My cousins just made me watch Rags with them.
For some reason, they completely missed that it’s based off Cinderella. I guess switching the genders threw them off.
Regardless of its expected predictability, it was actually quite charming. I’d take it over that High School Musical shit ANY day.
Glee And Women: Rachel Barbra Berry:
It’s hard to discuss Rachel Berry, because there are so many different versions of her it’s hard to pinpoint just who she actually is – In Season 1 she was an ambitious young woman who often let her own wants blindly lead all her decisions, regardless of how her actions and behaviour would affect others, but over this Season she also grew, she became much more of a teamplayer, a pleasant and kind young woman, who starting thinking about others just as much as she thought about herself.
But then there’s Season 2 Rachel, a ridiculously over the top walking crazy woman you’d be forgiven for mistaking as a cartoon character – Gone was her development from Season 1 and in its place a borderline insane annoyance all of us wanted to slap, thankfully Quinn took care of that for us.
And then we have Season 3, the age of Rachel Hudson – The spineless whiner who had to have every other character constantly make decisions for her, make her mind up for her, convince her of what she should want and should be doing, and in general reducing her to nothing more than a reactionary character, seemingly unable to do, think or feel anything for herself.
It’s difficult because like a lot of the show, Rachel works on the principle of tell don’t show, we see one version of Rachel and yet we’re told to see her as something entirely different – And it just does not work. You can’t show us Rachel badmouthing Quinn behind her back and then tell us that Rachel’s a great friend who really cares about her, you can’t show us Rachel pursuing Finn when she knows he’s already in a relationship with someone else and then tell us that we’re supposed to view Rachel as the victim and the unfairly treated one in the situation – It doesn’t work, but just like the tone and content of the show, Glee thinks that with Rachel they can have their cake and eat it to, they can show her doing and saying terrible things, but so long as they tell us she’s the good guy and the victim we’ll sympathise with her unconditionally – Well I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work that way.
We saw in Season 1 that while Rachel could get very selfish, manipulative and unpleasant, she was still a good person deep down, with the ability to be good without something benefiting her being the incentive behind her kindness. We saw that she was a complicated character with multiple layers to be explored, a character who could learn and grow, who could still pursue her dreams and carry out her ambitions without having to do so at the expense of others, that while unpleasant and questionable she could still be a good person with the ability to change for the better, for good.
This is sadly something which was completely abandoned by the start of the second season, suddenly Rachel had to learn the exact same lessons, over and over and over again, without ever learning or changing, suddenly her growth and development from Season 1 was completely regressed, she was manipulative, self-centred, cruel, unpleasant and unsympathetic, and yet this time there was no change, there wasn’t even a hint that deep down she was a better person anymore, she was not a nice, kind or sympathetic, complicated character anymore, there were no layers to peel back, no depth, nothing – Just this new Rachel, the not so improved, not so enjoyable and not so rootable or sympathetic. And it’s a good example of character assassination on this show – By letting Rachel develop, learn and change in Season 1 they had also made it more difficult to write in her over the top diva moments without having to sacrifice all her development, it would have been difficult to do, but they had managed it in the second half of Season 1, so surely they could do it again? Well no, they didn’t even try, they just regressed all her character development, because apparently the comedy gold of Rachel’s atrocious behaviour just couldn’t be sacrificed in favour of good character development and writing.
And that raises an interesting question – Which version of Rachel is ultimately worse? The Season 2 Rachel who had to be cut down and regressed in order to work, but who at least controlled and motivated her own actions, or Rachel Hudson from Season 3? The barely recognisable character who’s every decision, every action, every motive and every single step of her journey is made for her?
Just look at Rachel in Season 3:
Rachel decides not to give up on her dreams and future not because of her own ambition and confidence, but because Kurt talks her out of it, he gives her a confidence boost and has to remind her of what she wants from life.
Rachel decides to take a big step in her relationship with Finn by having sex with him, not because she wants to or feels ready, but first because Artie convinces her that she needs to, and then ultimately because Finn’s needs compel her to.
Rachel accepts Finn’s marriage proposal, not because she feels like it’s the right decision for the both of them or because she feels ready, but because her NYADA letter has not arrived yet, and therefore she feels she has nothing in her life or foreseeable future.
Rachel does not end up marrying Finn, not because she admitted that she didn’t feel ready or confident about the decision, not because she realised it was a mistake and too soon, but because Quinn was involved in an accident on her way to the wedding.
When Rachel decides to put Finn before her dreams, it is Finn’s decision to go to New York in order to be an actor which resolves the situation, not Rachel herself, not her dreams or wants, but Finn’s.
After Rachel choked in her NYADA audition and failed to reach Carmen in an attempt to achieve a second chance, it’s Tina who has to tell Rachel where Carmen is, to convince her to go see Carmen in person, and who ultimately makes Rachel’s case for her, Rachel sits back and lets what happened happen, she was ready to leave with her tail between her legs when Carmen rightfully questioned why Rachel believed herself to be more important than others with the exact same dreams and ambition, where it not for Tina, Rachel would have left without question and Carmen wouldn’t have been convinced to come see her at Nationals, which is why she was ultimately accepted into NYADA.
When Rachel is once again about to give up on her dreams because Kurt and Finn won’t be going to New York with her, it’s Finn who makes the decision for her, he plots with her fathers behind her back, he applies for the army so she can’t follow him, takes her to the train station, and practically forces a hysterical and crying Rachel onto the train and off to New York.
So we must ask, which is worse? The abhorrent Rachel of Season 2 because she at least motivated, decided upon and made all her own decisions and actions occur, or the Rachel of Season 3, who while mellowed out had to have everything decided for her by others, the seemingly spineless girl who the writers stripped all dignity from? Is it easier or more bearable to endure the horrid Rachel from Season 2 simply because she was still able to carve her own way in the world, or to put up with the pathetic excuse from Season 3 simply because she was a little less abrasive and unpleasant? It’s a hard question to answer, and it’s a question that shouldn’t have had to be asked, if only the writers had bothered to maintain her development and growth from Season 1.
Rachel Berry is difficult for me to talk about, because I’m overwhelmingly depressed at the squander of potential she represents, both for just her character and the show in general – Rachel had potential, the potential to be one of the most likeable, intriguing and rootable characters of the show, we were treated to watching this young woman grow from being closed off from everyone else because of her selfish actions and refusal to work as part of a group, to a teamplayer who was willing to open up and let others in, to earn the friendship and trust of others, while still remaining focused and dedicated to achieving her dreams. But now what do we have? A collection of unpleasant memories leaving us to wonder why we even liked this character in the first place.
The writers did Rachel Berry a great disservice, and it’s still one of the hardest things to forgive them for.
(via gleecritic)
Anonymous asked: What other TV shows do you like besides Glee?
LOL, but I don’t like Glee.
Hmm…that’s on now? Person of Interest, Once Upon a Time, Scandal, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory (not so much because it’s funny, but because MIT is my Alma mater and I know too many people like them), Legend of Korra… I actually watch a lot of cartoons, mainly because I really like to laugh at stuff. It’s a carryover from college that I haven’t been able to shake yet. And sadly, cartoons are often more enjoyable than TV shows with real people. So like, Regular Show, Family Guy, Archer on FX, etc.
I’m not really a big TV person, though. I do like to watch TV shows from back in the day or really good movies over and over again, but I mostly love music. Now that? I love music (listening to it and playing music) above everything else.
This gave me feels before I was even old enough to truly understand them.
(Source: dmentality)
I really hate moments in movies/shows/books where someone knows the truth and ALL they have to do is just say it.
But they don’t and it just prolongs the angst for no fucking reason.
Anonymous asked: i've been trying to guess but now i'm just gonna ask. are you gay or straight? or bi?
None of the above, LOL.
The correct answer is panromantic asexual.
Anonymous asked: so r u black, white, asian, native...?
Yes.
Not being an asshole, but I am actually all of those. My maternal grandmother is African-American. My maternal grandfather was half African-American, half Caucasian. My paternal grandmother is half African-American, half Chinese. My paternal grandfather is half African-American, half Muscogee (Native American, known as Creek Indian).
I identify as African-American, though. I was raised by my maternal grandmother and step-grandfather (who is actually mixed, but he grew up in a time when you couldn’t really talk about it so he considers himself a light-skinned Black man). Growing up in that house, in the South, that’s the culture I identify with. Plus, aside from the fact that I’ve been repeatedly told that I don’t have what are considered to be “Black features” - because you know, Black people all look alike -_-, my skin is dark brown so that pretty much determined my race and ethnicity for me.
Now that Season 3 is over, I finally realized what was most aggravating about Finchel
It’s not the lack of chemistry. It’s not the blatant favoritism. It’s not even their double whammy of obnoxiousness and douchebaggery.
No.
It’s the fact that so much fucking time was spent on this couple, and it all amounted to nothing in the season where plots really needed to be spread out.
- All that time spent on their fucking wedding that didn’t happen.
- All those scenes about being together forever and they broke up in the last 10 minutes of the final episode.
- All those vomit-inducing makeouts and gratuitous amounts of closeup PDA they got, just for them to be the only couple to actually break up at the end of the season.
- All those conversations where they bitched at one another about not caring enough about the other’s future, only for them to be fucking separated in the end anyway.
- Finn’s entire future plans arc, where it went from a football to the army to being an actor to back to being in the army anyway.
- Rachel’s arc of being scared of not getting into NYADA, applying to NYADA, not thinking she was a finalist, finding out she was a finalist, bombing her audition, getting a second chance to audition, only to get into NYADA anyway.
- Having the first two seasons of this show be held hostage to whether or not they get together, only for them to get together and then break up in the end.
And I know it’s a setup for season 4, because ZOMG I’m totes waiting for yet another season for them to drag out how Finchel will get back together…again.
And I try to be optimistic, but then I think about
- How Kurt’s future plans got tacked on and then hijacked by Rachel
- How Santana and Mercedes’ future goals were treated like shit compared to Finn’s nonexistent ones
- How all of the other couples combined have spent less time talking to each other than Finchel
- How Quinn got hit by a truck on her way to their wedding that didn’t happen
- How Quinn gave up her Prom Queen title to Rachel because….? Yeah, exactly.
- How one or both becomes inexplicably involved in everything and basically fuck up whatever the original storyline was (Santana’s coming out, for example)
- How everyone got overlooked in the season finale to focus on Finchel breaking up and kissing and talking about chairs for their wedding…that didn’t happen
And I realize that Season 4 will be just the same, only character destruction will apparently be happening both in and outside of Lima. Because one city isn’t enough for this writing team.
Glee, do better.
But I know you won’t.
