I Don’t Like Glee or The Glee Project

Both Glee and The Glee Project are very popular. I know of Amber Riley’s role on Glee and I am very happy for her. I have heard her sing once and it sounded amazing. She’s also fabulously gorgeous. But overall, I don’t really watch or like Glee or The Glee Project. Earlier, I tweeted why: 

I don’t like Glee or The Glee Project. It’s like…the gentrification of music; “pep” to remove any trace of soul or substance. *shrugs*

— Trudy (@thetrudz) July 5, 2012

People agreed with me: 

@thetrudz me neither. and the erasure of soul a la gentrification is such an accurate comparison

— Whitney Muse (@arieswym) July 5, 2012

Glee/The Glee Project are the gentrification of music. This makes so much sense @thetrudz

— Whitney Muse (@arieswym) July 5, 2012

OMG!That’s totally it.On point.RT @arieswym Glee/The Glee Project are the gentrification of music. This makes so much sense @thetrudz

— the other JQC (@sweet_epiphany) July 5, 2012

@arieswym @thetrudz basically. which is why i cannot wait for Amber’s career to take off so i don’t have to deal with it to hear her.

— Christel (@CNRush) July 5, 2012

I started to try to think of some positives about this style of music. I mean…I guess it is “kid” friendly. At the same time, I grew up primarily listening to gospel (my late mom was a devout Christian), but also some 80s rock (Foreigner, Journey, Chicago) and some old school Motown and classic soul. (My mom didn’t really allow us to listen to hip hop, so I snuck and did it anyway.) All of these forms of music have cultural subtexts and richness that I think even kids need to hear. I don’t think we have to “baby proof” the sound of music for kids, though the context of what is sung about has to be age-appropriate, of course.

I dunno. I guess this Glee stuff just isn’t my thing.