IT GETS BETTER

Glee Tackles America’s Gay-Teen Suicide Problem Head On, Offering Message Of Hope

Last night’s episode of Glee might have been its darkest ever, but it ended on a message of hope.

Spoiler alert: This post reveals some key details from last night’s episode.

Within the first five minutes, closeted football player Dave Karofsky (right) attempts suicide after being bullied for being gay in school (his fair-weather jock friends scrawl “FAG” on his locker), on Facebook (lots of nasty homophobic wall posts), and in person (he’s physically checked in the locker room).

Over the course of the episode, Karosky’s classmates reel from his attempt—some call him selfish for not thinking of others, while Kurt Hummell (played by prodigal gay Chris Colfer) thinks they ought to focus on “compassion.”

Also notable about the episode was the debut of ally extraordinaire Daniel Radcliffe’s Trevor Project PSA. Isn’t it great that we have the world’s most famous child actor from history’s highest-grossing franchise on our side?

A YouTube commenter put it best: “Dear Gay, Bisexual, Trans and questioning people out there, Harry Potter loves you. Screw the haters.

Though the episode was Glee‘s darkest ever, the end of the episode provides a redeeming scene when Kurt brings flowers to a recuperating Karofsky in the hospital. The actor who plays Karosky, Max Adler, explains it best in an interview with TV Guide:

In the episode there’s a really beautiful scene in the hospital, and Kurt says, “Picture your life in 10 years.” It’s a whole beautiful flash-forward of Karofsky in a really flashy suit and this successful office. He’s a sports agent and he has this really good-looking partner, and they have this beautiful boy, and he’s taking him to his first football game. I think it’s not about this job, and this success, and the money. It’s really about the connection and being able to be yourself, and his true self, around somebody who loves him for that, and accepts him, and appreciates him. I think that’s his happiness.

It really does get better.

Photo via Wikipedia

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