Random thoughts on Glee 3.17
TW: Abuse
* I find it interesting that Roz and Sue single out only the girls who were giggling at Santana's Chris Brown joke and put them through "This week's lesson," rather than pulling in, say, all the Glee club or at least all the girls (see: Will Schuester in "Power of Madonna" and "Never Been Kissed.")
* It's also worth noting that all the girls pulled out for this one come from families that are at least suggested in canon to be really quite stable and loving. I forget who it is that says that they "just don't understand," but I think that sums up the problem quite nicely. Domestic violence isn't something that really happens in their world. It's not real to them. They don't understand.
(You do realize that most of those girls decried for tweeting that Chris Brown could hit them all he wanted are probably very nice, very sweet, and very normal, don't you?)
* Sue's mistake was expecting the girls to be operating out of the same time period that she is. Rachel, maybe, might have pulled off an Amanda Palmer-esque "What's the Use of Won'drin?" (maybe without the cannibalism). But I doubt that Santana, Mercedes, Sugar, Tina, and Brittany are familiar enough with Goffin and King (or with Hole, for that matter) to remember "He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)." I figure they probably started at "Goodbye Earl," rejected it as too country/too hard to give everyone a solo/look, Brits and I got our Dixie Chicks on once and that's enough, and went for something that, to them, seemed similar.
* Coach Beiste doesn't flinch when the girls make a joke about her getting hit. But she shatters when they sing a song justifying violence against your spouse. There's a reason for this.
* Said it before, but it bears repeating -- even Roz, who should know better, has a hard time seeing Beiste as a victim, just because she's tall, broad-shouldered, and can bench press more than anyone. It's very, very hard to see the vulnerability in Beiste if you don't know her. Sue knows her, so it's different.
* It's weird how it's so obvious when Sue is insulting people to insult them, and when she's actually using insults as a way of saying "I care and I'm trying to help." (See: "I was hoping for Tickle-Me-Doughface" in "Furt.") I wonder if she ever insulted Jean, or if the idea of insulting her older sister was just too much for her.
* I don't think Sue actually believes Denise Beiste is a real person. I think she's letting it slide for now, but I don't think she believes that Beiste has a sister.
* Honestly, I don't either. The thing about Beiste in this episode is that she's a fucking convincing liar.
* I wonder if that's what'll break her down in the end, that she just gets sick of lying.
Other thoughts:
* Puck's as lost as Finn; he just hides it better. The cheap shots and constant vulgarity are awesome at pushing people away. And it basically works on everyone but Finn, so. (Although I do wonder if he actually thinks Blaine is the "woman" in his and Kurt's relationship. Which wouldn't really make it less offensive, but it would be kind of nice to see him giving Kurt some butchness cred.)
* I wonder if Rachel would have been better off not seeing Kurt's audition. She was so desperately convinced that the best bet was to play it safe; seeing his gamble work out so spectacularly must have thrown her entire strategy into question.
* On the other hand, it's possible that her fate was sealed during that first NYADA mixer, and everything she did to make herself feel better only made into even more of an impossible task in her head. It's possible that this was inevitable.
* I'm just saying, high expectations suck.
* Of course, as Puck proves, low expectations also suck.
* I may or may not have summed up my relationship with my older brother in those two sentences.
* Finally, as much as I loved Joe's background tree pose during the gym scene, please do not imitate his form. His arms in particular are all over the place. But I'm impressed that Samuel Larson can hold the pose while wearing shoes and long shorts -- my foot would be skidding all over the place if I tried it like that.
Also, in case you were won'drin:
Picture Rachel and Quinn duetting on this.
Now picture fandom exploding.
* I find it interesting that Roz and Sue single out only the girls who were giggling at Santana's Chris Brown joke and put them through "This week's lesson," rather than pulling in, say, all the Glee club or at least all the girls (see: Will Schuester in "Power of Madonna" and "Never Been Kissed.")
* It's also worth noting that all the girls pulled out for this one come from families that are at least suggested in canon to be really quite stable and loving. I forget who it is that says that they "just don't understand," but I think that sums up the problem quite nicely. Domestic violence isn't something that really happens in their world. It's not real to them. They don't understand.
(You do realize that most of those girls decried for tweeting that Chris Brown could hit them all he wanted are probably very nice, very sweet, and very normal, don't you?)
* Sue's mistake was expecting the girls to be operating out of the same time period that she is. Rachel, maybe, might have pulled off an Amanda Palmer-esque "What's the Use of Won'drin?" (maybe without the cannibalism). But I doubt that Santana, Mercedes, Sugar, Tina, and Brittany are familiar enough with Goffin and King (or with Hole, for that matter) to remember "He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)." I figure they probably started at "Goodbye Earl," rejected it as too country/too hard to give everyone a solo/look, Brits and I got our Dixie Chicks on once and that's enough, and went for something that, to them, seemed similar.
* Coach Beiste doesn't flinch when the girls make a joke about her getting hit. But she shatters when they sing a song justifying violence against your spouse. There's a reason for this.
* Said it before, but it bears repeating -- even Roz, who should know better, has a hard time seeing Beiste as a victim, just because she's tall, broad-shouldered, and can bench press more than anyone. It's very, very hard to see the vulnerability in Beiste if you don't know her. Sue knows her, so it's different.
* It's weird how it's so obvious when Sue is insulting people to insult them, and when she's actually using insults as a way of saying "I care and I'm trying to help." (See: "I was hoping for Tickle-Me-Doughface" in "Furt.") I wonder if she ever insulted Jean, or if the idea of insulting her older sister was just too much for her.
* I don't think Sue actually believes Denise Beiste is a real person. I think she's letting it slide for now, but I don't think she believes that Beiste has a sister.
* Honestly, I don't either. The thing about Beiste in this episode is that she's a fucking convincing liar.
* I wonder if that's what'll break her down in the end, that she just gets sick of lying.
Other thoughts:
* Puck's as lost as Finn; he just hides it better. The cheap shots and constant vulgarity are awesome at pushing people away. And it basically works on everyone but Finn, so. (Although I do wonder if he actually thinks Blaine is the "woman" in his and Kurt's relationship. Which wouldn't really make it less offensive, but it would be kind of nice to see him giving Kurt some butchness cred.)
* I wonder if Rachel would have been better off not seeing Kurt's audition. She was so desperately convinced that the best bet was to play it safe; seeing his gamble work out so spectacularly must have thrown her entire strategy into question.
* On the other hand, it's possible that her fate was sealed during that first NYADA mixer, and everything she did to make herself feel better only made into even more of an impossible task in her head. It's possible that this was inevitable.
* I'm just saying, high expectations suck.
* Of course, as Puck proves, low expectations also suck.
* I may or may not have summed up my relationship with my older brother in those two sentences.
* Finally, as much as I loved Joe's background tree pose during the gym scene, please do not imitate his form. His arms in particular are all over the place. But I'm impressed that Samuel Larson can hold the pose while wearing shoes and long shorts -- my foot would be skidding all over the place if I tried it like that.
Also, in case you were won'drin:
Click to viewPicture Rachel and Quinn duetting on this.
Now picture fandom exploding.