The Faberry Equation
Before I start, I would like to state something: the first couple I really shipped on Glee was Quinn/Finn, and there is a part of me that will never stop shipping them. It’s not really Glee at fault, but rather a bad habit I never really grew out of - my first love is usually the one that means the most to me. We were first introduced to Quinn/Finn as a dysfunctional couple at best but they were still each other’s first loves, and I bought into that. Despite recent developments on the show, I haven’t completely sold out on it, either.
And yet I am getting off track.
Because the point is, I don’t believe Quinn/Finn are the unsolved equation on Glee. Quinn/Rachel -Faberry, in other words- are the ones who prove that Glee could quite possibly the show that has it all, but maybe, just maybe, is also the show that is afraid of its own potential.
It would be easier, in some ways, to dismiss Faberry if the actresses in question - Dianna Agron and Lea Michele - didn’t work so well together. If they were coworkers, friends at best, that would be one thing. If there were no natural chemistry, if there wasn’t that subtle subtext, then it would be a lot easier to deal with, to accept.
I can only imagine it would simpler, too, for the producers if Agron and Michele weren’t what they are -even though what they are is hard to define with any certainty- because as of right now, the producers are running out of excuses not have these two actresses together in scenes more often.
Until recently, one of the primary arguments Michele and Agron could never have a duet together is because their voices were seen as simply ‘too incompatible’. For the longest time, that excuse worked, and the public had no choice but to trust the producers and the quiet judgment going on behind the scenes. And until the duet, the argument held true.
But “I Feel Pretty/Unpretty” changed all that.
Lea Michele has always implicitly considered Glee as being “hers” and no one can really fault her for believing that. It is her background, after all, that gave the show credibility when it first aired and Broadway critics were voicing their skepticism - they still are, but now it is for different reasons -and it is her voice that made people take notice.
Glee may Ryan Murphy’s creation but for all intent and purposes, it is Lea Michele’s show. Although never explicitly stating it, it is her voice that sells, her voice that allows the creators to suggest they could compete with Broadway.
Agron herself has proven that while she may not have Michele’s vocal range, she can still hold her own. There are arguments to made, too, that two wouldn’t be able to find a genre that would fit both of them. It would be difficult to advocate Agron holding her on a Broadway song the way Michele does so effortlessly, but likewise, Michele singing random pop songs at times feels almost a little wrong, as if she’s appealing to the masses rather than the stage she grew up on.
But then “I Feel Pretty/Unpretty” aired, and the norms found themselves changing. It would be very, very difficult to listen to “I Feel Pretty/Unpretty” and not find it moving; it would be even harder to say that their voices do not work together. Michele didn’t have to hold herself back, and Agron proved the critics wrong.
The duet worked well, and it raises questions as to why it took the producers almost two years to have a duet together. Their voices did blend together, and as so often is the case when Agron and Michele have a scene together, the chemistry was there too.
Agron and Michele have chemistry, true, but there’s something else, a subtle aspect that tends to draw people in: intrigue, and it is one of those aspects that actors either share, or they don’t. Say what you will about how Faberry has been handled, but the intrigue is still there.
It ranges across the board, stolen moments that one assume was left in the final cut precisely because it was open to interpretation- or at the very least, could also be swept under the rug if the questions became too much of a burden.
• Quinn torments Rachel throughout the first two years - and yet the audience is treated to a snapshot of Quinn’s sketchbook, where she has drawn hearts around a caricature of Rachel.
• They claim to hate each other, and yet the only one who has really defended Rachel - or even, the only one who has ever really stood up for her - is Quinn.
• It is Rachel, not Finn, who chose Quinn’s corsage for prom - and based it not only the color of her eyes, but also a flower whose significance is “secret hidden love”.
And yet, despite all these subtleties, despite all these possibilities, the producers pretend that Faberry could not exist. They have the chance to explore something extremely powerful - the number of plotlines is endless, and my, what a refreshing change it could bring to the show! Granted, to explore Faberry is not without risk, but surely, in the long run, it is one worth taking?
Faberry’s solution is in some ways the cause of its problems: it could be everything, but it is hard to define it as anything. What it Faberry, exactly, rather that a plot development just waiting to be explored? The potential is there. The chemistry is there. After “I Feel Pretty/Unpretty”, the producers are running out of excuses not to use Michele and Agron together more often.
Two seasons in, Glee is still a relatively young show, and so certain growing pains are not only to be expected but should also be forgiven. And yet, while it is unfair to say that Ryan Murphy knows best, he and his team of producers and writers should at the very least know better. Because in Faberry, they have the option of making a huge impact. Realistically, Glee is not going to change the world. But it could make a difference, and that is not too much to ask.
And yet I am getting off track.
Because the point is, I don’t believe Quinn/Finn are the unsolved equation on Glee. Quinn/Rachel -Faberry, in other words- are the ones who prove that Glee could quite possibly the show that has it all, but maybe, just maybe, is also the show that is afraid of its own potential.
It would be easier, in some ways, to dismiss Faberry if the actresses in question - Dianna Agron and Lea Michele - didn’t work so well together. If they were coworkers, friends at best, that would be one thing. If there were no natural chemistry, if there wasn’t that subtle subtext, then it would be a lot easier to deal with, to accept.
I can only imagine it would simpler, too, for the producers if Agron and Michele weren’t what they are -even though what they are is hard to define with any certainty- because as of right now, the producers are running out of excuses not have these two actresses together in scenes more often.
Until recently, one of the primary arguments Michele and Agron could never have a duet together is because their voices were seen as simply ‘too incompatible’. For the longest time, that excuse worked, and the public had no choice but to trust the producers and the quiet judgment going on behind the scenes. And until the duet, the argument held true.
But “I Feel Pretty/Unpretty” changed all that.
Lea Michele has always implicitly considered Glee as being “hers” and no one can really fault her for believing that. It is her background, after all, that gave the show credibility when it first aired and Broadway critics were voicing their skepticism - they still are, but now it is for different reasons -and it is her voice that made people take notice.
Glee may Ryan Murphy’s creation but for all intent and purposes, it is Lea Michele’s show. Although never explicitly stating it, it is her voice that sells, her voice that allows the creators to suggest they could compete with Broadway.
Agron herself has proven that while she may not have Michele’s vocal range, she can still hold her own. There are arguments to made, too, that two wouldn’t be able to find a genre that would fit both of them. It would be difficult to advocate Agron holding her on a Broadway song the way Michele does so effortlessly, but likewise, Michele singing random pop songs at times feels almost a little wrong, as if she’s appealing to the masses rather than the stage she grew up on.
But then “I Feel Pretty/Unpretty” aired, and the norms found themselves changing. It would be very, very difficult to listen to “I Feel Pretty/Unpretty” and not find it moving; it would be even harder to say that their voices do not work together. Michele didn’t have to hold herself back, and Agron proved the critics wrong.
The duet worked well, and it raises questions as to why it took the producers almost two years to have a duet together. Their voices did blend together, and as so often is the case when Agron and Michele have a scene together, the chemistry was there too.
Agron and Michele have chemistry, true, but there’s something else, a subtle aspect that tends to draw people in: intrigue, and it is one of those aspects that actors either share, or they don’t. Say what you will about how Faberry has been handled, but the intrigue is still there.
It ranges across the board, stolen moments that one assume was left in the final cut precisely because it was open to interpretation- or at the very least, could also be swept under the rug if the questions became too much of a burden.
• Quinn torments Rachel throughout the first two years - and yet the audience is treated to a snapshot of Quinn’s sketchbook, where she has drawn hearts around a caricature of Rachel.
• They claim to hate each other, and yet the only one who has really defended Rachel - or even, the only one who has ever really stood up for her - is Quinn.
• It is Rachel, not Finn, who chose Quinn’s corsage for prom - and based it not only the color of her eyes, but also a flower whose significance is “secret hidden love”.
And yet, despite all these subtleties, despite all these possibilities, the producers pretend that Faberry could not exist. They have the chance to explore something extremely powerful - the number of plotlines is endless, and my, what a refreshing change it could bring to the show! Granted, to explore Faberry is not without risk, but surely, in the long run, it is one worth taking?
Faberry’s solution is in some ways the cause of its problems: it could be everything, but it is hard to define it as anything. What it Faberry, exactly, rather that a plot development just waiting to be explored? The potential is there. The chemistry is there. After “I Feel Pretty/Unpretty”, the producers are running out of excuses not to use Michele and Agron together more often.
Two seasons in, Glee is still a relatively young show, and so certain growing pains are not only to be expected but should also be forgiven. And yet, while it is unfair to say that Ryan Murphy knows best, he and his team of producers and writers should at the very least know better. Because in Faberry, they have the option of making a huge impact. Realistically, Glee is not going to change the world. But it could make a difference, and that is not too much to ask.