Glee: Diverse but NOT Inclusive

The absolutely amazing hit television show Glee is one of my favorite ways to spend an evening in front of the TV. Its poignant humor and irreverent approach leave me shaking my head and laughing on a very regular basis. The diverse cast does a solid job of crossing the spectrum. There are Asian kids, and Black kids, White kids and Jewish kids. There are socially awkward kids, sexually promiscuous kids and prudish kids. There is a kid in a wheelchair and kids of varying body sizes. There are bisexual kids (sort of) and gay kids and straight kids.

They miss the idea of inclusion entirely however. They have episodes focused on the gay character and the young black woman. They even have an episode where the antagonist points out to the main characters how they are sidelining the kids of a more diverse background. But when the next episodes continue, the behavior does not really change. The white kids are given center stage and the diverse supporting cast remains supporting them. I was most triggered by this while walking through Costco Where I saw them selling the Complete First Season of Glee.

At first I was impressed that, while the cover art was the main 4 white characters, the spine had the Black, Asian, disabled and gay characters. Then I realized that the spine they are featured on is the one that will traditionally be facing IN on a DVD shelf. Why is that necessary? If the cover art is featuring one set of characters, why not have the primary spine feature others from the cast?

Inclusion is about creating an environment where the differences are not a separating factor. This conversation needs to continue.

Hawaiian Shirt Day!

You may remember this from the movie Office Space. If not, you must watch it. It is a social commentary on the office culture and the ways in which we eat our young, strangle the potential of our employees, and cut off our nose to spite our face.

It's relevance to today is to illustrate the difference between effort and sincerity. My partner, Aicila, is often found spouting the lack of effort it takes to be fun in your environment. And she is right; it does not have to take much effort. It should, in fact, be easier to have fun than not. The trick is in finding that balance between putting in little or no effort, and not really caring whether people have fun or not.

Hawaiian shirt day can be fun. It can also be insulting, patronizing, and a few other words from the thesaurus that mean the same thing. So have fun. Enjoy your people. Do little things like casual Fridays, joke of the day and monthly birthdays. But MEAN IT. Your people can always tell the difference.