"First of all, you look magical and amazing, but, I don't understand what you're saying. So if you want to make it in this land, you really need to speak English. —Brittany S. Pierce
And thus began "Pot o' Gold," the first new episode of Glee in a while. The line was spoken by resident space cadet Brittany to Rory, a transfer student from Ireland played by Glee Project co-winner Damian McGinty. McGinty brought a refreshing new flavor to the proceedings—kind of like minty mutton—but his brogue, spoken softly and swiftly, did indeed devolve into a jumble of mumbles. So the writers worked that into the plot, having Brittany assume Rory was a leprechaun who grants wishes and speaks incomprehensibly. But what's Brittany's excuse for speaking that way, too?
The mumbling on Glee has long been an issue, and it's an ironic one, since this is a show about kids who want to perform on stage—where DICK-shun is CREW-shul. And yet everyone seems to suffer from this running-at-the-mouth syndrome with alarming regularity. The problem is Glee's trademark dense blocks of dialogue and snappy retorts, fired off at high speeds with sassy attitude. What suffers is audience comprehension.
I've broken down "Pot o' Gold" line by line, and identified the show's worst (and best) enunciatiors.
The Worst Offenders
Brittany, played by Heather Morris, is probably the show's most marble-mouthed character. She both sprints through her absurd lines and speaks them barely above a whisper. For example, her next line after the one quoted above was, "How's your first day at school?" But it sounded more like, "HowardSternisgayit'scool." Later, I had to listen to her speech about Lord Tubbington twice to even get close to understanding that she wanted her cat to poop candy bars.
Quinn, played by Dianna Agron, spent much of the episode plotting to win Baby Beth back from Shelby by planting Botox in her bathroom and hot sauce in her kitchen. But during glee club rehearsal, she accused Mr. Schue of, uh, something, while they discussed Mercedes' departure from New Directions. I think she was saying, "Kind of hard not to blame you, Mr. Schue." But after playing it back several times, all I can hear is, "Cararharhhrhooo, Mr. Schue."
Rory, played by Damian McGinty, got plenty of guff in the episode, but seriously, dude. Slow. Down. His first encounter with Finn, during which he rattled off Finn's resume, was the diction equivalent of a scoop of mashed potatoes. I seriously couldn't even make out Finn's name. He said, "Finn Hudson," but it sounded like, "Van Johnson." Also, there was something about "tong-quicheing your girlfriend." Is that when you serve your girlfriend a slice of quiche with a pair of tongs? At least his performance of "It Isn't Easy Being Green" was clear.
Kurt, played by Chris Colfer, is also a repeat offender, though he was largely comprehensible this week. Still, he came perilously close to swallowing his words when he mentioned his "Banana Republic Mad Men collection." (It sounded more like "myahmyum collection.")
Those are the worst of The Garblers. Now onto…
The Best Enunciators
Sue Sylvester, played by Jane Lynch. No one has to execute feats of verbal gymnastics as difficult as Sue's, and yet she always takes the time to savor each and every word of her caustic threats, speeches, and put-downs. Also: She speaks up! Way up. Yay, Sue. Thank you. The writers put a lot of effort into those words; you give them the respect they deserve.
Blaine, played by Darren Criss, manages to speed through dialogue effortlessly, yet always seems to get his mouth around every word. In his showdown with Finn, his message came through loud and clear: "No show choir is just one person. It's a team."
Santana, played by Naya Rivera, has to deliver some of the cruelest and most calculating dialogue on Glee. But she never lets her anger get the best of her. Consider her dress down of "richy bitch" Sugar Motta: "I've seen what you can do, and what you can do is stand in the back, sway, and sing very, very quietly." Roger that, Santi!
Puck, played by Mark Salling. Yup, Puck. Just cause he's an antisocial delinquent teen dad who wants to sleep with the married women whose pools he cleans doesn't mean he can't speak clearly. Puck got a voice over this week, and deservedly so: "I live large and dream big; but the problem with dreams is, there's always some naysayer to crap all over them." Kudos, Puck!
What do you think? Am I just a hard-of-hearing old man? Or do you have trouble understanding what Glee's characters are saying, too? Are there any other shows with this problem that you can think of? Sound off (with clarity!) in the comments.
Hahah have to post here about this after watching this weeks episode. They totally had a shout-out to this problem with Damian. So at least they are aware of their own problems :P
I've never noticed any of this, sounds fine to me!
I watch everything with captions so it's all good but without those captions, I'd be screwed!
I don't have this problem. I guess you should try another notch or two on the volume. Haha. Honestly, I've never noticed it at all, but I probably will now that you've point it out!
I sometimes have trouble with what Heather's character is saying, and I had some with Rory as well, but I don't remember having any with the rest...
I didn't have a problem understanding them. I watched it on my computer with headphones on so what they said was perfectly clear. Maybe there's too much noise going on around you when you're trying to watch it, or you're not paying close attention to the show while you're watching it.
It's not just you, Seth. I find it so, so difficult to understand half of the Glee cast half the time, and this episode was one of the worst. What makes it so frustrating is I absolutely love characters like Brittany (and her one-liners) - and Damian was so adorable as Rory (or is it "Roy"...? Ha). (My mom was having an extra-hard time with all the dialogue this episode too.)
I think the source of the problem is just some of the kids rushing through their lines - anyone who performs will naturally talk fast out of nerves, so I really think the message is just to Slow. Down. Jane and Darren, for example, I think are always more in tune with their lines and "savor" them, as you point out.moreless
Another episode, and another week of me asking....
People still watch this show?
For some reason my DVR didn't record Glee this week... And I'm ok with it, really ok with it.
I was just saying to my husband last night that the dialogue is getting harder to comprehend. Talking fast is part of the rapport of the show but the jokes are missed when they are inaudible. My girls swore that Damian's name was ROY, and I explained that RORY is an Irish name...not Roy.
i thought the new kids name was Roy! my bad.
i had no problem understanding Rory. i melted in my seat as soon as he started speaking in that beautiful Irish tongue.
I could understand everything Rory said plus i think his accent is cute.I agree Brittani is hard to understand sometimes and i hate Quinn now, i think shes become so incredibly annoying and Diannas acting is not so great either...but yeah thats about it i dont have a problem with anyone else.
I had absolutely no problem understanding what Rory said.
Ur right.and I thought it was me.
I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem... I thought I was the only one lol (though I didn't have much trouble with McGinty's accent).
Well that's funny for me since I'm french and I understand everything they say, and for Rory (damian) I think you just need to get familiar with his accent cause he speaks pretty well.
I agree that your "Best enuncuators" are indeed the best and sometimes Hemo (britany) speaks a little bit to low or waht ever she does but it happens like once ever 5 eps that i dont get seomthing she said...
so.. you r weird aha, cause I aint that good at english
You clearly have hearing problems
I think your hearing is a little broken, lol. No offense. I didn't have a problem understanding anyone. Meanwhile, how cute was Damien McGinty singing 'It's Not Easy Being Green'!
You forgot Lea Michele in the best category. How could you skip her. She has the most dialog and even in her signing she does well.
Really you need to rethink that....
I don't really have a problem with this most of the time but it was actually pretty bad in this episode
this makes me think of that weird johnny depp charlie and the chocolate factory movie where he would yell "MUMBLER!" at anyone who disagreed with him. and i think that the breathy mumbling is part of brittany's character, cause everything she says comes out so spacey. Quinn has the same problem just because she has such a soft voice that it's usually hard to hear her. Blaine, aka the only reason most people still watch glee, is perfection. Plain and simple. And I'm glad you put Puck on here, cause that guy is doesnt get the credit he deserves. he;s one of my favorite characters right now, although him and shelby making out was a tad creepy
Except barely anyone is watching Glee, so lol.
LOL! Most days I don't have a problem with it, but this episode I did have a difficult time deciphering some of the lines said by some of the characters. I kept asking the person I was watching it with if they understood (which they didn't) and then I rewound it and still didn't make it out.
I agree Brittany is a big one.
I too couldn't make out Quinn's lines although most of the time I don't have a problem with her.
Damian was difficult as well which is odd because when he was on The Glee Project his accent was just as if not more thick but he enunciated quite well and was clear. It seemed as though in their effort to make mock him being Irish they made him really lay it on thick with his accent so he was more difficult to understand then usual. Normally the actor himself isn't that hard (for me though I've heard different from others) to understand.
I wasn't a big fan of this episode. I think the best part of the entire episode for me was any scene with Burt Hummel. That man is awesome and I loved that they used him more. Quinn is unbearable more than she ever was before and she's delusional if she thinks that getting Shelby in trouble will get her her baby back. Doesn't she realise that the kid will end up in fostercare instead? Ugh. Can't stand her. I like Rachel but her over the topness is agitating sometimes. Mr. Shue is responsible for having so many kids leaving the Glee club, he can't preach about it being a big family and accepting all the people etc and then neglect half the club every single time they have to perform. Tina, Mercedes, Santana, even Brittany all have ranging from amazing to decent voices, and he doesn't use them nearly enough. I think he's noticed that now because the TroubleTones are awesome and fair.
Next week's episode should be interesting.moreless
How are the Trouble Tones fair they just bullied Sugar out of even having a say in the club. Brittany voice is mediocre. Sectionals had 3 new signers and featured 2 in dance heavily. Light up the world had 6 singers on it.
Lea Michele enunciates everything very well. Even her song you can hear everything.
Glee is losing me!
As a non American, I'm going to put everyone in Glee on the mumble list, even Sue sometimes when she gets to the end of her more long-winded zingers. Everybody kinda blitzes there words because the dialogue is so much. they all go for 'wordy' humour...
Quinn and Britanny are the worst. I never really fully here or understand what she's saying. But a good bit of britanny's problem is that what she says is so idiotic you immediately have to wonder if you heard her right.
Shockingly Damien was pretty well enounciated to me, there's the accent, but he's clear.
I'm done with Glee. This last episode made me stop watching it. Good luck for those that stick with it.
With the exception of Heather, the others don't need to be on that list. And sadly good enunciation doesn't equal good acting.
I blame Damien's incomprehensible speech on being unable to grasp the Irish accent. Its been a while since I saw a film with an Irish actor so wasn't expecting to get adjusted to the accent right away.
Quinn can be incomprehensible as well but I understand what she is saying for the most part.
The toughest is Brittany! I must admit, until I read this article I had no idea what she said in that Tubbington speech. I was wondering why he put candy bars in the litter box, I thought he was feeding the cat candy only to see them eating it in the next scene.
No problems with Kurt whatsoever, I guess I am used to him now. Sue, Shue, Santana, Mercedes, etc. are very clear and I understand what they say every single time.moreless
I understood Rory without any problems and I'm not Irish. I'm am obviously in the minority where this episode was concerned as I LOVED it!! Every time Damian was on screen I had a big, stupid grin on my face. I totally enjoyed his numbers and Last Friday Night. I finally felt that the 'something' that had been missing in the first couple of episodes of this season was back. Not so keen on the whole Troubletones stuff but I guess conflict is supposed to give us interesting storylines. I'm of the "why can't we all just get along" mindset but I guess that doesn't get ratings. Love the Sue against Burt plot (Team Hummel, all the way) but I am a bit over Sue and her tirades. She hates the Glee Club, yeah we know, we have seen it over and over and over again! It's old news and it's been done, please move on!
Can't wait to see more of Damian and was also really pleased to hear that Chord and Johnathan will be back this season!
Yay, Glee!!moreless
Sue.. I KNOW RIGHT! And i cant find any fan who really likes her. I mean we dont need someone against the glee club THE SCHOOL is already agaisnt them. What i care about is the kids and their life and stop waisting time on sue! she was fun in season 1... for like 2 seconds if you ask me cause cartonnish much?
anyway :P
I love this season ahah
well we all know how much ryan murphy loves to overdo stereotypes to death and really drive a point home with a dull, rusty screw.
the performing in this episode-which is usually the only decent part of the show-was terrible.
i mean, they always auto-tune the hell out of the actors' voices but it was never more evident than during "Last Friday Night". Rory's songs were lame: "Bein' Green"? Really? smh and then another fairly flat song. I think I have finally gotten over wanting to watch Glee : bad writing, fake singing, stupid storylines and characters = not entertaining television
Did that Irish guy really say "top of the morning to you". You should do an article about idiotic stereotypes.
FFS
Quinn has been speaking like she has marbles in her mouth since first season, but nobody said anything about this till now. Thank you! I thought I was the only one who couldn't understand her. I blame Diana Agron's acting.
i had no problem understanding anybody, even Rory.. my problem is that Rory brought NOTHING to the story, the 4th runnerup for that stupid Glee project show had a better character story than the actual winner did.. way to hand out guest spots for people who shouldn't be there, Glee people..
also, Quinn and Mercedes storylines are pissing me off. so stupid.
It just takes time to get used to Damian's accent. Im from the west of Ireland and it took me a while to understand it too. I had continually ask people to slow down! But I understand everything Damians says now, so wait and you will too!