Glee's School Shooting Episode Upset Parents In Newtown, CT!

During last night’s Glee titled Shooting Star, showrunner Ryan Murphy and his fellow gleeks dealt with an extremely sensitive, disturbing subject barely 4 months after the unspeakably awful incident occured at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT.
And unsurprisingly, some in the Newtown community are upset; not so much by the way Glee handled the idea of a school shooting, but because no one from the show reached out to anyone in Newtown to provide some sort of warning or framework of how best to deal with the episode while watching it with their kids.
Parent Andrew Paley expressed:

“We├óΓé¼Γäóre going through a healing phase right now and without giving us any kind of warning, it├óΓé¼Γäós going to open up wounds we├óΓé¼Γäóre trying to close right now.
I think it├óΓé¼Γäós terrible that the writers and producers of that show didn├óΓé¼Γäót think to contact someone in Newtown to let us know this was coming. A lot of people watch that show. They shouldn├óΓé¼Γäót be upset by it.”

Superintendent of schools Janet Robinson did attempt to notify parents about the harrowing subject matter of last night’s Glee, but some were still shocked after viewing the episode.
Newtown resident Tricia Muzzio shared:

“This close to the tragedy without any warning, I believe was inconsiderate. [The episode] was so realistic that I couldn├óΓé¼Γäót believe it. I said to myself, ├óΓé¼╦£Wow, this is really how it happened.├óΓé¼Γäó”

And, as much as we ADORE Glee, perhaps it was insensitive to premiere an episode about an alleged school shooting — and the broader topics of gun violence and school safety — SO soon after one of the most tragic events in our nation’s recent history happened. But then again, maybe the only way for wounds to heal is to address them.
However, we do think the episode itself is one of the show’s BEST and that the writers tackled the subject in an effective, poignant manner… definitely a good decision to NOT go too heavy on the musical numbers. (We’ll have our full recap coming in a bit…)
We tip our hats to you, Ryan and Co.
[Image via FOX.]