The Marissa Cooper Award- Worst in Drama

Named For: Marissa Cooper (The O.C.)
Awarded To: The character you most love to hate in a drama series
2009 Winner: Jason Street (Friday Night Lights)
2010 Winner: Ashley (Entourage)
2011 Winner: Kurt Hummel (Glee)

10. Dixon Wilson (90210) 3 points
2nd by T-time and Bonz

9. Jamie Scott (One Tree Hill) 6 points
1st by Jack, 5th by Me

8. Eric Murphy (Entourage) 7 points
1st by Jaydon, Rizzo, and Bonz

7. Ellis Tancharoen (Smash) 7 points
1st by Tyson

6. Tanya Skagle (Hung) 7 points
2nd by Larry

5. Toni Bernette (Treme) 7 points
1st by T-time, 3rd by Me

4. Jabbar Trussell (Parenthood) 9 points
3rd by Jack, 2nd by Me

3. Declan Porter (Revenge) 16 points
1st by Mags

2. Will Schuester (Glee) 17 points
1st by Matt, 4th by Me

and the Poolie goes to...

1. Kurt Hummel (Glee) 22 points
1st by Cecil and Larry, 1st by Me

This is Kurt Hummel's third nomination and second straight win for the character you most love to hate in a drama series.  Here to talk about Kurt's continued success in the category is Poolie voter, Tyson.

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Kurt Hummel was named most hated character in a drama series by Poolie voters. To many, the most hated title may seem like a strange result. I mean, the actor who played Kurt was named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. You read that right. Kurt Hummel is one of the 100 most influential people in the world. To explore reactions to Kurt, it may help to describe the lens through which typical television viewers see him.

Traditional television viewers have historically been presented with two types of male, homosexual characters:

1. Flamboyant gay: the character is not meant to be taken seriously and mainly serves as comedic relief
2. Secret gay: secret/hidden/taboo homosexuality is the defining feature of these characters

Only in the past few years, have viewers been exposed to characters who deviate from the archetypes mentioned earlier. The Kurt-hate comes from a pronounced lack of familiarity with his type of character.

He is a singing, dancing, fashonista and should fit squarely into the flamboyantly gay character-type but he just doesn’t.

The pesky Glee writers constantly feature him in situations typically reserved for straight characters. We explore the relationship with his hetero dad. We explore his struggles with bullying, relationships, and the future. We don’t have context for this sort of thing and so we hate him for making us feel awkward. If you are gay you need to be gay in an accessible way where accessibility is determined by what we have been exposed to in the past. Gay characters are supposed to be caricatures we can place in a box labeled “gay” and not have to think about. At first glance, Kurt belongs in that box but he just keeps breaking out of it. That’s why he is so influential and that’s why he is so hated.

by Tyson Brazell