Viewers who tuned in to the Fox TV musical dramedy “Glee” on Thursday night saw students run for cover after they heard two gunshots fired near their choir room in William McKinley High School. The incident forced the frightened teenagers to face their mortality and record final messages for friends and family in case they didn't get out alive.
After many people watched the episode, which was entitled “Shooting Star,” they posted notes on Twitter claiming it was “too soon” after the December 14 tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newport, Conn., for this television program to deal with that topic, “if ever.”
However, cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) intervenes so Becky won't be expelled and claims she's responsible for the incident because:
It's a different world. The safety net of the public mental health system is gone. Parents with troubled kids are too busy working three jobs to look after them, and the gun yahoos have everyone so worked up about Obama taking away their guns that every house is a readily available arsenal.
Because the school has a “zero-tolerance” policy, Sylvester is fired. “All I'll be remembered for is this one thing,” she says as she prepares to leave the building for what could be the final time.
Among the many tweets regarding the episode at the Twitchy website, @Sarah_RitsChi stated that a story about a school shooting is “wayyy too soon. I'm not feelin' it. Very tasteless and tacky.”
Along those lines, @amylutz4 stated: “So #glee just took an emotional school shooting episode and added their own gun control agenda.
“Brilliant,” she noted. “Wrong, but brilliant.”
@NinaintheChi expressed her displeasure by stating that “#glee crossed a line tonight. A school shooting or the appearance of one is not for entertainment value.”
“Okay, I have calmed down enough to talk about this without screaming,” wrote @a_fossy115. “I think that Glee handled that issue in a horrible way.”
“I don't ever watch Glee and that episode is exactly why,” @DevinAnne stated. “I'm shocked that they would do that this soon. Or ever.”
While @1MAMANTE stated that she will still follow the show, she said that “I’m officially hate-watching this from now on. Insensitive much?”
@KBower617 was one of the people who stated that this episode of “Glee” is their last.
Yup, I think I'm done with #glee. Making jokes afterwards, etc. Too soon & too real for some families.
Several other posters were angry that Becky, a character who has Down syndrome, wound up being the villain of the story.
“They're making Becky the shooter because she has Down syndrome,” @diannasbacon grumbled. “wow, Glee writers, just wow, so much respect.”
@kimmmm13 asked: “did the most politically correct show ever just make the Down syndrome kid bring the gun to school?”
“Not only did #glee make a joke out of school shootings, but then they made the girl w Down syndrome responsible,” stated @IraShul. “Unreal.”
Another complaint lodged on Twitter is the charge that viewers didn’t receive any warning regarding the subject matter in “Shooting Star.”
During an interview with CNN’s Carol Costello on Friday morning, Newtown resident Andrew Paley praised Fox for airing a “content warning” at the beginning of the episode, but he said that the wounds are still fresh for many of the community’s families.
As Cybercast News Service previously reported, “Glee” began with content that could readily be summarized as “sex, songs and sleaze.”
Then the show began its second season with a warning that the series would even more aggressively target conservatives and their ideals.
And just in time for Valentine’s Day of 2012, the series served up a heaping helping of Bible mockery and homosexual propaganda.
I guess we should be grateful that “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy is there to protect us from all those “gun yahoos.” Now if he would only get around to “climate change yahoos” and “homosexuality yahoos,” we could all breathe a little easier.
