Glee 3D movie
Saw the Glee 3D Concert Movie yesterday afternoon. To be honest, I didn't really want to see it, but Mom didn't leave me with much of a choice and sort of dragged me from the house to the theater. I suppose there was never any doubt that I was going to go with her to see it... She is my RL "Glee buddy", after all, it's largely because of her that I ever got into Glee to begin with!
I had never really intended to see it because, like the Glee Live tour itself, I viewed it as just another product of the Glee franchise offered across the nation, yet another event that I simply didn't care to attend. Because with all the media & graphics, reports, and more being made available online every night of the tour, from mid May to early July, I got all that I wanted out of it. Sure, there was no memorable ~concert experience~ but it sure as heck was good entertainment nightly for almost two months! After all that, I felt little need to see the concert footage in theaters.
Then I heard some things after the premiere: how the movie wasn't just concert footage and backstage interviews with the cast, it was akin to a documentary about fans of the show and how Glee has "changed their lives." Also, no Klaine skit and no Single Ladies. No Chris Colfer shaking his hips at me on the big screen in 3D? Truly, a terrible loss! Lol, I'm kidding except I'm really not. Needless to say, if I hadn't been interested in the movie before, I really did not want to see it then. But alas! My mother.
So there we were, Mom and me, in a very large theater at 4:30 in the afternoon for a matinee showing. Thankfully, the audience for the movie was pretty meager. I say "thankfully" because, you see, I was embarrassed to be out in public seeing this movie. I'm a pretty private person in RL when it comes to my fandom interests and I'm not accustomed at all to sharing in the uh, experience with others of similar interests... in RL anyway. I get really, really self-conscious and uncomfortable. It's hard for me to even watch new episodes of Glee with my mom, who is my best friend and also a big ole Glee fan herself, without being so intensely aware of her presence that I'm often unable to concentrate on the show. That being said, I would totally be up for a DVD release, where I could watch it alone, but this? Seeing it in a theater surrounded by other fans, my expectations low? Yikes.
Anyway, back to the movie. Sure enough, there was a lot of material about the fans. Three stories of three struggling teens whose lives were supposedly made better by Glee-- a girl affected with dwarfism, a girl with Asperger's, a gay boy who was outed to his entire school before he was ready. Add to that all the short interviews with fans proclaiming their love for their favorite characters and why they love them (Brittany because she's dumb, Puck because he's hot, Blaine because he's adorable). Others proudly showing off their custom-made Born This Way-inspired T-shirts... The list goes on.
All I could think during these scenes-- especially the documentary-style bits about the three kids-- was 'My God, Glee, stop trying to be so relevant.' Because frankly, I. Don't. Care. I don't! I didn't pay to be fed feel-good stories about other fans about whom I don't give a darn, I was there to see the characters who I've grown to know and love, and to admire the actors & actresses who play them. As a fan, that is what I want to see. Give me that, okay, and I'm happy. I don't watch Glee for its themes of accepting yourself and pursuing your dreams, or even because it's, I don't know, supposed to be inspirational? I watch it because it gives me nice characters to play with, and that's really about it. All this talk of Glee being life-changing means nothing to me. Maybe in saying these things I sound cold and calloused, but you know what? I'm perfectly fine with that.
Although, okay, I might have enjoyed the shades-wearing, gruff-looking, middle-aged man with wild, wiry beard and hair who claimed that his favorite character was Kurt. Because Kurt "tells it like it is." Good man. I also might have a thing for older men being drawn to Kurt/Chris, but shhh.
Alright, enough of that. At any rate, it was all worth it every time Chris Colfer graced the screen in character as Kurt, shaking and shimmying this way and that, looking happy as could be, always adorable in his utter inability to keep still amidst the music and flashing lights. Also, those skin-tight jeans did wonderful things for his legs and backside (hey now, allow me my shallow moments!) Any time Chris appeared onscreen, even only as one of many dancers/singers in a big group number, my eyes were glued to him and him alone. The others may as well have not been there at all.
God. I'm completely smitten, aren't I? In a non-romantic, 'I am a really big fan of this person and everything he chooses to be, is it alright if I just watch him all the time, please?' kind of way. Sighhhhh...
It's also a really good thing I knew beforehand that the Klaine skit and, especially, Single Ladies were not to be in the movie. I would have been... quite angry, let's just say, had I been expecting them only to learn then that they'd been left out. Those two performances were the highlights of the tour material for me. I'm still hoping for the Single Ladies dance on the DVD release, at least.
Ah, but that reminds me! We did seem to have another Kurtsie in the theater with us. The moment Chris appeared, singing his solo rendition of the Beatles' I Want to Hold Your Hand, a girl a few rows behind us yelled out, "WOO!!!" I think that was about it, as far as audience participation went. Oh, and let's not forget Mom, sitting beside me and accompanying the Warblers as they serenaded us with Teenage Dream, haha. I'll admit, it was hard not to sing along with the cast, or to keep from clapping when they'd finish a song, as if I was there at the concert and it was the proper thing to do.
In spite of all the fan-related footage, I guess they did manage to fit in a good number of songs. To my annoyance, they cut short some of the solos and duets, including Chris's I Want to Hold Your Hand and Chris & Lea's duet, Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again. Then they went and gave Blaine/Darren and the Warblers three songs in a row. Yes, three. Don't get me wrong, I love the Warblers and I understand that they were popular this past season, but I've been hearing too many grumblings lately from people complaining about the Warblers taking away time from the main cast and so, to see them get so much screen time in the movie just didn't sit right with me...
Ahh, whatever. Overall, I'd say the movie was decent. It's probably aimed at more casual viewers of Glee who want a piece of the whole ~Glee experience~ and less suited for fans who, like myself, are very specific about what (or who) it is that drives their interest in the show. But if you're a Glee fan, have some time to kill, and don't mind paying a few extra bucks for the 3D (which was pretty cool, by the way), then I'd say it's worth a watch.
And... I think I'll stop there. Here, have Chris swiveling his hips to Beyonce's Single Ladies. ♥
Also, this:
