3x01: The Purple Piano Project

After a long summer break, McKinley High’s New Directions are back and they've got the beat. Literally!

For those of you who haven’t see the episode, hit up TVline.com's weekly Glee Recap, and then join me back here to rehash this week’s big issues.

Arts in schools, for or against?

Sue Sylvester is running for Congress, and her campaign platform? Get rid of the arts in schools. (Bad news for our favorite Glee club.) To Sue, the arts are merely a distraction from real subjects like math and reading. And how can students be competitive if they can’t read or multiply? As she put it in her segment on the local news, “America is failing. China is on our ass people.” Sue’s solution: No arts until students can prove that they are up to par on their core subjects.

But our favorite vest-wearing Glee club teacher has a different opinion. Mr. Shue thinks that the arts help kids succeed in school. In a glitter-filled protest, he tells Sue that “John F. Kennedy once said the arts are the roots of our culture. The arts enrich our lives and help kids achieve in all walks of life.”

And not only do the arts inspire creativity, but research has proven that the arts also increase learning and memory capability. 

As a student involved in the arts for the past 9 years, I’m going to have to side with Shue on this one.

College, a time to dream

It’s many of our favorite characters’ senior year in high school, which means one thing: graduation is just around the corner. Time to tackle that big question that every high school senior dreads: Where are you going to college and what are you going to do with the rest of your life?

For Rachel and Kurt, who have their sights set on Broadway glory, the answer is the New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts. Piece of cake. With their talent and stand-out personalities, they’re sure to blow the competition out of the water. Or so they thought. Apparently there are a million other Kurts and Rachels out there with the same big dreams. As Kurt puts it, “We might be hot stuff at McKinley, but outside those walls, we aren’t even stuff.” Rachel worries that “not everyone’s dreams come true.”

Wait a second. I’ve always been taught that I can do anything I put my mind to. Is this the naïve and idealistic way of looking at things?

Well, yes and no. Rachel’s right, not everyone makes it. But, (as clichéd as it sounds) you’ll never make it if you never try. If you give it your everything, you have the best chance of achieving your dream. And that’s what Kurt and Rachel decide to do.

You can knock ‘em down, but they can’t be beat

So the New Directions have an uphill battle (as per usual) this semester. But Mr. Shue has vowed to take on Sue and prove that the arts are beneficial. And Kurt and Rachel aren’t giving up on their dreams. And in typical Glee fashion, they wrap the episode up in a catchy and inspiring musical number, proving that no matter what obstacles you throw at the Glee club underdogs, “You Can't Stop the Beat.”