Glee Episode #7: Throwdown

Word of the Day: Power. It's amazing what people will do to gain or regain power and how some people are naturally powerful. It is also interesting to see what people do with the power they have, whether they use it for good or "evil". Do they become a super hero or a super villain? I also enjoyed this episode's look at the minority group in the midst of the power struggle over glee club.

"It sucks. You get all the stress and the worry, and none of the control." - Finn
I suppose depending on your beliefs about the world, all of life is like this. In the grand scheme of things, we have very little or no control over what happens. The only thing we really have control over is ourselves and the decisions we make. We can choose to react to the world without the stress and the worry, even though everything else is out of our hands.

"Santana. Wheels. Gay kid. C'mon, move it! Asian. Other Asian. Aretha. Shaft." - Sue
We've grown to expect this kind of insensitivity from Sue, but it still catches me off guard. I guess I would like to think that no one would be this insensitive. Yet I laughed. Maybe it's because it reminded me of a personal incident when a professor asked the class to discuss what we liked best about being white. He turned to me and seeing my confused expression said, "Or fill-in-the-blank. There's only two of you." He didn't even say Asian. Or other Asian. Fill-in-the-blank. Oh man, was I angry. After a while, though, I was able to see the comment for the ridiculousness and awkwardness that it was.

"I'm all about empowerment. I empower my Cheerios to live in a state of constant fear by creating an environment of irrational random terror." - Sue
Sue is the kind of person who does not use her power for good. She's also the kind of person who doesn't understand empowerment. The root of empowerment is overpowering fear, stirring up within you the strength to achieve. Empowerment is not about instilling more fear.

"You can't stand to see a woman in a position of power. Your psychosexual derangement would be fascinating if it weren't so terrifying!" - Sue
Will doesn't have a problem with women in positions of power. If he did, I don't think he would try so hard to get all of his students, male and female, to succeed in school. No, his problem is that almost all of the women in his life are emasculating him. Do I think that being a man means having dominance over women? No, not entirely. But it is his inability to defend himself, to go from being abused by Sue at school to being abused at home by Terri ("I just don't want to feel as powerless in my home as I do at school."), that threatens his manhood.

"Here's the deal Wu. My husband does the taxes for some very powerful mid-sized law firms in this town, and I'm sure somebody will be more than happy to take on my lawsuit." - Kendra
Because there's nothing more powerful than a mid-sized law firm. In a small town. With two OB/GYNs. Who are both Asian?

Finn: If we wanted to hear Mom and Dad fight, those of us who still have two parents would just stay at home on pay day.
Mercedes: I agree. Glee is supposed to be fun. And furthermore, I don't like this minority business. I may be a strong, proud, Black woman, but I'm a lot more than that.
1. Loved Finn's line and the perspective he offers.
2. I'm really glad that Mercedes acknowledges that her identity goes beyond race. I think race and ethnicity are important parts of one's identity, but sometimes people fail to see anything else in themselves. I have encountered people who are so centered around their racial identity that they have developed a negative attitude toward the world, because in their eyes everyone is probably "ignorant" or "racist". They have probably spent so much time self-segregating that they fail to see the common ground that we all share.