#nothing makes me go into such a protect kurt mood like grilled cheesus does

[tuiyla]

You might have not have an opinion on this but I’ve been rewatching Grilled Cheesus and I feel like the framing is so weird?? It’s fundamentally about Kurt and his dad and since they start the whole religious thing FOR Kurt to support him, the issue shouldn’t be religion. As soon as Kurt said he didn’t everybody to pray for him in school, and that it made him uncomfortable enough to complain, it should just be done. Everybody can pray themselves, leave the Hummels out of it. Thoughts?

I have thoughts!

I have a vague memory of debating this with people on the sub, back in the day because the framing is so weird. It's that Glee problem of feeling like they must suddenly be a PSA and present all angles, even at the cost of character and a satisfying narrative. The other glaring instance I can think of is the suicide discussion scene with the God Squad in 3x14. Why must they always do this with Kuinn?

The problem with Grilled Cheesus is that it's trying to be Kurt's story but also wants to present this middle road of "religion works for some and not for others". And there aren't any inherent problems with that messaging. It's perfectly valid for people to seek comfort in religion and equally valid for others not to want anything to do with it. But this is Kurt's story and he makes his feelings clear. It's frustrating to watch characters cross his boundaries and insist that he's being ungrateful when he's already going through an extremely traumatic time. I honestly don't know why Glee thought this was the way to achieve balance.

I think everyone is being kind of a prick to Kurt in this episode, frankly. Even sweet Mercedes whose good intentions I appreciate and I usually stan is being way too pushy with her closest friend. All Kurt needed was her support and respect and Mercedes is usually excellent at giving that but the episode uses her and Quinn as religious spokespeople. They're ideas in Grilled Cheesus, not people. At least Mercedes is still more respectful than Quinn but even she's being way too pushy. No should be no. And even if some of Kurt says is harsh, he's still allowing people to do whatever they want with their faith and is just asking them to leave him and Burt alone. The prayer scene in the hospital feels particularly disrespectful. Because yes, who knows how Burt feels and it can't hurt, but Kurt has explicitly asked them to back off. Pray at home or at church, ffs! And no, I don't think Carole had the 'authority" to overwrite Kurt's wishes in this particular case. If anything, Carole should have stood behind Kurt.

The characters advocating for religion or even a conversation really betray that they aren't truly in it for Kurt. Otherwise, they would have left well enough alone the moment Kurt expressed discomfort. There's a time and a place for civil debates but right after his dad's heart attack ain't it. And I love Quinn and write a lot about how dirty she was done and all that so I feel I have permission to say this but she just really sucks in this episode. She feels so entitled and makes it clear that her making a statement about faith is more important to her than Kurt's feelings. I wouldn't say someone like Sue who is ardently on the opposite side is much better because she doesn't have Kurt's best interests in mind, either, but she's at least a little more supportive. And she's supposed to be the villain! And don't get me started on William Shitecester who takes this as an opportunity for dialogue. What a shit teacher you must be to prioritize a lesson over the wellbeing of a student in crisis.

I also dislike how people ignore Kurt's valid reasons to dislike religion, again a sign of hypocrisy. Because yeah, Kurt is being kinda harsh but who wouldn't give him a pass in this situation, and the ignorance of the Glee Club to not consider the church's historic distaste for gay people is infuriating. Easy to say god welcomes everyone or whatever when people like you haven't been persecuted for hundreds of years. And as all this is going on Kurt is getting severely bullied at school for being gay so what excuse do they have for not taking his identity into consideration? That they don't really care. Everyone is so self-absorbed and self-righteous in this episode it's painful to see.

The audacity of people to call Kurt ungrateful and intolerant is what pisses me off the most. On the one hand, the episode works well to establish how alienated Kurt is starting to feel even within the New Directions and it builds towards him going to Dalton, which I like and consider good storytelling. On the other, it's incredibly frustrating to watch this kid be so isolated when he would need his friends the most just because Glee decided (and in-universe Schue) that they wanted to preach about religious tolerance. Just leave the damn kid alone. It's just one of those instances where we should not be having philosophical discussions; literally who gives a fuck, Kurt might lose his only living parent! So Grilled Cheesus as a whole is a frustrating watch despite me appreciating certain storytelling elements.

If anything, Anon, I have too many opinions on this. Some of it is strong feelings about the injustice and hypocrisy of it all but the rest are just frustrations on a story level because it feels so unnecessary. But the bottom line is that Kurt was right and his friends should have respected him more than their religious preaching. And again, just pray at home or go to church and discuss it with your pastor. Not the time to try and convince your friend that religion can be good, actually. Who gives a fuck, literally read the room Stacy.