happy days are here again
I watched Glee for the first time since forever with my sister last night, for lack of anything better to do. It was the episode where there's a duet competition, and everyone's pairing up for the prize of a free dinner for two at Breadsticks. It was strange, because in this episode, almost no one (Finn) was a raging hosebeast towards each other for no good reason, which is what I've become used to in Glee. Strangely, Rachel was left alone by her fellow students and the narrative, and even had time for a touching and bizarrely adorable moment with Kurt. Mercedes and Santana had an AMAZING number together. Tina was adorable. Artie didn't grate on my nerves as much this episode. Rachel coming up with a cunning scheme to lose in order to support the rest of the team was great. I really liked it.
I still hate Finn/Rachel. I buy the relationship from Rachel, because to some degree it makes sense. Finn spends too much time talking about Rachel's faults, and especially in comparison to Quinn in this episode. ("She's shorter than Quinn and talks too much.") In fact, I kind of hate Finn. He's taken the place of Kurt as my least favorite character in this show. I did not like how he told Kurt not to sing with Sam because he thought he was making moves on him, hated the 'predatory gay guy' stereotype Finn and Burt brought up with their accusations, and hated how Finn's advice to Kurt really boiled down to: 'you can't sing with this guy because it will ruin his rep.' No matter that Sam seemed completely cool with singing with an openly gay guy and it's really his choice and none of Finn's goddamn business. I also hate how Finn pulls this crap and still says he has no problem with gay people.
I think one of my main problems with this show is that I have a preconceived notion of it, that since it's about a Glee club and therefore a club, a group of people getting together over shared love of music, I feel like the show is going to do the friendship/nakama angle. Which I LOVE. I think one of my favorite tropes in writing or visual media is strong family bonds or friendship bonds so close it appears familial. And sometimes, the show looks like it's trying to go that route, and it feels disingenuous because this is a relationship that I do not personally believe these characters have ever shared with each other. As far as I can tell, there's the occasional friendship and a lot of petty infighting. It's not that I don't want there to be any tension within the club, but rather that I would have wanted the tension with a nice grounding of unified friendship and teamwork that I have trouble seeing when these kids can be such shits to each other. I know I've been away from the show for a while, but is anyone else having the same feeling?
(That said, I LOOOVED Kurt and Rachel singing together. I want them to be buddies. I really do.)
I still hate Finn/Rachel. I buy the relationship from Rachel, because to some degree it makes sense. Finn spends too much time talking about Rachel's faults, and especially in comparison to Quinn in this episode. ("She's shorter than Quinn and talks too much.") In fact, I kind of hate Finn. He's taken the place of Kurt as my least favorite character in this show. I did not like how he told Kurt not to sing with Sam because he thought he was making moves on him, hated the 'predatory gay guy' stereotype Finn and Burt brought up with their accusations, and hated how Finn's advice to Kurt really boiled down to: 'you can't sing with this guy because it will ruin his rep.' No matter that Sam seemed completely cool with singing with an openly gay guy and it's really his choice and none of Finn's goddamn business. I also hate how Finn pulls this crap and still says he has no problem with gay people.
I think one of my main problems with this show is that I have a preconceived notion of it, that since it's about a Glee club and therefore a club, a group of people getting together over shared love of music, I feel like the show is going to do the friendship/nakama angle. Which I LOVE. I think one of my favorite tropes in writing or visual media is strong family bonds or friendship bonds so close it appears familial. And sometimes, the show looks like it's trying to go that route, and it feels disingenuous because this is a relationship that I do not personally believe these characters have ever shared with each other. As far as I can tell, there's the occasional friendship and a lot of petty infighting. It's not that I don't want there to be any tension within the club, but rather that I would have wanted the tension with a nice grounding of unified friendship and teamwork that I have trouble seeing when these kids can be such shits to each other. I know I've been away from the show for a while, but is anyone else having the same feeling?
(That said, I LOOOVED Kurt and Rachel singing together. I want them to be buddies. I really do.)