Glee

The television show Glee illustrates how multiple forms of science and rhetoric communication research studies can be present in popular cultural artifacts. This show represents interpersonal relationships among modern teenage characters bonding over singing to get past the hardships of high school. Researching the scenes and characters allowed for further understanding for specific forms of communication.

Social Identity Theory

This entire television show is built upon the rivalry between the glee club members and the students on other sports teams, especially the cheerleaders and football players. The concept of the social identity theory which is the desire to maninatin group dominacne as the heart of misrepresntation of outgroups in popular cutlure, was clearly demonstrated through the interactions these two groups had (Hogg, 2016).

Whether it was in the hallway, in front of the whole school, at lunch or over social media, their communication was centered around the popular kids creating a misrepresentation of the glee club and the students in it to be the outgroup of the entire school. The desire that the cheerleaders had to be at the top level of popularity caused them to constantly attribute negative factors to the glee club to make the portrayals of them to be “weird” and “losers”. The creation of a stereotypical glee club caused the rest of the school to resent all the members even if they were friends before, causing no one new to join and having this label being something the members had to try to always disprove. By visualizing this theory in a present-day scenario that could happen in any high school, it was easier to connect how forms of communication can actual influence how ingroups create dominance over outgroups.

Attribution Theory

One of the biggest feuds between the characters Quinn and Rachel helps further explain how relationships can be built around the attribution theory which attributes the cause of peoples behavior through personal traits or events (Laczniak, 2001). Rachel sees Quinn doing something to hurt one of her closest friends and for the rest of the show they fight constantly.

Seeing their interactions help further show how people can attribute one circumstance to their entire personal fault thus thinking negatively of them, connecting to the fundamental attribution error specifically. Instead of talking to Quinn about what occurred or getting further details on the situation, Rachel constructs her own opinion through locus, stability and control thus judging Quinn for the rest of their high school career.

These three causal dimensions are how people explain the world and what’s occurring, but perception can be deceived when just looking at one specific event. For locus or the defining behaviors, Rachel looked directly to Quinn’s internal control and not considering it could be external. On top of that, she predetermined that there were stable factors determining Quinn’s behavior and that she had control of the response. If there was better communication Rachel would have understood sooner that the situation was out of the hands of Quinn and there was more of a backstory to the incident. Yet, this is one example of how communicational perception can be skewed when people attribute certain factors to people personally and not consider the external circumstances that could be present.

Attachment Theory

Having a multitude of teenage characters being the center focus of the show, much of the communication that occurs is very emotional. One of the biggest demonstrators of this is the meanest character on the show Santana, the main bully, who is contantly demeaning the glee club kids and building up status for herself. Her selfish and cruel behavior demonstrate that through the attachment theory, which explains how our relationship building patterns and communication of emotion are impacted by the attachments we form as children, she has a very fearful style (Brethretown, 1992).

As back stories are given, it is clear that her perception of herself and others is strongly influenced through negative thoughts. Having a grandmother who was harsh in the way she treated and talked to Santana created a mindsight that influences how she treats others. As she has a negative regard for herself, she uses her childhood pain to demonstrate hate towards her fellow classmates. The show allows for the audience to see how she constantly is awful talking to herself and then when she is around others, she takes her pain and pushes it to hurt them. By hurting others, she demonstrates her fearful attachment personality as it’s clear that it is just a mask over the negative regard for herself.

Rhetorical Appeals: ethos and pathos

While the students of Glee club had struggles over the years, their biggest motivator to be successful in all aspects in life was their club director Mr. Schuester. Often when the class is arguing or going through hardships together, the only way they can make a change is from a pep-talk from their leader. His influence was so impactful through the way he used the rhetorical appeals which is the logic, emotion and creditability from a specific speaker when presenting to an audience with a shared feature (Rapp, 2010).

In front of his audience he would use these appeals of rhetoric to help persuade the feelings of his club members. His character as the speaker or his ethos, was perceived as very creditable and trustworthy by all the students. Mr. Schue was not only a teacher at their high school but he once was a part of the same glee club when he was in high school. His history with singing and dancing made him idolized in the eyes of everyone with those same dreams. The authority presence he gave made what he was saying valuable to listen to.

While his creditability was strong, the words he came to say was what really mattered to the kids. All the advice and motivation that he gave to the students was full of emotion. The best thing about Mr. Schue was how passionate he is for the student’s futures and success. Although it may take some time to persuade the stubborn performers, many times with the use of emotion, empathy and imagination he could end up painting a broader sense of the future to everyone self-identity and goals.

With these strong rhetorical appeals, it was easier to understand how speakers can use pathos and ethos to their benefit when communicating to a large group. By having authority and speaking with emotion it is easier for audiences to connect to the speaker and thus, be persuaded to follow in their footsteps about their message.

Blitzer’s Rhetorical Situation

As the show’s setting is a high school, this allows for many different teenage characters to express different problems and hardships. Kurt, a homosexual male character, experiences severe bullying to the extent where the rest of the glee club sees it as an urgent situation that must be changed. Kurt’s issue is turned into a rhetorical situation as it is something that happens that can be addressed if rhetoric enters the situation and has the power to change the situation (Bitzer, 1968). Glee members use posters, speeches, and t-shirts to express their feelings upon Kurt’s mistreatment thus having an exigence, audience yet also some constraints.

The exigence is an imperfection marked by urgency which is what Kurt’s bullying is. After many demeaning physical, emotional and mental interactions that he was involved in on school property, his friends saw there needed to be a change.

Although an audience isn’t present most of the time during Kurt’s bullying, an audience was able to see the glee members standing up to the issue. An audience was present and it was in their power to alter the situation as the glee club made speeches and wore t-shirts around the school trying to advocate the issue at hand. Without the help of most of the student body, the glee members wouldn’t be able to make this look like a real problem to the head faculty of the school. By discourse they were trying to influence other students to be the mediators in the problem that Kurt and other gay students faced.

Being a public school in Ohio many student beliefs were anti-homosexual therefore, the glee club did face many restraints. While many thought that bullying was wrong, most students did not want to advocate on behalf of Kurt. Yet, a resolution occurred with bullying monitors being enforced, his biggest bully being expelled and him being able to live his life without fear, it was a good ending that rhetoric allowed to happen.

Ideology

How unified the Glee club became over the course of the show demonstrated how groups of people can come together when being out casted by the majority. McKiney High School may show the public that they are welcoming to all, but all members of this community have a socially constructed ideology around popularity. An ideology is the comprehensive set of normative beliefs, conscious and unconscious ideas, that an individual, group or society has (Brown, 2009).

Having certain beliefs and interconnected convictions to how people of the ruling class use reality and truth for their gain demonstrate how students are outcasted at this school. While the staff and rules of the school may seem like they promote equality for all, many of the students of glee are mistreated for looks, sexual orientations and other characteristics that made them different from most.

This shared understanding in the school atmosphere allows for forms of bullying to occur and taken lightly because success is seen in more students than others. When some didn’t have certain traits it allowed for facility members like the cheerleading coach, Sue, to look down and disgrace them.

The glee club was formed from members who felt alienated for their identity. The connections that these students formed through their love for singing and dancing allowed for them to be successful and fight back to the ruling people who believe the constructed views that hurt certain people.

Overall, these six principles demonstrate how scientific and rhetoric topics of communication are shown in popular cultural artifacts like television shows. By analyzing the different aspects found in Glee, it was valuable for personal understanding of how communication is involved in different aspects of life. Being able to reflect on theories and concepts used in real life allows for growth in personal understanding for techniques to use in different situations.

Word Count: 1,752

Work Cited:

Related posts:

A dingy recording and producing studio, called Rogue Elephant Studios, on the corner of 6th and Market Street in Downtown San Francisco, is where it all got started. I love music and play the guitar…