15 Times "Glee" Actually Did A Really Good Job Handling Serious Subjects

I'm slowly remembering why I was a gleek.

We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us what serious topic Glee actually handled well. Here are the best replies:

Note: Submissions include topics of eating disorders and domestic abuse.

1. When Burt kicked Finn out after Finn used the f-slur.

Fox

"Kurt's dad put aside his relationship with Finn's mom to defend his son. Mike O'Malley's delivery of the line 'He is my son!' always makes me tear up."

—vsoldf

2. When Mercedes joined the Cheerios and Sue pressured her to lose weight.

Fox

"They revealed that most of the girls on the squad were pressured into disordered eating, which was surprisingly honest. And the fact that they all backed Mercedes when she decided to fight back and sing 'Beautiful' was really sweet."

—heyoitmeyo

3. The domestic abuse storyline with Beiste and his husband Cooter.

Fox

"They handled it well, especially with Beiste walking out on Cooter and deciding he was going to love himself. Like, there wasn't much Glee did right, but that was definitely one of them."

—hobbitgirl96

4. Kurt's bullying storyline with Dave Karofsky.

Fox

"I felt like that storyline, which led to Kurt transferring to Dalton Academy and then going back to McKinley, was handled pretty well. I’m ignoring everything after Season 3."

—marielcharlebois

5. Marley's insecurity about her mom being obese, as well as her disdain for her mom being a lunch lady.

Fox

"They lived in poverty. Unlike when we found out Sam’s family was homeless, this wasn't just dropped and never mentioned again. It was a big part of her character development and even impacted her later when she couldn't afford the therapist for her disordered eating."

—wehavebeenbuzzfed

6. Unique's struggles with her gender identity.

Fox

"Her explanation about not belonging in neither the male or female public restroom and her performance of 'If I Were a Boy' broke my heart."

—hiitsnicetomeetyou

7. When Kurt came out to his dad.

Fox

"His dad took accountability for his past internalized homophobia and was not only fully accepting of him, but emphasized that he loved Kurt just as much. And even though Kurt's dad was accepting, he still got in some tiffs with Kurt about his queerness throughout the rest of the show that he had to overcome."

—vsoldf

8. When Santana came out to her grandmother.

Fox

"They portrayed that there is sometimes a downside to coming out to your family. When Kurt came out to his dad in Season 1, it showed that family can be accepting; whereas in Season 3, Santana came out and her abuela didn't accept her."

—drippyjj

9. When coach Beiste came out as transgender.

Fox

"His coming-out storyline was very touching. I also thought that the fact that it seemed 'out of the blue' was realistic because it can seem like that to other people when in reality, people struggle internally with who they are for a very long time."

—dykwya

10. Emma dealing with her OCD and wanting to be a mother.

Fox

—2014m

11. When Santana called out Mr. Schue for his problematic conflation of Latinx, Hispanic, and Spanish cultures.

Fox

"She rightfully pointed out that he didn't even know enough to realize how messed up it was and that he was perpetuating harmful stereotypes. When he tried to argue that everyone else loved his performance, she shot right back that it was because they didn't know any better because he wasn't teaching them better."

—freddy123

12. Quinn's pregnancy storyline.

Fox

"They didn’t shy away from showing how difficult it was for her and also the shame that came with it for her. I think showing how she navigated through it was handled pretty well. These moments felt very real and relatable."

—2014m

13. When Kurt's dad had a heart attack.

Fox

"I thought it was a nice way to portray faith in different forms. Kurt was in so much pain and he brushed off the efforts and prayers of the God Squad because he thought they were pointless. Even though some of the God Squad weren’t very close to Kurt, they still prayed and sang to his dad in the hospital because they wanted to help in any way they could. I just thought it was really nice how everyone banded together in that episode to help Kurt and his dad through it."

—sjcook1224

14. When Blaine considered that he might be bisexual and they showed how toxic anti-bi sentiment can come from the queer community.

Fox

"They showed that biphobia can come from both the straight and LGBTQ community and positively showed him exploring his sexuality."

—nadiers16

15. And Finn's (and Cory Monteith's) death and everyone's grieving process.

Fox

"There’s not much they handled well but I think the entirety of Finn’s death was handled very well. It wasn’t over in one episode and forgotten about. We saw everyone’s grief shown in different ways, especially Carole’s. When she struggled going with the glee club to perform and they sang all his favorite songs, her grief was pictured perfectly. It’s so heartbreaking."

—confettiline

Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

What are other serious topics you think that Glee actually handled well? Let us know in the comments.