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altogetherisi I'm home! I spent Friday in the office, and now so far I'm spending Saturday in bed glorying in the internet.
My friends were on University Challenge again. Watch it before the iPlayer deletes them!
And now, some thoughts on what went down in Glee 2x14 Blame It On The Alcohol.
There were no thoughts written about 2x13 because it was shit and confirmed for me that I don't care for Sam and that was about the extent of my reaction. But. 2x14.
Those of you that follow me on twitter may know that a couple of weeks ago the internet suggested a rumour to me that I found incredibly horrific, and in 2x14 this rumour came to pass. And it was that Blaine had a bit of an experiment with girls. And not just girls - Rachel. Ew. EW.
It's a bizarre ep to have in the first place in my opinion. I mean, I know that a lot of Glee is ridic in the extreme and there is much suspension of belief necessary to get on board and enjoy. But yeah. Like, why are they even talking about this? I refuse to believe that American high schools really are full of students that turn up drunk. I mean, that can't be true. On the other hand, I understand that many Americans are more uptight about alcohol than most people in the UK and Europe but, I don't know. The whole tone of the episode was very odd. Look at Skins. Or the Inbetweeners. We are bored at school, and get drunk outside of school. This is somewhat expected.
Anyway, so. The whole Kurt, Blaine and Rachel storyline.
Let's start with Blaine (since he is the best). And behaves the least badly (but, not totally perfect. But that's ok.) Blaine thinks he's gay, but enjoys kissing Rachel, and so wonders if maybe he's bisexual, and goes on a date with her, but then when she kisses him again while he's sober there's no chemistry and he knows he's gay. So, great, good for you Blaine. Things that are good about this - Blaine openness about his sexuality and despite being confused, generally not freaking out about the possibility that he might me something other than he has assumed. This is good. He defends himself well when Kurt gets angry and shows pretty well (but not perfectly) a reason that Kurt is wrong to be angry at him, which I liked. Plus, Darren Criss's acting in the scene when Blaine and Kurt argue at the cafe was excellent - the way his face crumpled, oh my.
Now, here's the crux of what my problem is with what happened between these three friends this episodes. And it's right there. They are friends.
I get that the Glee club is getting to be really rather incestuous. And I know that sometimes in real life, friendship groups can contain some couples and some partner swapping, especially when they are made up of teenagers that are bursting with hormones and yet have a very small social circle to work this out with. It does sometimes lead to people dating and/or sleeping with people (and sometimes several people) that have also been been with a friend. Or even, many of your friends. OK, I get it. This does happen.
But to me, and the friendship group I was part of particularly, a) friends come first, and b) you do not go out with someone's ex. You do not. I think this was particularly because boys we knew we met away from our other friends, and so in the context of the friendship group, that partner kinda belonged to that person. Even if they broke up, they were still kinda theirs, and they always would be. Whereas the friendship groups that did swap partners around between them did it as a group - everyone was pretty much equal friends to begin with, and so people didn't have quite the same thing. Which is why people partner swapping within Glee club is one thing, but Rachel going after Blaine is something else entirely, because regardless of gender and sexuality, Blaine and Rachel both "belong" to Kurt, and each of them totally disregarded him.
Obviously, I don't actually believe that being possessive of other people is a good thing, or even a healthy thing, and I don't think it should be promoted. I hate the idea that people should meet their first partner in school and then be theirs and be together forever or whatever, that's a load of bollocks and is probably quite damaging.
My point is that while Blaine is totally entitled, and maybe even lauded, toward his attitude to his sexuality, he totally ignored Kurt. He was really freaking insensitive toward Kurt. And people that are dicks to people that are meant to be their friends suck.
Kurt told Blaine that he liked him. IMO, it's insensitive enough after that for Blaine to casually talk about dating other people not just in front of Kurt, but to Kurt. This is a way in which Blaine is not perfect. It's understandable though - Blaine isn't as confident as he makes out, and clearly has taken to leaning on Kurt just as much as he supports him. That's fine, that's realistic. Not being perfect is good. Just, it also involves, by definition, being bad. So, Blaine was hugely insensitive to Kurt - not only dating someone else, casually, and discussing this with Kurt as if it wouldn't hurt him, but dating another friend of Kurt's. Who is also hurting Kurt, and also, by the way, Kurt's sometime rival.
That's behaving badly. I know, I have witnessed and participated in such bad behaviour. It's not good.
Plus, on top of hurting Kurt in, what, am I up to three ways now? On top of that, Blaine, bless him, doesn't seem to notice. At all. Now, Blaine is being confused about his sexuality here, so I should perhaps cut him some leeway for being distracted. But still, it is Kurt that is the friend Blaine still want to talk to about this stuff - they are close. Maybe even best friends. And Blaine acts insensitively, hurts Kurt, and doesn't even notice.
ARGH.
Which goes to show, he may be gay, but he's still a clueless teenage boy with the emotional range of a teaspoon. *sigh* BE MORE AWARE BLAINE.
Well, I can't be mad at Blaine for long, he's too lovely.
So let's talk about Rachel.
Rachel surprised me this ep, but the more I think about it I feel that I shouldn't have been surprised. More than anything else, more even than her talent, Rachel's character is selfish and self-centred. And she goes after what she wants, and she thinks she deserves to have it. She's still hung up on Finn, of course, but he rejects her (again, and rather cruelly IMO) and Blaine is more receptive, so she is curious and interested. And, IMO, a bit bored and playing around.
(On a side note, I think it's nice to see a girl ask a guy out. Then again, this isn't really a positive portrayal of such things, especially since it ends up with the boy being totally not interested, ie "if he's really interested, he'll ask you out!" and if you ask him out nothing will come of it. SO. Hmmm about that.)
And she too completely disregards Kurt's feelings AND aside from not caring if going after Blaine hurts Kurt, also does this horrible thing of still confiding in Kurt. Maybe this is a YMMV thing, but I am used to the idea that if two people starting dating around a third person, which is either awkward or even hurtful in this case, it's tactful to not also tell them all about it like it doesn't make them want to cry or punch you in the face or whatever.
But why would Kurt actually have feelings of his own when he's a convenient sounding board.
Rachel is not a teenage boy, but she is selfish and totally wrapped up in/obsessed with her own self in every way, so while I think she behaved worse than Blaine AND should have known better, it is understandable. It's understandable. That's one of the reasons it's so so annoying. Argh.
And now, I suppose, we get to Kurt. Kurt, who I clearly have a lot of sympathy for. Kurt mainly spent this episode both being hurt and being given the message that he shouldn't be being hurt by Blaine and Rachel's actions, which always makes these things worse. ALWAYS.
Rachel is not just going after someone that it's understandable for Kurt to feel a bit possessive over, she's not just going after an ex, she is going after the boy Kurt still actively has a thing for AND she knows this very well. She's doing something that not only could, and does, hurt Kurt but she doesn't seem to care or notice or give two hoots that he is hurting, and in fact gives off, IMO, pretty clear "you shouldn't be feeling hurt by this" vibes. Injury, meet insult. AND these are the people that are meant to be Kurt's friends!
Who remembers when, back in season 1 when things made a bit more sense, Kurt and Rachel were both going after Finn, despite his being with Quinn? And in particular, the way Rachel said something along the lines of "he'll always like me more, because I'm a girl." Compare then to now, and Rachel's action must be even more hurtful. Blaine isn't just Kurt's friend, he's the only other openly gay teenager Kurt knows, and he's (unfortunately or not) somewhat Kurt's happy, cool, well adjusted gay role model. If Kurt and Rachel were to replay the both-going-after-the-same-guy thing again, on paper at least finally Kurt ought to be able to say that even if Blaine isn't interested in either of them, at least he's the right gender and orientation this time.
And instead, he gets the rug pulled out from under him. Blaine, who he thinks is gay and who knows Kurt likes him, enjoys kissing Rachel to the extent that he agrees to have a date with her. I just can't get over how insanely hurt Kurt must have felt to still, again, be judged as second to Rachel.
Blaine and Rachel are never serious about each other - Rachel is totally hung up on Finn and Blaine is just experimenting a little - but IMO this makes their actions more callous. It's one thing to hurt a friend over love, it's something much worse to hurt your friend over nothing much at all.
Plus, back to the "gay role model" thing. Remember, Kurt has experimented with girls too - when he tried to be straight and got at least as far as making out with Brittany. To Kurt, that did not fit at all, and he did it all about image, so while he is wrong it's again understandable that he interprets Blaine wanting to experiment as him trying to get back in the closet. Because that's what Kurt was doing when he was in a comparable place. Kurt really likes Blaine, but I get the sense he also superimposes a lot of himself onto Blaine, especially as another gay boy. So when they disagree at all that is weird to Kurt, but also, realising that Blaine might have actually enjoyed his kiss with a girl, when Kurt discounts his Brittany kisses entirely (as he, bizarrely, attributes his "first kiss" to Karofsky... weirdo) demonstrates that actually Blaine is his own person, and in some ways maybe they really do differ.
And so Kurt is thoroughly hurt and confused, and he lashes out.
And here comes Kurt's bad behaviour, because his comments, Kurt and Blaine's argument, about bisexuality actually made me gasp. Like bisexuals don't get enough of a crappy deal. Anyway, I thought during the argument, on the one hand Blaine defended himself quite well, but on the other I really expected him to defend bisexuality. At least a bit, and he didn't really. I really hope that I can attribute Kurt's outburst purely to him being angry and wanting to hurt Blaine with any line he could, and not that Kurt really holds such a viewpoint of bisexuals. But as it stands, I expects the writers will just move on and we'll hear little more about it. .But, no, Kurt. That is not right, and it is not ok. And I wish that he had been called on that comment in particular.
So, to sum up - this storyline was strange, ultimately a bit pointless and involved everyone acting in a hurtful and ignorant manner, and no one really grew as a character, except possibly Blaine but actually not really.
The acting was awesome though.
Next thing: Kurt and his dad. That scene weirded out and confused me. First of all, I was out of kilter because Kurt used to live in the basement but now lives upstairs? Well, whatever. Then I thought Burt was going to be all cool about Blaine staying over, only for him to really not be. Now, I realise that attitudes to sex, and particularly to teenagers having sex varies a lot, not just between here and across the pond but probably down my road or whatever too. But I don't think I've ever seen a portrayal of a parent so uncomfortable with their child's sexuality, and the weird thing he had about sex in his house? That completely through me. I thought he would like, give Kurt some condoms and never want to talk about it, but instead he had this weird homophobic hissy fit.
Again, remember when Kurt was with Brittany. Burt walked in on them making out together. And he told them to use protection, and then he left. But Blaine stays over, and nothing sexual even happens, and this is a big deal? I mean, what is this fuckery. AND THEN the utterly ridiculous and just plain weird claim that Burt defensive says he doesn't really know what gay sex is like. Well, first of all, STRAIGHT MEN KNOW ABOUT ANAL SEX. Can I just get that out there? So much homophobic stuff seems to stem from the very clear knowledge straight men have of gay sex and the ridiculous notion that they might be pressured into doing them. (They should try being a woman in a misogynistic environment.) Burt isn't stupid, and I frankly utterly refuse to believe that he doesn't know what anal sex is. I'm sure he's had a blowjob in his time. BURT, IT ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE.
I think I have lost track of what my point is. Except that Burt is being homophobic and hypocritical and also really rather confusing to someone that is used to the idea of adults encouraging safe and sensible sexual exploration and being available for honest conversations on a basis of mutual respect. The idea of an adult being so anti sex in practice is, well, weird. I mean, I expect it from like, Quinn's parents, because they werecrazy heavily socially right wing and religious. But Burt is generally better than that.
Plus, everyone thought Finn got Quinn pregnant, and apart from Quinn's parents everyone else on the show was all "well, this is unfortunate" but you know what, KIDS HAVE SEX and if you're way more freaked out by hypothetical gay sex between boys that might be interested in each other than by heterosexual drunk one night stand that leads to pregnancy, well that's messed up.
Other things that I remember thinking about during this episode:
Lol I recognise this song from Johnny Weir fandom.
I don't really like Sam anymore, but thought his hair looked good ruffled after kissing Brittany. I choose to believe that Santana wanted him off Brittany as much as she wanted Brittany off Sam. Need more Brittana! Or Santtany, as she said on that lolarious five way phone convo.
I just don't like Artie, he's a tool.
GIVE MERCEDES A STORYLINE.
Lol crushed Oreos.
You people really need to understand that being single doesn't mean your life is empty and meaningless and you must be miserable.
Seriously, what are wine coolers?
All the songs were boring.
Darren Criss is basically perfection.
My friends were on University Challenge again. Watch it before the iPlayer deletes them!
And now, some thoughts on what went down in Glee 2x14 Blame It On The Alcohol.
There were no thoughts written about 2x13 because it was shit and confirmed for me that I don't care for Sam and that was about the extent of my reaction. But. 2x14.
Those of you that follow me on twitter may know that a couple of weeks ago the internet suggested a rumour to me that I found incredibly horrific, and in 2x14 this rumour came to pass. And it was that Blaine had a bit of an experiment with girls. And not just girls - Rachel. Ew. EW.
It's a bizarre ep to have in the first place in my opinion. I mean, I know that a lot of Glee is ridic in the extreme and there is much suspension of belief necessary to get on board and enjoy. But yeah. Like, why are they even talking about this? I refuse to believe that American high schools really are full of students that turn up drunk. I mean, that can't be true. On the other hand, I understand that many Americans are more uptight about alcohol than most people in the UK and Europe but, I don't know. The whole tone of the episode was very odd. Look at Skins. Or the Inbetweeners. We are bored at school, and get drunk outside of school. This is somewhat expected.
Anyway, so. The whole Kurt, Blaine and Rachel storyline.
Let's start with Blaine (since he is the best). And behaves the least badly (but, not totally perfect. But that's ok.) Blaine thinks he's gay, but enjoys kissing Rachel, and so wonders if maybe he's bisexual, and goes on a date with her, but then when she kisses him again while he's sober there's no chemistry and he knows he's gay. So, great, good for you Blaine. Things that are good about this - Blaine openness about his sexuality and despite being confused, generally not freaking out about the possibility that he might me something other than he has assumed. This is good. He defends himself well when Kurt gets angry and shows pretty well (but not perfectly) a reason that Kurt is wrong to be angry at him, which I liked. Plus, Darren Criss's acting in the scene when Blaine and Kurt argue at the cafe was excellent - the way his face crumpled, oh my.
Now, here's the crux of what my problem is with what happened between these three friends this episodes. And it's right there. They are friends.
I get that the Glee club is getting to be really rather incestuous. And I know that sometimes in real life, friendship groups can contain some couples and some partner swapping, especially when they are made up of teenagers that are bursting with hormones and yet have a very small social circle to work this out with. It does sometimes lead to people dating and/or sleeping with people (and sometimes several people) that have also been been with a friend. Or even, many of your friends. OK, I get it. This does happen.
But to me, and the friendship group I was part of particularly, a) friends come first, and b) you do not go out with someone's ex. You do not. I think this was particularly because boys we knew we met away from our other friends, and so in the context of the friendship group, that partner kinda belonged to that person. Even if they broke up, they were still kinda theirs, and they always would be. Whereas the friendship groups that did swap partners around between them did it as a group - everyone was pretty much equal friends to begin with, and so people didn't have quite the same thing. Which is why people partner swapping within Glee club is one thing, but Rachel going after Blaine is something else entirely, because regardless of gender and sexuality, Blaine and Rachel both "belong" to Kurt, and each of them totally disregarded him.
Obviously, I don't actually believe that being possessive of other people is a good thing, or even a healthy thing, and I don't think it should be promoted. I hate the idea that people should meet their first partner in school and then be theirs and be together forever or whatever, that's a load of bollocks and is probably quite damaging.
My point is that while Blaine is totally entitled, and maybe even lauded, toward his attitude to his sexuality, he totally ignored Kurt. He was really freaking insensitive toward Kurt. And people that are dicks to people that are meant to be their friends suck.
Kurt told Blaine that he liked him. IMO, it's insensitive enough after that for Blaine to casually talk about dating other people not just in front of Kurt, but to Kurt. This is a way in which Blaine is not perfect. It's understandable though - Blaine isn't as confident as he makes out, and clearly has taken to leaning on Kurt just as much as he supports him. That's fine, that's realistic. Not being perfect is good. Just, it also involves, by definition, being bad. So, Blaine was hugely insensitive to Kurt - not only dating someone else, casually, and discussing this with Kurt as if it wouldn't hurt him, but dating another friend of Kurt's. Who is also hurting Kurt, and also, by the way, Kurt's sometime rival.
That's behaving badly. I know, I have witnessed and participated in such bad behaviour. It's not good.
Plus, on top of hurting Kurt in, what, am I up to three ways now? On top of that, Blaine, bless him, doesn't seem to notice. At all. Now, Blaine is being confused about his sexuality here, so I should perhaps cut him some leeway for being distracted. But still, it is Kurt that is the friend Blaine still want to talk to about this stuff - they are close. Maybe even best friends. And Blaine acts insensitively, hurts Kurt, and doesn't even notice.
ARGH.
Which goes to show, he may be gay, but he's still a clueless teenage boy with the emotional range of a teaspoon. *sigh* BE MORE AWARE BLAINE.
Well, I can't be mad at Blaine for long, he's too lovely.
So let's talk about Rachel.
Rachel surprised me this ep, but the more I think about it I feel that I shouldn't have been surprised. More than anything else, more even than her talent, Rachel's character is selfish and self-centred. And she goes after what she wants, and she thinks she deserves to have it. She's still hung up on Finn, of course, but he rejects her (again, and rather cruelly IMO) and Blaine is more receptive, so she is curious and interested. And, IMO, a bit bored and playing around.
(On a side note, I think it's nice to see a girl ask a guy out. Then again, this isn't really a positive portrayal of such things, especially since it ends up with the boy being totally not interested, ie "if he's really interested, he'll ask you out!" and if you ask him out nothing will come of it. SO. Hmmm about that.)
And she too completely disregards Kurt's feelings AND aside from not caring if going after Blaine hurts Kurt, also does this horrible thing of still confiding in Kurt. Maybe this is a YMMV thing, but I am used to the idea that if two people starting dating around a third person, which is either awkward or even hurtful in this case, it's tactful to not also tell them all about it like it doesn't make them want to cry or punch you in the face or whatever.
But why would Kurt actually have feelings of his own when he's a convenient sounding board.
Rachel is not a teenage boy, but she is selfish and totally wrapped up in/obsessed with her own self in every way, so while I think she behaved worse than Blaine AND should have known better, it is understandable. It's understandable. That's one of the reasons it's so so annoying. Argh.
And now, I suppose, we get to Kurt. Kurt, who I clearly have a lot of sympathy for. Kurt mainly spent this episode both being hurt and being given the message that he shouldn't be being hurt by Blaine and Rachel's actions, which always makes these things worse. ALWAYS.
Rachel is not just going after someone that it's understandable for Kurt to feel a bit possessive over, she's not just going after an ex, she is going after the boy Kurt still actively has a thing for AND she knows this very well. She's doing something that not only could, and does, hurt Kurt but she doesn't seem to care or notice or give two hoots that he is hurting, and in fact gives off, IMO, pretty clear "you shouldn't be feeling hurt by this" vibes. Injury, meet insult. AND these are the people that are meant to be Kurt's friends!
Who remembers when, back in season 1 when things made a bit more sense, Kurt and Rachel were both going after Finn, despite his being with Quinn? And in particular, the way Rachel said something along the lines of "he'll always like me more, because I'm a girl." Compare then to now, and Rachel's action must be even more hurtful. Blaine isn't just Kurt's friend, he's the only other openly gay teenager Kurt knows, and he's (unfortunately or not) somewhat Kurt's happy, cool, well adjusted gay role model. If Kurt and Rachel were to replay the both-going-after-the-same-guy thing again, on paper at least finally Kurt ought to be able to say that even if Blaine isn't interested in either of them, at least he's the right gender and orientation this time.
And instead, he gets the rug pulled out from under him. Blaine, who he thinks is gay and who knows Kurt likes him, enjoys kissing Rachel to the extent that he agrees to have a date with her. I just can't get over how insanely hurt Kurt must have felt to still, again, be judged as second to Rachel.
Blaine and Rachel are never serious about each other - Rachel is totally hung up on Finn and Blaine is just experimenting a little - but IMO this makes their actions more callous. It's one thing to hurt a friend over love, it's something much worse to hurt your friend over nothing much at all.
Plus, back to the "gay role model" thing. Remember, Kurt has experimented with girls too - when he tried to be straight and got at least as far as making out with Brittany. To Kurt, that did not fit at all, and he did it all about image, so while he is wrong it's again understandable that he interprets Blaine wanting to experiment as him trying to get back in the closet. Because that's what Kurt was doing when he was in a comparable place. Kurt really likes Blaine, but I get the sense he also superimposes a lot of himself onto Blaine, especially as another gay boy. So when they disagree at all that is weird to Kurt, but also, realising that Blaine might have actually enjoyed his kiss with a girl, when Kurt discounts his Brittany kisses entirely (as he, bizarrely, attributes his "first kiss" to Karofsky... weirdo) demonstrates that actually Blaine is his own person, and in some ways maybe they really do differ.
And so Kurt is thoroughly hurt and confused, and he lashes out.
And here comes Kurt's bad behaviour, because his comments, Kurt and Blaine's argument, about bisexuality actually made me gasp. Like bisexuals don't get enough of a crappy deal. Anyway, I thought during the argument, on the one hand Blaine defended himself quite well, but on the other I really expected him to defend bisexuality. At least a bit, and he didn't really. I really hope that I can attribute Kurt's outburst purely to him being angry and wanting to hurt Blaine with any line he could, and not that Kurt really holds such a viewpoint of bisexuals. But as it stands, I expects the writers will just move on and we'll hear little more about it. .But, no, Kurt. That is not right, and it is not ok. And I wish that he had been called on that comment in particular.
So, to sum up - this storyline was strange, ultimately a bit pointless and involved everyone acting in a hurtful and ignorant manner, and no one really grew as a character, except possibly Blaine but actually not really.
The acting was awesome though.
Next thing: Kurt and his dad. That scene weirded out and confused me. First of all, I was out of kilter because Kurt used to live in the basement but now lives upstairs? Well, whatever. Then I thought Burt was going to be all cool about Blaine staying over, only for him to really not be. Now, I realise that attitudes to sex, and particularly to teenagers having sex varies a lot, not just between here and across the pond but probably down my road or whatever too. But I don't think I've ever seen a portrayal of a parent so uncomfortable with their child's sexuality, and the weird thing he had about sex in his house? That completely through me. I thought he would like, give Kurt some condoms and never want to talk about it, but instead he had this weird homophobic hissy fit.
Again, remember when Kurt was with Brittany. Burt walked in on them making out together. And he told them to use protection, and then he left. But Blaine stays over, and nothing sexual even happens, and this is a big deal? I mean, what is this fuckery. AND THEN the utterly ridiculous and just plain weird claim that Burt defensive says he doesn't really know what gay sex is like. Well, first of all, STRAIGHT MEN KNOW ABOUT ANAL SEX. Can I just get that out there? So much homophobic stuff seems to stem from the very clear knowledge straight men have of gay sex and the ridiculous notion that they might be pressured into doing them. (They should try being a woman in a misogynistic environment.) Burt isn't stupid, and I frankly utterly refuse to believe that he doesn't know what anal sex is. I'm sure he's had a blowjob in his time. BURT, IT ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE.
I think I have lost track of what my point is. Except that Burt is being homophobic and hypocritical and also really rather confusing to someone that is used to the idea of adults encouraging safe and sensible sexual exploration and being available for honest conversations on a basis of mutual respect. The idea of an adult being so anti sex in practice is, well, weird. I mean, I expect it from like, Quinn's parents, because they were
Plus, everyone thought Finn got Quinn pregnant, and apart from Quinn's parents everyone else on the show was all "well, this is unfortunate" but you know what, KIDS HAVE SEX and if you're way more freaked out by hypothetical gay sex between boys that might be interested in each other than by heterosexual drunk one night stand that leads to pregnancy, well that's messed up.
Other things that I remember thinking about during this episode:
Lol I recognise this song from Johnny Weir fandom.
I don't really like Sam anymore, but thought his hair looked good ruffled after kissing Brittany. I choose to believe that Santana wanted him off Brittany as much as she wanted Brittany off Sam. Need more Brittana! Or Santtany, as she said on that lolarious five way phone convo.
I just don't like Artie, he's a tool.
GIVE MERCEDES A STORYLINE.
Lol crushed Oreos.
You people really need to understand that being single doesn't mean your life is empty and meaningless and you must be miserable.
Seriously, what are wine coolers?
All the songs were boring.
Darren Criss is basically perfection.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-26 05:12 pm (UTC)I can sort of see your point about Kurt, but honestly, I never thought of Kurt and Rachel close enough for him to be considered as a person whose ex you won't date. Yeah, they hang out sometimes now that they aren't in the same school to compete and diva-off, but Rachel going after Blaine didn't seem unexpected or weird to me.
I also think Kurt is just always a victim on this show. People are always doing things to him and he is always getting hurt (according to how Glee portrays things), but in the real world, no one has to tiptoe around your feelings when you like someone. Chances are they probably won't it even think twice about it. Kurt decided to continue to be Blaine's friend even after knowing he wasn't interested in a relationship (at least for now), and that decision basically voids out the necessity for Blaine to hide his date or his questioning his sexuality. I bet it hurt Kurt, but you can't be someone's friend and just avoid parts of them that hurt you. And it's unrealistic to ask that of someone. And anyway, I think that even if he didn't mention it to his face, Kurt would have found out another way and been even more hurt.
I guess my comments sound mean, but I really do like Kurt.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-26 05:13 pm (UTC)I get that the Glee club is getting to be really rather incestuous.
Oh my God, THIS. It's getting so ridiculous. Because this is not even a love pentagon or whatever anymore, this is... well, RIDICULOUS actually sums it up quite well.
Anyway, Rachel and Blaine totally disregarding Kurt's feelings in this episode was what probably irked me the most. Because, honestly, it's okay for Blaine to explore his sexuality, and it's also okay for him to date other people if he likes them, even though Kurt fancies him. But... here's another thing. Blaine has kind of been leading Kurt on the entire time (before the episode with the GAP guy, that is), or it at least looked like it, and then it seemed as though he wanted to work this out with Kurt, but then he sways off that path again and not only goes on a date with someone who is supposed to be Kurt's friend but totally expects Kurt to be supportive of it? I obviously would wish for Kurt to be more accepting of Blaine not being sure about his sexuality and about bisexuality in general, but Blaine is really asking a bit too much there. And I'm really not going to get started on Rachel with the "Kurt, I'm glad we're such good friends now. Oh, hello Kurt's crush, wanna go out?" attitude. OUCH.
And instead, he gets the rug pulled out from under him. Blaine, who he thinks is gay and who knows Kurt likes him, enjoys kissing Rachel to the extent that he agrees to have a date with her. I just can't get over how insanely hurt Kurt must have felt to still, again, be judged as second to Rachel.
That, and the stuff about Rachel and Kurt both going after Finn. Isi, I love you for this. I didn't even remember Rachel saying that to Kurt, but hell, you're right. This stuff is so wrong.
Okay, the scene with Burt and Kurt. Do you know, I think I actually kind of zoomed out during that scene. There was a lot of yelling going on on Burt's side and a lot of high-pitched screaming on Kurt's, and my brain was going "screaming screaming screaming what the heck is going on wow Kurt is being bitchy". *facepalm* I have now rewatched the scene, and you were totally right for making a sadface at me on twitter, and I obviously deserve to be showered with disdain because what I said earlier was crap. I thought that Burt was having a point, what with not being okay with Finn having a girl over for a sleepover, but I had totally disregarded the fact that he actually walked in on Kurt and Brittany making out and was all "whoops, sorry for interrupting, gotta get going!" without any hint whatsoever that he was upset, annoyed or uncomfortable.
Now, I do understand that Burt is a bit weirded out by this whole thing because gay sex is obviously not something he is overly familiar with, but his assertion that he knows nothing about it at all? I agree with you, that is utter nonsense. I mean come on, it's not that obscure, there are not that many options. Anyway, while I get that this may be confusing for him because it is something new for him too, he is not only acting ignorant but also actually says rather offensive things. Because he makes it sound as though gay sex is not an okay way to have sex. (See his comment on Brokeback Mountain. Or the way he phrases the stuff he says about gay sex, really.) And I really, really don't get it, because Burt was okay with Kurt's sexuality before and didn't he say he knew since Kurt was four or something? Well, that leaves him with plenty of time he could have used for becoming comfortable with what would sooner or later happen - his son sleeping with other men. But no, now all he does is more or less forbidding Kurt to actually explore his sexuality (and how does "exploring your sexuality" translate to "being inappropriate"?). Maybe Kurt is asking a bit too much of him asking him to educate himself about gay sex so that Kurt can come to him about it, but how is it wrong helping your child along while he is making baby steps trying to explore his sexuality?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-26 05:13 pm (UTC)Need more Brittana! Or Santtany, as she said on that lolarious five way phone convo.
AMEN TO THAT.
I just don't like Artie, he's a tool.
And to that.
GIVE MERCEDES A STORYLINE.
AND TO THAT TOO.
Basically, this comment is much too long and rambly and probably repeating a bunch of stuff you already said. Sorry. :/ (It is actually so long and rambling that I had to make it into two separate comments. How lame is that.) Also: Darren Criss is indeed perfection. As is this post.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-26 06:30 pm (UTC)This is very odd to me, for two reasons.
Firstly, if you know them at all, then you're close enough in my book to not date each others exes, UNLESS the three or more of you are on an equal basis. It's a matter of respect and caring for the feelings of your friend, which Blaine and Rachel did not do and which I have a problem with. Personally, I backed off heavily flirting with a guy once because I found out he was the ex of a friend of a friend, because I didn't want things to be weird or for her to think I was moving in on her guy, and just generally because it's a form of baggage. It's not just about exes - dating the sibling of a friend, or hell, one of their parental units, or another good friend of theirs that you hadn't met before are the same. Fucking with the existing relationships of somebody that is supposedly your friend is a bitchy thing to do, and becomes worse behaviour when you do it casually. I do think it's possible for people to fall in love with friends of exs/exs of friends, and if you have serious interest and chemistry then it should be fine to date. But if you just want to fool around, go pick up someone with no strings attached - certainly not strings attached to those that are supposed to come first.
Secondly, Blaine is not Kurt's ex - Blaine is Kurt's crush. Kurt has been attracted to Blaine since they met. Kurt has been flirting with Blaine for weeks now. Kurt is trying his damndest to attract Blaine and establish a relationship with Blaine. And Kurt has told Rachel this - Rachel knows all about this. The very context and only context in which Rachel has come into contact with Blaine has been through the lens of him being Kurt's gay crush. And therefore, he is far far more off limits than if he was Kurt's ex. The only way he could be more off limits would be if they were indeed together. The point is, Kurt is trying his best to craft something here, and Rachel knew that, and yet she still was happy to wander in where she might have destroyed that. And she didn't even care. And that is frankly horrible.
She shouldn't even be considering him as available, is the point. It is not a decent or respectful way to treat Kurt. Not at all.
Rachel going after Blaine didn't seem unexpected
Seriously? OK, WHAT. I know Rachel basically has a fetish for men that can keep up with her singing wise, but Blaine is gay. Rachel knew he was gay, and had no reason to suspect he wasn't gay, and so completely apart from her total lack of feelings toward Kurt, it didn't surprise you that Rachel would go after a gay guy?! Rachel, who was particularly angry and defensive when Kurt was after Finn? Unless she has crazy Daddy issues, there is no reason for Rachel to be going after Blaine.
in the real world, no one has to tiptoe around your feelings when you like someone. Chances are they probably won't it even think twice about it.
I am slightly concerned about what kind of friends you have o_O I know that I would certainly and absolutely trust my friends never to try to date someone they knew I had an emotional attachment to, and if they did I would feel hugely betrayed. Friendships, decent ones, are sacred. I mean, I feel bad if I want to try on a piece of clothing that my friend picked off the rack first, even when they've discarded it. People are even more important, obviously. I wouldn't expect strangers to "tiptoe around your feelings" but the point is, friends not only tiptoe, friends put the feelings of their friends first, certainly before any casual fling. Friends should actually give a damn about whether they are hurting you with their actions. That's kinda what makes them friends. People that don’t care if they hurt you? Not your friends.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-26 06:31 pm (UTC)Kurt actually likes Blaine. It’s not like if you meet someone at a bar, flirt a bit but they aren’t interested, so you move on. Kurt is not going to stop being friends with Blaine just because Blaine doesn’t want to (risk) be(ing) his boyfriend. I don’t think that Blaine should have hidden anything from Kurt, but as I said above, Blaine is Kurt’s friend and he should therefore give a damn about Kurt’s feelings. He knows that Kurt is more than a bit interested in him, he should be aware that his dating anyone else will hurt Kurt a bit, that dating a friend of Kurt’s will hurt more, that dating a girl will hurt more still, and to be so casual, such a “it’s no big deal” attitude toward is will hurt Kurt yet more. If he wanted to go on a date with Rachel that much, he should have broken it a bit more gently, showing some respect and care for Kurt rather than completely disregarding his feelings as irrelevant, or worse, not considering them at all.
Friends ought to care about each other. It’s that simple.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-27 11:41 am (UTC)