Glee turned campiness into a political claim of universal minoritization

Evidence

Each episode featured auto-tuned, karaoke-style renditions of Now That’s What I Call Music deep cuts, nostalgic oldies like Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” and viral hits such as “Gangnam Style.” Borrowing its initial energy from millennials’ beloved High School Musical (2006), Glee weaponized its campiness as a political statement. Glee clubs, in Murphy’s framing, became a metaphor for all marginalized identities. Teacher Will Schuester earnestly tells his students that they are “all minorities,” just by virtue of being in the glee club. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 350

Categorization

• STORYSTEM: The idea of a fictional institution declaring all members minoritized purely by membership is a ripe satirical device for a campus/office novel.