were fans of the show.

Ideolgy- The ideologies in 90210 seem to be cliche of at drama that is set in a high school. Becoming popular within the school status and dating the hottest girl/guy is important.

Narrative- 90210 has a basic linear narrative.

GLEE'S INFLUENCES

BIG BROTHER PAYED HOMAGE TO GLEE BY CREATING A REMAKE OF 'DONT STOP BELIEVING.

DONT STOP BELIEVNG- CHANNEL FIVE, a new television musical series

GLEE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

Glee star Jane Lynch on how her acid tongue won her worldwide fame
Jun 20 2010 John Millar, Sunday Mail
JANE LYNCH is having the best year of her life - and she can't hide her Glee.
She has achieved global stardom with the hit American TV series, got married and become a stepmum.
The tall blonde has gone from playing little-known roles to awardwinning success as the acid-tongued cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester of William McKinley High School.
There's a new series of Glee, the show about teen misfits who hit the high notes at a school singing club, on the way and Jane reckons the secret of Sue's popularity is her ability to say the unsayable.
Talking to the Sunday Mail at the Monte Carlo TV Festival, Jane said: "She's attractive because she's so mean.
"There are things we would never say out loud, but Sue has no filter and people love that.
"One of my favourite Sue put-downs was when she says, 'I'm going to get a diaper for your chin because it looks like a baby's ass'.
"She puts together these random sentences of condemnation and everyone wishes they could do that, but at the end of the day she's not dangerous.
"It's not like she's Anthony Hopkins in The Silence Of The Lambs. You're not afraid of her."
Jane is delighted by the sort of reaction she gets from fans of Glee.
"There'll be 14-year-old girls coming up to me three or four times a day, vibrating with enthusiasm and saying, 'This is what I do, I'm in plays at school'.
"One girl told me they had three times more people audition for the school play this year than last year and I hope that's the case elsewhere.
"The show has kind of legitimised the arts as a cool thing to do."
She describes herself as a character actor and lists Jennifer Saunders, 30 Rock star Tina Fey and Eve Arden, who was Principal McGee in Grease, among her favourite funny ladies.
And her top singing star is Big Yellow Taxi creator, Joni Mitchell.
"She's a poet with a unique voice," says Jane.
"She's smoked a billion cigarettes and has this incredible, unique sound. Her songs are different, they're like poems.
"I read an article where the interviewer said, 'The women in your category like Joan Baez and Judy Collins... ' and Joni says, 'They're not in my category'. I love that."
On the big screen next month, Jane joins the wacky world of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz when she's the voice of Gretched in the cartoon Shrek Forever After.
Later, the 49-year-old star will be seen with Sigourney Weaver, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in Paul, a sci-fi romp about comic book geeks having an encounter with an alien.
A couple of the actress's most memorable moments on Glee were when she poked gentle fun at two pop icons - Madonna and Grease star Olivia Newton-John.
Jane recreated Madonna's Vogue video and helped Grease star Olivia in an update of the hit song Physical.
And she admits that she got a kick out of those episodes of Glee.
"I adore Olivia Newton-John and I was a huge fan of hers growing up, so that was a dream come true," she says.
"Doing the Vogue video was such a labour of love and probably a huge highlight in my life." But she adds that creating a note-for-note version of Madonna's stylish routine had been utterly exhausting.
"The whole team worked very hard on making it. I think we had more production meetings about that number than anything else on Glee," says Jane.
It was clearly worth all the effort because not only did Jane's performance wow fans of Glee, but it also seems that Madonna was pretty impressed.
"I didn't meet Madonna, but she released a statement saying she was very happy with the episode, as well she should be since it was a homage to her."
Now Jane and the rest of the Glee team are hoping that the show will continue to target superstars of rock.
"I've heard talk of a Bruce Springsteen episode, which would be amazing," she says.
Before Glee, for most folk Jane Lynch would have been Jane who? A late starter in showbiz - she was too nervous to be in high school plays - she was 33 years old when she got a small part in the Harrison Ford hit movie, The Fugitive.
After that, Jane appeared in lots of TV shows and films without ever really making her mark.
But audiences started to take notice when she was in a trio of mock documentary movies, Best In Show, a spoof on dog shows, A Mighty Wind, which sent up folk music, and For Your Consideration, which mocked the Oscar season. Jane came out as being gay years ago and doesn't believe it was a big deal.
"As for being out in Hollywood - I never thought about it," she says. "Nobody seems to care, actually. "I'm really grateful to Melissa Etheridge, KD Lang and Ellen DeGeneres who said, 'This is who I am.' "America kind of gasped at that and then went, 'ok, that's cool'."
At the end of May, Jane and psychologist Dr Lara Embry wed in Massachusetts.
"It was lovely. We were in North Hampton, which is where my wife went to school, so it actually had meaning for us," she says.
"We had four friends each who came along with their spouses, so it was really small."
The marriage also meant Jane became a stepmum to an eight-year-old daughter.
"She's actually more my daughter than my wife's in a way as she's a lot like me."
In just a few weeks, on July 14, Jane will have her 50th birthday but she insists there'll be no big party.
"It's weird to even fathom the idea of being 50," she says.
"I don't think I'll have a big blow-out.
"I'll probably just celebrate with my wife and my daughter.
"It will pass without too much fanfare."

ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE ARTICLE

"Twenty-three-year-old Lea Michele, the Broadway talent who plays Rachel, tells Hedegaard about her tattoos, and Cory Monteith, who portrays jock Finn, owns up to a few childhood arrests for offenses that “didn’t hurt people.” Dianna Argon (slippery cheerleader Quinn) describes what it was like joining the cast late and falling victim to Monteith’s fart pranks, and 19-year-old Chris Colfer, who bravely plays gay teen Kurt, opens up about his own painful youth and his never-changing voice."

The latest cover which carries the title "Glee Gone Wild: Inside TV's Hottest Show" has already sparked debate from avid RS readers. Some are angered by the choice of cover material, claiming that they'd rather see Iggy Pop or a recently deceased musical artist gracing the cover. Obviously fans of the show are happy with the cover choice, while others would rather not see the Glee cast on the cover. Some have even gone as far as to question the fact that the cast members shown on the cover are the "straight white characters" rather than the more diverse characters from Glee.

GLEE Review

Fox Network's one-hour musical dramedy Glee, set in the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio, has been touted by its producers as being in a genre of its own.

It's a good thing. Who would want another musical mess that brings many loony twists, but sadly not much glee, to its viewers? This overhyped production is uninspired, confusing and with a simple plot to boot.

The students who belong to the school's singing group or 'glee club' are weird, unattractive misfits. Supposedly, they're the losers. The winners are the jocks and the cheerleaders, called 'Cheerios': they're taller, blonder, permanently bronzed - due to a tanning booth located somewhere in the school - and constantly smooching in the hallways.

Will the talented but geeky members of the glee club ever attain winner status? Or, rather, can you bear to watch enough episodes to find out?

In the second show of its premiere season, the Glee group embraces a 'go-after-your-dreams' theme. However, the upbeat message is overridden by the show's attempt to be darker than the run-of-the mill high school drama.

Mr. Schuester, the young and attractive but creatively frustrated Spanish teacher who founded the Glee club, is temporarily kicked out when star Rachel doesn't think he can develop a winning choreography routine for an inter-school competition.

He goes on to create an acappella singing group with some of the other teachers, including the shop class instructor who, by-the-by, has sliced both thumbs off while woodworking and is so addicted to cough syrup that he will he's entered rehab before the episode is over.

The Glee club hires a renowned choreographer who viciously insults each member's appearance - pretty Rachel needs a nose job and one young man is "too tall" - only to be given the boot. He missed the point: the Glee members realise they're weird, but they're so hugely talented and they don’t need him.

Music should be the redeeming feature of Glee but it's not, because the viewer never gets a satisfying taste of the cast members' musical talents. Although it runs for a full hour, this week's episode had only one number that really showcased their singing stuff. It was a song by African-American Glee member Mercedes, about smashing in her boyfriend's car windows when he tells her he's in love with someone else. That was the most gleeful moment there was.

GLEE

SUMMER RESEARCH

Media Representations

Glee represents the stereotypes of high school kids, with cliche characters such as the 'Jock', 'Plastic etc, with somewhat of a new stereotype: 'The Gay One'. Characters are being represented this way to allow the audience to identify themselves with them. The use of stereptypes could also allow the audience to acheive a sense of escapism, as they see characters reach their goals. The stereotypes may not be accurate however this is what may contribute to the sense of escapism towards the audience.


Media Languages and Forms

What are the denotative and connotative levels of meaning?
What is the significance of the text’s connotations?
there connotations of hope, redemption. love
What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)?
Within the text the characters show emotions of struggle and unhappiness, however a sense of hope is brought to the narrative and some sort of happiness seems to be accomplished, which creates a feel-good text. The clothing preseted in the text represents the stereotypes of high school, the jocks, the nerds,the plastic and the gay guy., which audiences can identify with.
What is the significance of mise-en-scene/sets/settings?
What work is being done by the sound track/commentary/language of the text?
Sound bridges, voice-over.
What are the dominant images and iconography, and what is their relevance to the major themes of the text?
Pop culture, (madonna's bra, reference of 'Bravo')
What sound and visual techniques are used to convey meaning (e.g. camera positioning, editing; the ways that images and sounds are combined to convey meaning)?

Narrative

How is the narrative organised and structured?
With the help of voice-over and text toguide the audience and inform them about the new series.
How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
The audience
How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
Glee's hero's and Villains are presented through the concept of 'Nasty and Nice', for example Sue Sylvester, who comes across as rude and a bully, whilst Mr Shuester seems very understanding and caring.
What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?
What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?
Glee emodies the ideologies of hard work, hope, and that anything is possible,

Genre

To which genre does the text belong?
Comedy, drama, musical
What are the major generic conventions within the text?
What are the major iconographic features of the text?
What are the major generic themes?
To what extent are the characters generically determined?
To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?
Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meanings and associations do they have?
Mathew Morrison who is a famous broadway musical actor

Media Institutions

What is the institutional source of the text?
In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institution which produced it?
Is the source a public service or commercial institution? What difference does this make to the text?
Who owns and controls the institution concerned and does this matter?
How has the text been distributed?

Media Values and Ideology

What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it?
What criteria have been used for selecting the content presented?

Media Audiences

To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience?
Teenagers aged 13 to 19 .
Female majorty audience, including gay fan base.
demographically D and E.
Psychographically the audience will essentailly be mainstreamers and aspirers, as this audience group are interested in contemporary and mainsream music, and also
What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text?
What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?
In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text? Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?
What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?
What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text?
How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?

Summer Project