Let's take a minute from the serious grind of Forssa Pride and Gay Cafe and Seta and human rights stuff and marriage equality and focus on something less serious but still so wonderfull (terrible).
At 33 and a half I'm probably too old to be swooning over fictional teenage lesbian couples and/or characters, and I sort of thought I was over my fixation on Glee and especially Brittana, but it turns out, I'm not. Not having Heather Morris on Glee anymore, and Santana having imaginary off screen girlfriend that we never see, and overall Glee sucking so badly I haven't watched an episode of Glee since before season 4 ended.
Now though, for the 100th episode they brought back all the originals and even gave Brittana a huge storyline and more importantly, a kiss (a hot one), on screen. And they talked about possibly getting back together. And there is no word on whether Heather Morris is ever getting back regularly or even as a guest star so the chances of all of this ending up well are very small.
I know this in my head, my over excited, love-story-loving, happily-ever-after believing heart is another matter. So when they released the video for Valerie I got excited. It even affected my sleep! I couldn't fall asleep last night, was up way past 1am (episode aired at 2am my time) and woke up over an hour before my alarm went off. And the fangirling that's happening on Tumblr? How am I supposed to resist and be a sane adult person?
Why couldn't they give us this when they were both on the show? Why do everything we ever wanted just for it to go away or happen off screen? Why are you doing this to me? WHY?
Wanna know what I'm doing tonight after work? Watching this frigging episode!
Showing posts with label Glee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glee. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Friday, May 10, 2013
Another one bites the dust
Why do fictional lesbian couples happen to good people? Why?
So, I have 5 episodes of Glee I haven't watched and am not even sure I want to watch now. Last night was the season 4 finale of Glee, and what probably was the last episode for Heather Morris as Brittany S. Pierce. No more Brittany means no more Brittana and that's just unacceptable.
Even though TV representation of LGBT characters is a huge reason why gay rights movement has gained straight and political allies and why celebrities and athletes and other famous people, as well as people like me have felt brave enough to come out to the world, I sometimes seriously feel like lesbian couples should be banned from TV. Or if not that, writers should take an oath to honor and cherish their lesbian characters. From Tina and Bette on The L Word, to Callie and Arizona on Grey's Anatomy to now Brittany and Santana on Glee, the writers and creators have no fucking idea what they are doing with their characters. And how badly they assassin their characters. And how for so many people around the world, these characters might be the only thing keeping them from committing suicides or giving into the pressure from family and friends to be straight, or act like one.
Whenever I speak about Gay Cafe and what I personally am trying to accomplish with it, I think about the teenage me who felt different, who didn't understand the appeal of boys or boyfriends and who felt betrayed when my best friends started dating and forgot about their friends. I think about my huge huge girl crush on an athlete and how obsessed I was and how I didn't understand what I was feeling, and how it just might have helped me figure out my feelings and sexuality a lot sooner if there had been a lesbian or a lesbian couple on my TV 15 something years ago. And how these two cheerleaders from Lima, Ohio, have given teenagers and even older generation something to look up to. And how the writers totally fucked up the storyline and couldn't get their heads out of their asses and see the amazing natural chemistry these two have.
The writing has been on the wall ever since it was leaked a month ago that HeMo was pregnant and that finale, of which I've only seen the Brittana parts, pretty much solidified that Heather isn't coming back. They also alluded to the fact that Santana is dating in NYC and moving on. I'm not sure that even Naya's hotness and charm and quick witted lines can hold the Brittana shippers watching. And whoever they cast as the potential love interest better have amazing chemistry with Naya, because if they really want to sell this new romance to the lesbian and bi community, we need to see sparkle and we need to see character development and we need to see great writing and story lines, something that the writers have yet to produce.
If Heather comes back and they start putting Brittana back together, I'm not sure we're going to be able to buy it. The male presence in a lesbian relationship is something that every writer is trying to force on us, and ultimately is something that turns me off. Tina went off with Henry, Callie had "sorbet" with Mark and got pregnant and Brittany dated and "married" and had a cat family with Sam. The fandom talks about "endgame" and how the journey isn't important, it's the ending that counts and if Brittana ends up together, great! Well, I don't buy that. The L Word was kind of successful in restoring Tibette, by the 6th season I was fully on board the great Tibette ship and believed they could conquer everything and anything. The road to Callie and Arizona's lamest-lesbian-TV-wedding-ever was so bumpy that by the time they eventually got married and lived happily-ever-after, I wasn't buying them as a couple anymore. And as it turns out, happily ever after wasn't really ever-after after all, as in last nights episode Arizona cheated on Callie. So really, if they end up together after all this, can we believe it?
And season 4 of Glee. Really? Like I've said before, I do NOT believe a long distance to be a reason for a break up and that was basically the reason they gave for them to break up. And then afterwards, Santana was in Lima every other episode so really, long distance? And she was pining after Brittany and trying to get her back, so long distance wasn't a valid reason at all. And then they had the brilliant brilliant idea to have Brittany and Sam to date. Each other. And have Sam say stupid things like "you're my soulmate" and "I've always had a thing for you" when in his first season he proposed to Quinn in like 2 episodes and then last season was chasing after Mercedes and even dated Santana for awhile. And they they got fake married. And had absolutely no chemistry. And the storyline wasn't going anywhere. And now, in season finale, Brittany broke up with Sam. And then later said she loved him. And they friend zoned Brittany and Santana, again. As much as I want to have these two together, do I believe in them if Heather comes back after all this? Glee's going to have to hire some female writers, preferably a lesbian writer, who actually understands women and more importantly, lesbians! So much potential, so little sense.
I am going to bury myself in fan fiction and get what I need from it. If only some of the fandom's most talented writers would write a screenplay and get it produced. We could get some quality lesbian representation and with the right actresses, it could be epic.
(I should probably mention that Tina, Callie and Brittany are bisexuals so it's not outside of realm to have them go back to men. It just sucks that e v e r y t i m e I find a fictional TV couple I cheer for or identify with, one of them is bi and men interfere. Can't I just get a lez lez lesbian relationship where men are neither wanted nor needed?)
So, I have 5 episodes of Glee I haven't watched and am not even sure I want to watch now. Last night was the season 4 finale of Glee, and what probably was the last episode for Heather Morris as Brittany S. Pierce. No more Brittany means no more Brittana and that's just unacceptable.
Even though TV representation of LGBT characters is a huge reason why gay rights movement has gained straight and political allies and why celebrities and athletes and other famous people, as well as people like me have felt brave enough to come out to the world, I sometimes seriously feel like lesbian couples should be banned from TV. Or if not that, writers should take an oath to honor and cherish their lesbian characters. From Tina and Bette on The L Word, to Callie and Arizona on Grey's Anatomy to now Brittany and Santana on Glee, the writers and creators have no fucking idea what they are doing with their characters. And how badly they assassin their characters. And how for so many people around the world, these characters might be the only thing keeping them from committing suicides or giving into the pressure from family and friends to be straight, or act like one.
Whenever I speak about Gay Cafe and what I personally am trying to accomplish with it, I think about the teenage me who felt different, who didn't understand the appeal of boys or boyfriends and who felt betrayed when my best friends started dating and forgot about their friends. I think about my huge huge girl crush on an athlete and how obsessed I was and how I didn't understand what I was feeling, and how it just might have helped me figure out my feelings and sexuality a lot sooner if there had been a lesbian or a lesbian couple on my TV 15 something years ago. And how these two cheerleaders from Lima, Ohio, have given teenagers and even older generation something to look up to. And how the writers totally fucked up the storyline and couldn't get their heads out of their asses and see the amazing natural chemistry these two have.
The writing has been on the wall ever since it was leaked a month ago that HeMo was pregnant and that finale, of which I've only seen the Brittana parts, pretty much solidified that Heather isn't coming back. They also alluded to the fact that Santana is dating in NYC and moving on. I'm not sure that even Naya's hotness and charm and quick witted lines can hold the Brittana shippers watching. And whoever they cast as the potential love interest better have amazing chemistry with Naya, because if they really want to sell this new romance to the lesbian and bi community, we need to see sparkle and we need to see character development and we need to see great writing and story lines, something that the writers have yet to produce.
If Heather comes back and they start putting Brittana back together, I'm not sure we're going to be able to buy it. The male presence in a lesbian relationship is something that every writer is trying to force on us, and ultimately is something that turns me off. Tina went off with Henry, Callie had "sorbet" with Mark and got pregnant and Brittany dated and "married" and had a cat family with Sam. The fandom talks about "endgame" and how the journey isn't important, it's the ending that counts and if Brittana ends up together, great! Well, I don't buy that. The L Word was kind of successful in restoring Tibette, by the 6th season I was fully on board the great Tibette ship and believed they could conquer everything and anything. The road to Callie and Arizona's lamest-lesbian-TV-wedding-ever was so bumpy that by the time they eventually got married and lived happily-ever-after, I wasn't buying them as a couple anymore. And as it turns out, happily ever after wasn't really ever-after after all, as in last nights episode Arizona cheated on Callie. So really, if they end up together after all this, can we believe it?
And season 4 of Glee. Really? Like I've said before, I do NOT believe a long distance to be a reason for a break up and that was basically the reason they gave for them to break up. And then afterwards, Santana was in Lima every other episode so really, long distance? And she was pining after Brittany and trying to get her back, so long distance wasn't a valid reason at all. And then they had the brilliant brilliant idea to have Brittany and Sam to date. Each other. And have Sam say stupid things like "you're my soulmate" and "I've always had a thing for you" when in his first season he proposed to Quinn in like 2 episodes and then last season was chasing after Mercedes and even dated Santana for awhile. And they they got fake married. And had absolutely no chemistry. And the storyline wasn't going anywhere. And now, in season finale, Brittany broke up with Sam. And then later said she loved him. And they friend zoned Brittany and Santana, again. As much as I want to have these two together, do I believe in them if Heather comes back after all this? Glee's going to have to hire some female writers, preferably a lesbian writer, who actually understands women and more importantly, lesbians! So much potential, so little sense.
I am going to bury myself in fan fiction and get what I need from it. If only some of the fandom's most talented writers would write a screenplay and get it produced. We could get some quality lesbian representation and with the right actresses, it could be epic.
(I should probably mention that Tina, Callie and Brittany are bisexuals so it's not outside of realm to have them go back to men. It just sucks that e v e r y t i m e I find a fictional TV couple I cheer for or identify with, one of them is bi and men interfere. Can't I just get a lez lez lesbian relationship where men are neither wanted nor needed?)
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
I kissed a girl...and I liked it?
Yes, this is about Glee.
Let's rant once again about socially important issues...like being gay. Like being gay and in the closet. Like being gay and being outed. Like being gay and coming out. Like being gay openly and proudly.
Being gay is not a desease. Being gay is not a choice. Being gay is not something you do because you're bored with your life or your boyfriend/husband/baby daddy is a douche. Being gay means you were born this way. Being gay means you are attracted to people of your own sex. Girls like girls and boys like boys. Simple. In theory, anyway. Reality is much more complicated.
Being gay means that life is one big coming out party. Every day, whether in your private life, or at work or in the public you have to make a conscious choice to either be who you are and share things about your life (my wife's home with the sick kids...) or act the way you want (hold hands with your love while walking down the street) or stay quiet and alter the way you interact with your loved one. Being gay means you are constantly having feelers out on the atmosphere around you and whether it's even safe to be you, be gay. It means that sometimes you need to scale down your PDA and being you in order to not make people around you uncomfortable.
Being gay means that you need to fight for and be vocal about the basic human rights like marriage, adoption, visitation at hospital and general recognition of your relationship every day for as long as you live because no one else is doing it for you.
Depending on the societal and religious atmosphere and the people around you being gay can either be really easy and wonderful or down right nasty and hard. Representation in the media is not often positive and when we see good role models, we grab on to them and won't let go. Obsess much?
Season 3 of Glee has been dealing with Santana's sexuality. She finally admitted to being gay, she's in a relationship(?) with Brittany, everyone at glee club knows but they don't talk about it. Then one day Finn outs Santana in the middle of the school hallway, it is overheard by someone, it ends up in a political ad and Santana is forced out of the closet without having any say in it. Then in last night's episode Finn decides that Let's embrace your awesomeness and gayness and sing songs about ladies, ladies loving ladies or by ladies who love ladies. It's all good, we're here for you.
Like I've said many times before, my life probably would have been easier have I had the understanding to accept and come out in my teens. It certainly would have kept me from making few mistakes BUT I was not ready so I denied it. I tried the "I'm gonna prove to myself (and everyone else that) I'm straight" -routine and had myself a big ole gay panic. But when I finally admitted it and embraced it I was so much happier for it. But it was my choice. No one forced me out of the closet. Having met T was a huge part of it too. How can you try to build a happy, healthy relationship if you're in the closet and can't share your happiness with the people in your life? There are so many internal hurdles you need to overcome before you can truly be happy and open with yourself and others. Being forced out of the closet can seriously hurt you and should not happen to anyone, no matter what the circumstances are.
So yesterday's episode of Glee, "I kissed a girl" was all about Santana coming out. Sort of. The glee clubbers sang a bunch of songs to show their support, Santana came out to her parents OFF screen (they were ok with it), and to her grandma ON screen, who threw her out. Then all the girls of glee club sang and danced to Katy Perry's "I kissed a girl". I've never liked the song and even though I love watching glee and will be watching that performance more than once in the very near future, I find that song to be very offensive to lesbians. Being gay is not fashionable. Being gay is not something you do because Katy Perry sings about it, or Lady Gaga says she's bi-sexual, or because Angelina Jolie once dated a woman. Kissing girls is not something you do just so that you can say you've done it and so that you can sing along Katy and be "cool for having done it". You don't kiss girls and hope your boyfriend doesn't mind it. You kiss girls because you WANT to. You ENJOY it. And they enjoy kissing you. You kiss girls because kissing boys is icky. Not a choice. You were born this way. It's in your DNA.
And the kicker? Santana and Brittany have not even KISSED yet on screen. Off screen they have sleep overs and take baths together. On screen they hug. On screen they kiss each other on the cheek. So...how can Santana know she likes kissing girls if she hasn't done it?
Guess I'm just a visual kind of person and need to SEE to believe it. If I didn't see it, it's not true/happening. So until I see an on screen smooch, I don't believe Santana knows what she's talking/singing about.
Once again, top notch performance by Naya Rivera and Heather Morris is as adorable as ever!
Moving on but staying in the category of shows with gay characters. You know you're getting old(er) when the moms of the show start being more your thing than the actual main characters! I love Pretty Little Liars and Shay Mitchell as Emily is just delicious beyond words but other than her for obvious reasons (her character is a lesbian), the other 3 main teenage characters are not doing it for me. They're good actresses, they are funny and do their jobs well but they are not attractive for me. But then we get to the mom department and Oh La La, boy are we talking. Laura Leighton (played Sydney on Melrose Place) as Hanna's mom and Holly Marie Combs (Piper on Charmed and Kimberly on Picket Fences) as Aria's mom are super hot!
According to imdb.com Picket Fences was on in USA from 1992 to -96 so I'm thinking it started in Finland around -93 or -94. Looking back now I think Holly Marie Combs was my first celebrity crush. Between Lauren Holly and Holly Marie Combs I didn't know who to cheer for! And yes, Costas Mandylor is hot too and I guess I sort of had a crush on him too but I might have also just been projecting. The rule #1 on being obsessive about a show you watch for the girls is to have a back up guy to talk about. "Costas Mandylor is soooooo hot! I can't wait for tonight when he's on TV" really means "Is is time to drool over Holly and Lauren yet?" I was so gay...SO GAY!
So yes, my gayness shone through even when I wasn't looking! (Is this the way the verb "shine" is used in past tense? If not, "shine through")
Btw, I uploaded 22 videos of the cats on youtube yesterday. You can find them here. And it looks like it was 29. Oops! Not the best quality as my camera is not really made for this but who cares! These are the early days of my babies at home! And I'm a cat-a-razzi of the worst order, so sue me! Or don't watch the videos...but they're cute! Really cute!
Have a great day everyone and remember to watch Venice tonight! www.venicetheseries.com. No more freebies on youtube!
Later
Let's rant once again about socially important issues...like being gay. Like being gay and in the closet. Like being gay and being outed. Like being gay and coming out. Like being gay openly and proudly.
Being gay is not a desease. Being gay is not a choice. Being gay is not something you do because you're bored with your life or your boyfriend/husband/baby daddy is a douche. Being gay means you were born this way. Being gay means you are attracted to people of your own sex. Girls like girls and boys like boys. Simple. In theory, anyway. Reality is much more complicated.
Being gay means that life is one big coming out party. Every day, whether in your private life, or at work or in the public you have to make a conscious choice to either be who you are and share things about your life (my wife's home with the sick kids...) or act the way you want (hold hands with your love while walking down the street) or stay quiet and alter the way you interact with your loved one. Being gay means you are constantly having feelers out on the atmosphere around you and whether it's even safe to be you, be gay. It means that sometimes you need to scale down your PDA and being you in order to not make people around you uncomfortable.
Being gay means that you need to fight for and be vocal about the basic human rights like marriage, adoption, visitation at hospital and general recognition of your relationship every day for as long as you live because no one else is doing it for you.
Depending on the societal and religious atmosphere and the people around you being gay can either be really easy and wonderful or down right nasty and hard. Representation in the media is not often positive and when we see good role models, we grab on to them and won't let go. Obsess much?
Season 3 of Glee has been dealing with Santana's sexuality. She finally admitted to being gay, she's in a relationship(?) with Brittany, everyone at glee club knows but they don't talk about it. Then one day Finn outs Santana in the middle of the school hallway, it is overheard by someone, it ends up in a political ad and Santana is forced out of the closet without having any say in it. Then in last night's episode Finn decides that Let's embrace your awesomeness and gayness and sing songs about ladies, ladies loving ladies or by ladies who love ladies. It's all good, we're here for you.
Like I've said many times before, my life probably would have been easier have I had the understanding to accept and come out in my teens. It certainly would have kept me from making few mistakes BUT I was not ready so I denied it. I tried the "I'm gonna prove to myself (and everyone else that) I'm straight" -routine and had myself a big ole gay panic. But when I finally admitted it and embraced it I was so much happier for it. But it was my choice. No one forced me out of the closet. Having met T was a huge part of it too. How can you try to build a happy, healthy relationship if you're in the closet and can't share your happiness with the people in your life? There are so many internal hurdles you need to overcome before you can truly be happy and open with yourself and others. Being forced out of the closet can seriously hurt you and should not happen to anyone, no matter what the circumstances are.
So yesterday's episode of Glee, "I kissed a girl" was all about Santana coming out. Sort of. The glee clubbers sang a bunch of songs to show their support, Santana came out to her parents OFF screen (they were ok with it), and to her grandma ON screen, who threw her out. Then all the girls of glee club sang and danced to Katy Perry's "I kissed a girl". I've never liked the song and even though I love watching glee and will be watching that performance more than once in the very near future, I find that song to be very offensive to lesbians. Being gay is not fashionable. Being gay is not something you do because Katy Perry sings about it, or Lady Gaga says she's bi-sexual, or because Angelina Jolie once dated a woman. Kissing girls is not something you do just so that you can say you've done it and so that you can sing along Katy and be "cool for having done it". You don't kiss girls and hope your boyfriend doesn't mind it. You kiss girls because you WANT to. You ENJOY it. And they enjoy kissing you. You kiss girls because kissing boys is icky. Not a choice. You were born this way. It's in your DNA.
And the kicker? Santana and Brittany have not even KISSED yet on screen. Off screen they have sleep overs and take baths together. On screen they hug. On screen they kiss each other on the cheek. So...how can Santana know she likes kissing girls if she hasn't done it?
Guess I'm just a visual kind of person and need to SEE to believe it. If I didn't see it, it's not true/happening. So until I see an on screen smooch, I don't believe Santana knows what she's talking/singing about.
Once again, top notch performance by Naya Rivera and Heather Morris is as adorable as ever!
Moving on but staying in the category of shows with gay characters. You know you're getting old(er) when the moms of the show start being more your thing than the actual main characters! I love Pretty Little Liars and Shay Mitchell as Emily is just delicious beyond words but other than her for obvious reasons (her character is a lesbian), the other 3 main teenage characters are not doing it for me. They're good actresses, they are funny and do their jobs well but they are not attractive for me. But then we get to the mom department and Oh La La, boy are we talking. Laura Leighton (played Sydney on Melrose Place) as Hanna's mom and Holly Marie Combs (Piper on Charmed and Kimberly on Picket Fences) as Aria's mom are super hot!
According to imdb.com Picket Fences was on in USA from 1992 to -96 so I'm thinking it started in Finland around -93 or -94. Looking back now I think Holly Marie Combs was my first celebrity crush. Between Lauren Holly and Holly Marie Combs I didn't know who to cheer for! And yes, Costas Mandylor is hot too and I guess I sort of had a crush on him too but I might have also just been projecting. The rule #1 on being obsessive about a show you watch for the girls is to have a back up guy to talk about. "Costas Mandylor is soooooo hot! I can't wait for tonight when he's on TV" really means "Is is time to drool over Holly and Lauren yet?" I was so gay...SO GAY!
So yes, my gayness shone through even when I wasn't looking! (Is this the way the verb "shine" is used in past tense? If not, "shine through")
Btw, I uploaded 22 videos of the cats on youtube yesterday. You can find them here. And it looks like it was 29. Oops! Not the best quality as my camera is not really made for this but who cares! These are the early days of my babies at home! And I'm a cat-a-razzi of the worst order, so sue me! Or don't watch the videos...but they're cute! Really cute!
Have a great day everyone and remember to watch Venice tonight! www.venicetheseries.com. No more freebies on youtube!
Later
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)