I’ve been watching the hit show Glee since it first aired in 2009. Among other things, I enjoy it for its zesty musical numbers, the funny dialogue, and the show’s offbeat rhythm. But one thing that really set it apart is the portrayal of OCD as a serious illness. So many TV shows make OCD look quirky or endearing when it really is a debilitating mental illness. In the case of Glee, it affects the school’s guidance counselor, Emma Pillsbury, who is overly organized and petrified of germs. I feel like this is a double-edged sword because it presents OCD as such a stereotypical disorder. Emma polishes each grape individually before eating them. She scrubs pencil sharpeners with a toothbrush. It takes her months to take down a Christmas tree. But OCD is about so much more than germs as anyone who reads my blog will know.
I really enjoyed the episode, Born this Way. One of my favorite scenes is when Emma finally goes to seek therapy. She spends the first forty-two minutes of the session disinfecting the chair before she sits down. The therapist explains to Emma that her illness is not who she is meant to be and then she uses a great analogy. Would you deny a diabetic kid insulin for his medical condition? Then why would you deny someone with OCD treatment or medication for what is also a legitimate medical condition? OCD is all about brain chemistry. Sometimes it takes medication to straighten that out. Glee helped normalize that.
But at other times I felt like Glee just used OCD as a gimmick or a catchall for all mental illness. There is one point in Season 4 where Kurt says “I’m getting a little OCD about all this” in his voiceover. You can’t be a little OCD about anything, just as you can’t be a little bipolar. OCD is an illness, not an adjective. You either have it or you don’t. I expected more from Glee. I felt really frustrated when I heard that line. So my impressions are mixed. Emma seems like a groundbreaking character but is she merely recycling old typecasts? I would love to see other TV shows continue what Glee has begun….but it is only that….a beginning.
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