Glee: Words of Hate A Moment of IDIC

I was so amazed and proud of Burt Hummel Kurt’s father in Glee ep. 120 Theatricality.  He says so succinctly the problems of using words of hate and the hope for a new kind of dude.  Watch the clip of the scene Below.

Why can't you work harder at blending in

This is a softer question of hate.  Denying who we are lessens us as a whole.

The person who is “working harder at blending in” is spending most of their energy on that instead of creating a better life for themselves, their friends and family and for their community.  It’s like saying mow the lawn but we want you to work harder while doing it so use a push mower instead of a riding one.  By the end of the lawn one is more tired from the extra effort and does less in their day for it.

Then there is the psychological damage.  Knowing ones true self is an amazing liberating thing that opens up so many opportunities to experience life.  This is after all what we all seek, moments of being truly alive.  Denying one’s self is the opposite of that.  The person in denial misses those experiences of being alive. This leads to depression, increased drug use to get the feeling of being alive and suicides which is a major problem in the gay community.

Words of Hate

I was so proud of Burt for not tolerating Finn using the word Faggy.  In addition to that he really puts the word into it’s true context as a word of hate.

Saying a word of hate toward an inanimate object when it is meant for an individual in your head is still saying it at a person.  The hate is still there.

He asks Finn “Do you use the N word?”  “Do you call Becky (the girl with down syndrome) a retard?”

Words of hate don’t loose their hate just because it’s against a different group of people.  After all it’s really what’s behind the words hate and that is the same from word to word.  That is the poison that hurts the one spouting it and those who come into contact with it.

Before you use a word, think: ‘Does this word come from a source of hate?’  ‘What am I really saying when I use the word?’

New Kind of Dude

“I thought you were some kind of new dude who was cool about it.”  The disappointment in Burt’s voice was so poignant.

It’s always about evolving, growing both as people and as a society as a whole.  We all benefit when removing hate from the situation.  Finn could have addressed his lack of comfort with Kurt, his need for a more private room, and been more engaged in the decorating coming up with a productive solution if he would have left hate out.

Gene Roddenberry is a great example of the new kind of dude that Burt talks about.  His concept of IDIC is a great example of that

IDIC comes from Star Trek meaning Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination.

The New kind of dude:

• Celebrates our diversity as a cultural strength

• Knows ones self and continually seeks to know ones self

• Stands up against hate and it’s poisoning effect.