Little additional information has leaked out about Anne Hathaway‘s impending guest spot on Glee. But what we do know is that she will be playing Kurt Hummel’s lesbian aunt. Still, one thing is perfectly clear: We have big expectations for Anne’s fictional turn batting for on our team.
Hathaway and Colfer have offered their own thoughts on what could happen when the Oscar-nominated arrives in Lima, Ohio. Hathaway told Jimmy Fallon that she envisioned her role as “Kurt’s long-lost aunt, his mother’s sister who is also gay, who comes back to help him deal with his sexuality, and I would sing, “You Are Not Alone,” a song from Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods.”
Colfer, meanwhile, told MTV this week that while he didn’t know what was being planned yet for Hathway, he expected it would be “something big and emotional like every Hummel story is.”
Still, that leaves a lot of wriggle room for the writers. And there are also a lot of ways that a storyline about Kurt’s lesbian aunt could go right or wrong. So in an effort to help the Glee team create the very best lesbian aunt they can, here are a few simple pointers.
Do: Make her a dynamic, memorable character along the lines of Gwyneth Paltrow’s guest spot as Holly Holliday.
Don’t: Make her Kurt’s pregnant lesbian aunt.
Do: Make her a positive adult gay role model for Kurt (and Brittany and Santana — ahem).
Don’t: Make her wear flannel and play softball. Yes, many of us do both. No, we don’t need to see it again.
Do: Make her acknowledge Brittany and Santana’s unacknowledged relationship. Possibly she can cement what Paltrow is going to apparently help bring together.
Don’t: Make her depressed, suicidal, about to leap off her boarding school roof like a falcon or end up floating face-first in a pool.
Do: Make her help Kurt with something other than just his coming out process. Kurt has evolved past that. How about she helps him hone his gaydar instead, or learn how to become more politically active.
Don’t: Have her be in the coming out process. There are other gay stories we can tell, Hollywood.
Do: Have her kiss a girl and like it.
Don’t: Have her kiss a boy and even remotely like it.
So, there’s a quick primer for the Glee staff on how to handle Hathaway’s big gay moment. What would you love to see happen with Kurt’s lesbian aunt? What would you hate to see?
