Kurt and Rachel Picspam
Kurt and Rachel are my favorite characters, and throughout the past 2 seasons, I've found they have a similar personality. So, I've come up with reasons why I think they're similiar and also, why they need to be best friends.
What’s so interesting about these characters is how they are almost the same character. Their personalities are very similar. The difference is, they go about it in different ways. For most of their lives, both Kurt and Rachel were only children. Just based on the background we’ve seen on Kurt and Rachel, they are both very used to getting what they want. However, I think Rachel is the only one who is used to getting her way. Rachel’s dads seemed to do and give into whatever Rachel wanted, whereas I think Burt set some limits. I think this is why Rachel takes it so personally when she doesn’t get her way in the club. She’s so used to it, not having things done according to her is absurd.
Kurt on the other hand, has suggested ideas and not gotten his way, and he goes with it. A big example is in Wheels. He clearly wants to sing Defying Gravity and even suggests it, but Mr. Schue shoots him down, and Kurt just deals with it (or, until he complains to Burt, but we’re not talking about that). However, when Kurt is in the mood, he definitely will go for it. Let’s face it, Kurt can be a huge brat when no one listens to him. In Britney/Brittany he gets sent to the principals office for talking back to Mr. Schue. This side of Kurt is rarely seen, though it’s coming out more so. On average, Rachel doesn’t know limits. She can’t turn the crazy down, but Kurt can.
To the “how they go about it” issue, Rachel likes people. She’s very outgoing and she loves to lead people. Kurt has always struck me as somewhat anti-social. He just doesn’t like people and it shows. The people he has hung out with willingly outside the club are Mercedes and Finn. We’ve seen him interact with Rachel and Brittany outside the club, but you could argue it wasn’t totally willingly (as in, yes he agreed to makeover Rachel and date Brittany, but it’s not something he wanted). Kurt makes known that he usually tries to suggest ideas to the boys (especially during competition) that they don’t listen to, and it’s clear as much as Kurt wants it, the boys don’t, and he backs off. In Never Been Kissed, Kurt has fashion boards up and showing them to a completely uninterested group of boys. This is very Rachel Berry and I’m surprised more people hadn’t picked that up.
Rachel though, she will pester someone until they agree. It’s a pretty good idea when you want someone to agree with you, but to make friends, not so much.
They are both lonely characters. I’ve seen people say Rachel can’t be lonely because she’s dated “the three hottest guys ever.” So what? They are both two very lonely people. They build themselves up because it makes them feel better and it compensates for the loneliness, not to mention both of them believe they will be big stars.
"One day, you will all work for me."
"It's lonely at the top, you know that."
They are probably the two most vulnerable characters on the show, but we rarely see that. Kurt’s been actually breaking down a LOT more this season, but previously, the only person they ever showed their vulnerable side to was Finn.
This is probably the most interesting parallel I found between them. Love. They fall, and they fall hard. I’m not just talking about how their common crush was Finn. However, it was clear the initial attraction to Finn was because of how kind he was to both of them. Clearly, no one has ever been that kind to them before.
"That was so chivalrous of you."
"He was my knight in shining armor."
Let’s face it, both of them get slightly OTT dealing with crushes, and I think it’s because they just want someone so badly. Now, I understand the Blaine/Jesse comparisons. I’m not saying Blaine is (because I don’t think he is) but I understand why people think it. Both Rachel and Kurt had pictures of Jesse and Blaine respectively in their lockers. For different reasons you can argue, but I think the gist is that they finally found someone who was like them.
Kurt and Rachel clearly think they are superior to everyone else in the club. They have made mentions that they are the most talented in glee. However, they also realize they are each others second best.
"Unless you team up with Rachel, I'm your best bet at winning this thing."
"We're going to win Nationals because we have you."
As much as they’ve had such a weird rivalry, I think they’ve always had some mutual respect for each other. Especially Rachel. I think she’s always genuinely liked Kurt. Out of everyone in the club (aside from Finn), she seems to have had the least animosity towards him. There was Hairography, and that’s where I get this idea from.
She trusted him enough to do a makeover and to help impress Finn, and I think that’s why she was so hurt he tricked her. She sounded hurt when he said they weren’t friends. Rachel doesn’t have many friends, and she really thought Kurt was one.
In Furt, Rachel was adamant on trying to help Kurt out in the bullying situation. Rachel is the first person to ever speak out against it in the club. This part is slightly more Rachel centric, but we never learned her backstory or her homelife. We hear about it, but never see it. After this episode, I had to wonder if Rachel ever saw one of her dads (or both) be bullied, or if she herself when she was younger was the victim of homophobic bullying due to her fathers. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Ohio is pretty conservative, yes? It wouldn’t surprise me if a big reason she had no friends was alienation because of that. It’d be an interesting side to Rachel I wish the writers would delve into.
Now, why should they be friends? They are the head bitches in charge at McKinley. They are both ridiculously talented and determined. They’re probably the only two students in McKinley that know extensively about Broadway or any sort of musical, which they could bond over. That scene in Duets between them was extremely sweet. Rachel’s the only person that ever realized Kurt’s crush on Finn and attraction to Sam. The fact she reached out when she didn’t have to speaks levels.
On another note, both of them have in a way took each others roles this season. Kurt and his ‘that’s true’ when Rachel said they’ll win because of him, and the fashion board. Then, Rachel with her bitchface during Forget You.
Back to Duets, we saw a conversation we’ve never seen Kurt have with his other friends, or even Rachel and Finn. Kurt and Mercedes scenes tend to be very light, and considering Kurt and Rachel’s history, it was interesting.
So, in conclusion, Kurt and Rachel can bond over their mutual love of musicals, Barbra, Judy, how they’re better than everyone else, and how someday they will take over Glee club. Which they should. It would either be the best idea or the worst - we’d either have them win every single award or all the members would quit, but either way it would be fierce.
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