We’ve been waiting for it for months. This Sunday 12 Marchthe documentary Glee: glory and curse (The price of joy in English) finally released on Discovery+.
Constructed in three parts, the film traces the descent into hell of a series broadcast between 2009 and 2015 which went too far, too fast upto the point burn one’s wings in a paroxysm of violence still hard to believe years later.
Glee: Glory and Curse is mainly focused on the trajectory of three cast members who met excruciatingly tragic fates : Cory Monteith, died at age 31 of an overdose, mark the salefound hanged at age 35after his arrest for possession child pornography images as well as Naja Riverafound drowned aged 33.
Thanks to testimonials edifying, Images of archives and information remained in the shadows for a long time, the documentary has above all the interest ofopen up new perspectives on an infamous story, allowing us to do it see it from a whole new perspective.
What if, rather than a matter of curses or ghosts, hell of Joy was it due to what is most violent in capitalism?
At first, everything smiles at Glee
They are beautiful, young, ambitious and talented. They live in a world where all is joy, song and dance. The Ancient History of Joy it is as ideal as the universe of the series. Brought by unknown actors, the series met disproportionate success since its launch. These are no less than 9 million viewers who will be eyeing the pilot in May 2009, with that figure rapidly increasing 20 million for the first episodes of the series.
At first, fate was far from relentless against Joy. Conversely, the timing was happy as the series enjoyed a historic change: the explosion of twitter and facebookwhich he achieved the 250 million users the year the first season was released. fans of Joy I’m among the first to have it follow their idols on social networks, sharing content about the series, extending its success and influence far beyond the small window. What could be better for a program whose concept today could be compared to that of TikTok – we take songs as famous as they are different For please everyonewe update lesser-known titles e we Dance.
Faced with so much success, the Glee actors soon found themselves captive to a glory-seeking system, and an increasingly all-consuming… and destructive profitability. We asked the impossible of these young actors projected to star status.
avant-gardethe series also immediately stood out for its own inclusiveness. Instead of being relegated to the background, women, people of color, LGBT or people with disabilities Joy are represented and celebrated in crazy sequences of creativity and emotionlike the one where soccer players interrupt a game to sing Beyoncéor a deaf choir singing John Lennon’s Imagine in sign language.
A few tens of millions of dollars more… But at what price?
Faced with such success, the actors of Joy they have become victims of an increasingly all-consuming…and destructive, profit-seeking system. We asked the impossible of these young actors projected to star status.
The documentary argues working days which lasted from 4:00 to 18:00. When they weren’t rehearsing, they were touring, learning songs. When they weren’t learning lyrics, they were recording an album or touring for shows. Wish spread the phenomenon and raise a few million morethe creator of the series Ryan Murphy set up the shows Joy (titles Joy live! In concert!), all of which have been played worn out.
The 2011 tour picked up over $40 million across 31 shows, performed in 21 cities. We remember: these 31 shows are provided by young actors, who already have a string of plays, dances and songs to shoot.
Beyond their personal problemsaddiction or mental health, the cast members of Joy they have been exploitedand it undeniably is what will have contributed to their loss.
Joy it is the embodiment of the violence of capitalism
If privileged documentary is your intimist (we discover in particular many images of Naya Rivera little girlwhile it is mainly Cory Monteith’s best friend who is questioned about the latter), is particularly valid for moments when evokes the needs of production. This is what we will remember the most Glee: Glory and Curse.
Beyond their personal problemsaddiction or mental health, the cast members of Joy I was disconnected from the rest of the world, pushed to the limits of productivity, performance and it is undeniable what will have contributed to their loss.
If they were paired with each other rather than with outsiders, it is because they lived cut off from the rest of the world because of work, fortune and fame. One of the most evocative images of the documentary is undoubtedly that of a makeshift tunnel built up the few meters that separate the backstage from the film setso that the actors are not not mobbed by fans, who sometimes went as far as to attack them.
This tunnel looks like a metaphor of what has become of their life : The bigger the series got, the more them they were disappearing.
Joy it has become a fundamentally unsound system : closed in on themselvesencouraged to become contestants in a series with 17 starsPlayers they loved each other, they hated each other and they separated. What to feed them overexposure on social networks, creating buzz and gossip about love stories or rivalries, and further blur the lines between series and private life.
In this context of trouble between real life and fictionit is chilling to recall that Ryan Murphy wished to continue the series after the death of Cory Monteith and kill the character finnDespite several actors were against this idea. A decision that Murphy announced he regrets almost 10 years later, in 2022…
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
