[This is the end.]
Hey everyone...I've been disconnected and all over the place this week. My grandma (who was 93 and ready to go, no worries) passed away on March 15th. We had her funeral on the 19th, and I've been going through a lot of emotions, as one might expect. I'm really okay with everything, and because of my belief in the afterlife and my certainty that my grandma is back with my granddad after a 34 year separation, I can hardly feel bad about the whole thing. But emotions are funny things, aren't they? I'm not "sad," but I'm very emotional. And her funeral was AMAZING. She has five children (my mom being her eldest) and everything that was done and said about her and her life was just as beautiful as it could be.
And then last night, the series finale of Glee aired. Which, who cares, right? I quit watching this show at the end of S2 in 2011. But maybe nostalgia is high because of my grandma passing? IDEK.
Does anyone remember how the Glee Pilot was shown in May of 2009? Long before it would actually air again in September and start the phenomenon that it became. I didn't watch it when it aired, but I had heard a lot of the hype, and I heard their cut of "Don't Stop Believin'" somewhere online, so I went and downloaded it.
(Just so you know, the only songs from Glee that I ever paid for were that first version of DSB and Puck's cover of "Sweet Caroline." Everything else I downloaded for free from a LiveJournal Community.)
Anyway, as an 80s kid, I loved their cover. It was a revitalization of something lost inside myself, a remembrance of all that music is and can be. It was inspiring. So, I made the mental note to start watching the show in the fall.
I remember those first few episodes: the wacky humor, the heightened sense of reality, and OMG, Lea Michele. I loved her voice from minute one. I thought it was a cute show, and I especially loved the singing...but then 1x04 "Preggers" happened to me and I fell down the Puck/Quinn rabbit hole that I don't think I will ever fully emerge from.
I saw this hilarious quote on tumblr today that asked the question: What's the difference between ships and OTPs? And the answer: Ships make you smile and sigh and get a little teary-eyed, maybe. OTPs make you claw your own face off and sob. Puck and Quinn did this to me. My love for them was instantaneous and insane and the terrible treatment that their characters suffered in S2 is what caused me to ditch the show entirely (and then come back and download "100" years later when a friend tipped me off to QUICK finally happening).
But even though I stopped watching Glee, I still downloaded the music occasionally (from the LJ comm), and I heard things now and again just because I live in a pop culture world called Fandom.
And then Cory Monteith died.
I never liked Finn all that much. I mean, he was funny, and I liked the Puck/Finn bromance (because all things Puck was my favorite, I have a tag here that says "Puck is my new reason for living!"). I did sort of ship Finn/Kurt a little in the early days--honestly, Glee is the only show to ever spark any slash interest in me, because later I fell hard for Puck/Sam, but that's a whole other ball of wax. Back to Finn: so I didn't care for him all that much as a character, and I never thought he was a very good singer. I mean, in 1x08 when Puck sings "Sweet Caroline" I was like, WHY ISN'T HE THE LEAD??? [Also, remember when Puck had a little sister and his mom wanted him to date a nice Jewish girl, which ironically, Dianna Agron is a nice Jewish girl, even if Quinn was not!] [Also remember when Puck's mohawk was so beautifully coifed?]
See, even when trying to remember Finn, I get distracted by everything else that I loved so much more than him. But CORY. Cory was wonderful. I remember watching everything the Glee kids were on from Entertainment Tonight to Oprah and he was as sweet as he was tall. Just genuine and delightful. And though I shipped Rachel with Jesse St. James the most, and Puck was a close second, but for my love of Quinn Fabray I could never honestly OTP Puck/Rachel...I understood that Rachel loved Finn. So, to me they were endgame, obvs, and that's just the way it would be.
Long story long, I watched the final episodes tonight and even though I thought they did a good job of going back in time and bringing things full circle (minus any actual story for Puck and Quinn, I guess because they weren't part of the Original Glee Club kids), but it was Cory's absence that made me cry.
[I'm rewatching 1x08 as I'm typing this, and DAMN MARK SALLING USED TO BE HOT. GUH.]
It was tragic--it is tragic. Cory's life cut tragically short, someone who had succeeded in so many ways, but couldn't overcome heroin. It's a depth of sadness that resonates in a way that's somewhat indescribable. Death doesn't scare me personally as I have great faith in the afterlife and that death is only a temporary separation. However, my grandma dying at 93 is way different than a 31 year old man cut down before he even accomplished a portion of his potential.
Interestingly, these feelings about Cory really sum up my feelings about Glee. It had so much potential. And S1 is beautiful. I love it so much. It's sad how quickly the creators seemed to lose the thread of magic that was theirs in those early days. They could have moved forward with their progressive messages in a less trainwrecky, shove-it-down-your-throat way. With better storytelling and more care for all the characters, who should have been consistently written...but alas. There's no point in bemoaning it now, except that I'm just full of this nostalgia and it still has the power to make me sad. Obviously not as sad as Cory's death, because it is just a silly TV show, but that's just it. It's too bad Ryan Murphy & Co. were so dismissive of their own medium. It could have been so much more.
Anyway. I'm a little rambly tonight, I guess. The point is, during 2009-2010, Glee brought me much joy. It inspired fic that I'm very very proud of. It made me think. It made me rage. It has the power, even after all this time, to make me post in extravagance.
It was a show, not one to go down in the annals of my DVD collection like LOST, The West Wing, Friends, The Newsroom or even The Vampire Diaries as totally beloved, but it was a show. And now it's over. #RIPGleeKids I hope you all go on to much better stuff.
And then last night, the series finale of Glee aired. Which, who cares, right? I quit watching this show at the end of S2 in 2011. But maybe nostalgia is high because of my grandma passing? IDEK.
Does anyone remember how the Glee Pilot was shown in May of 2009? Long before it would actually air again in September and start the phenomenon that it became. I didn't watch it when it aired, but I had heard a lot of the hype, and I heard their cut of "Don't Stop Believin'" somewhere online, so I went and downloaded it.
(Just so you know, the only songs from Glee that I ever paid for were that first version of DSB and Puck's cover of "Sweet Caroline." Everything else I downloaded for free from a LiveJournal Community.)
Anyway, as an 80s kid, I loved their cover. It was a revitalization of something lost inside myself, a remembrance of all that music is and can be. It was inspiring. So, I made the mental note to start watching the show in the fall.
I remember those first few episodes: the wacky humor, the heightened sense of reality, and OMG, Lea Michele. I loved her voice from minute one. I thought it was a cute show, and I especially loved the singing...but then 1x04 "Preggers" happened to me and I fell down the Puck/Quinn rabbit hole that I don't think I will ever fully emerge from.
I saw this hilarious quote on tumblr today that asked the question: What's the difference between ships and OTPs? And the answer: Ships make you smile and sigh and get a little teary-eyed, maybe. OTPs make you claw your own face off and sob. Puck and Quinn did this to me. My love for them was instantaneous and insane and the terrible treatment that their characters suffered in S2 is what caused me to ditch the show entirely (and then come back and download "100" years later when a friend tipped me off to QUICK finally happening).
But even though I stopped watching Glee, I still downloaded the music occasionally (from the LJ comm), and I heard things now and again just because I live in a pop culture world called Fandom.
And then Cory Monteith died.
I never liked Finn all that much. I mean, he was funny, and I liked the Puck/Finn bromance (because all things Puck was my favorite, I have a tag here that says "Puck is my new reason for living!"). I did sort of ship Finn/Kurt a little in the early days--honestly, Glee is the only show to ever spark any slash interest in me, because later I fell hard for Puck/Sam, but that's a whole other ball of wax. Back to Finn: so I didn't care for him all that much as a character, and I never thought he was a very good singer. I mean, in 1x08 when Puck sings "Sweet Caroline" I was like, WHY ISN'T HE THE LEAD??? [Also, remember when Puck had a little sister and his mom wanted him to date a nice Jewish girl, which ironically, Dianna Agron is a nice Jewish girl, even if Quinn was not!] [Also remember when Puck's mohawk was so beautifully coifed?]
See, even when trying to remember Finn, I get distracted by everything else that I loved so much more than him. But CORY. Cory was wonderful. I remember watching everything the Glee kids were on from Entertainment Tonight to Oprah and he was as sweet as he was tall. Just genuine and delightful. And though I shipped Rachel with Jesse St. James the most, and Puck was a close second, but for my love of Quinn Fabray I could never honestly OTP Puck/Rachel...I understood that Rachel loved Finn. So, to me they were endgame, obvs, and that's just the way it would be.
Long story long, I watched the final episodes tonight and even though I thought they did a good job of going back in time and bringing things full circle (minus any actual story for Puck and Quinn, I guess because they weren't part of the Original Glee Club kids), but it was Cory's absence that made me cry.
[I'm rewatching 1x08 as I'm typing this, and DAMN MARK SALLING USED TO BE HOT. GUH.]
It was tragic--it is tragic. Cory's life cut tragically short, someone who had succeeded in so many ways, but couldn't overcome heroin. It's a depth of sadness that resonates in a way that's somewhat indescribable. Death doesn't scare me personally as I have great faith in the afterlife and that death is only a temporary separation. However, my grandma dying at 93 is way different than a 31 year old man cut down before he even accomplished a portion of his potential.
Interestingly, these feelings about Cory really sum up my feelings about Glee. It had so much potential. And S1 is beautiful. I love it so much. It's sad how quickly the creators seemed to lose the thread of magic that was theirs in those early days. They could have moved forward with their progressive messages in a less trainwrecky, shove-it-down-your-throat way. With better storytelling and more care for all the characters, who should have been consistently written...but alas. There's no point in bemoaning it now, except that I'm just full of this nostalgia and it still has the power to make me sad. Obviously not as sad as Cory's death, because it is just a silly TV show, but that's just it. It's too bad Ryan Murphy & Co. were so dismissive of their own medium. It could have been so much more.
Anyway. I'm a little rambly tonight, I guess. The point is, during 2009-2010, Glee brought me much joy. It inspired fic that I'm very very proud of. It made me think. It made me rage. It has the power, even after all this time, to make me post in extravagance.
It was a show, not one to go down in the annals of my DVD collection like LOST, The West Wing, Friends, The Newsroom or even The Vampire Diaries as totally beloved, but it was a show. And now it's over. #RIPGleeKids I hope you all go on to much better stuff.