Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Holding out for a hero

This fanvid is pretty extraordinary. So well done, so gorgeous and so exemplary of exactly what has bothered me about the writing of Santana’s big coming out arc this season. I’ve watched this video half a dozen times, and each time it thrills and annoys me in equal measure. This is not the vidder’s fault (seriously, amazing, mad props upon mad props – nothing but respect, yo). Instead it’s fault of the writers of this crazy thing called “Glee.”

And this, this is why. It’s not that Santana didn’t earn her coming out story; she certainly did. We’ve seen her struggle with her sexuality, struggle with openness, struggle with acceptance. All this things have been well done and thoughtful. But what Santana’s coming out story didn’t earn was its hero. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again and I’ll never stop saying it. Finn Hudson is not the hero of Santana Lopez’s coming out story. He doesn’t deserve that distinction for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that he’s the one who outed her in the first place. But, most of all, he wasn’t there through her journey.

But do you know who was there through her journey? Do you know who encouraged her every step of the way? Do you know who was there, is there and will always be there? Brittany. Yeah, remember her? You know, the whole reason Santana realized she was a lesbian in the first place. The person Santana loves. The person who was there with support and hugs and very special misspelled T-shirts. The person who has never stopped telling Santana to be herself, to love herself and to let her awesomeness shine through. Yeah, you know, Brittany.

Or, perhaps even better, how about Santana is allowed to be her own damn hero? Find herself. Save herself. Do we really need some dude – and a straight, white dude at that – to be the savior for a strong, queer Latina woman? Really? She can’t look into herself and find something inside her on her own that tells her she is strong enough? That moment where we stop and admit to ourselves that we deserve to be happy, no matter what other people think.

And that, that’s why the video annoys me. Because each time it plays I see those looks, those genuine looks, between Santana and Brittany. I see the love and sympathy and longing. I see why Santana might finally find the strength to step out and step up and step toward the woman she loves. And then, then that fucking Finn Hudson pipes up with his big fetus face and ruins it for me.

You know, the writers may think we’re grumpy or whiny or sneezy or sleepy, for all I care. But what we really are is fair. We only want what’s fair, and what would have been fair is for Santana to finish her journey out of the closet hand-in-hand with Brittany, not pushed in the back by Finn. We want our heroes to be worthy. That’s really not too much to ask. We also want a Brittana kiss – you know, as long as we’re asking for things that are fair.

So, fairness in mind, please enjoy yet another video by the same vidder (the incredibly talented scoouuzz), with the rightful heroes in all their glory.



p.s. Yes, I have now heard about the Ryan Murphy “We made two girls scissor! What more can we do for you?” comments from the yet-to-be-aired Inside the Actors Studio. And, no, I cannot properly comment on that without a fifth of whisky and baseball bat. But, needless to say, if Ryan thinks what Brittany and Santana were doing on that bed was actually scissoring, he is more confused about what constitutes lesbian sex than I even thought possible.

19 comments:

Jess said...

Ryan Murphy's opinions on lesbians and bisexual women still shock me to this day. As a gay man himself, you'd think he'd have a bit of sympathy or compassion for a character like Santana. But no, he's fucked up the story line & I'm quitting watching the show after this season. Can't handle how crap it is.

no-one said...

I do wonder sometimes if Ryan Murphy's problem with queer women is the same one a gay male acquaintance of mine has, in that he is so squicked out by the idea of women, that he doesn't understand how anyone can find them sexually attractive. So even though he's attracted to same gendered people, he will argue with lesbians about how weird it is that they like chicks.
If Ryan Murphy has that issue, it's not a surprise that he can't write lesbians properly. Still no excuse for his fuckery though.

Glt said...

(Sorry for my french english)

I can't agree more with all yours articles about glee.
I hate (more) Fin since episode 7. and Ryan.

I think what Ryan M. do is dangerous: He give the impression of open-minded (yeah we love LGBT), but with conservative moral (misogynist and men natural superiority), like you said very well.
So many people won't see this regressive idea, onlay the fact that Ryan is so cool because put some LGBT in his show.

Expatmommy said...

"Or, perhaps even better, how about Santana is allowed to be her own damn hero? Find herself. Save herself. Do we really need some dude – and a straight, white dude at that – to be the savior for a strong, queer Latina woman? Really? She can’t look into herself and find something inside her on her own that tells her she is strong enough? That moment where we stop and admit to ourselves that we deserve to be happy, no matter what other people think"

This x a million. Honestly, its hackneyed writing to legitimate Santana's journey through the lens of a man. What's worse...it's cliche.

And the scissoring comment...way to evidence your unqulaified knowledge of women, not to mention lesbian women, even more.

Expatmommy said...

"Or, perhaps even better, how about Santana is allowed to be her own damn hero? Find herself. Save herself. Do we really need some dude – and a straight, white dude at that – to be the savior for a strong, queer Latina woman? Really? She can’t look into herself and find something inside her on her own that tells her she is strong enough? That moment where we stop and admit to ourselves that we deserve to be happy, no matter what other people think"

This x a million. Honestly, its hackneyed writing to legitimate Santana's journey through the lens of a man. What's worse...it's cliche.

And the scissoring comment...way to evidence your unqulaified knowledge of women, not to mention lesbian women, even more.

Bali Trips said...

Being a hero is not as fun as being a ordinary people...

Rainha Malvada said...

Bali Trips i'll make your words, mine. ;D

I agree =D

Anonymous said...

Very Nice, video.

I don't watch Glee, I just don't care for it. I know it has all this gay stuff in it but; I just think the writing is awful.

Gay, straight, whatever it's just not a good show. (IMHO)

Althena said...

I'm jumping in my living room & simultaneously giving you a standing ovation! Fin Hudson is NOT the hero to Santana's story. Not ever *rolls eyes*

Anonymous said...

In screenwriting it's called: "The HERO's Journey" Not enemy of the Hero's Journey, NOT girlfriend or emotional supporter of the Hero's Journey. Plain and Simple Santana IS the Hero.

I mean seriously why is this even a question?

It's the basis for writing a screenplay or Teleplay, You are supposedly in La La Land soi why do you NOT know this? If you do know then why are you acting like you don't?

Kim M said...

Yes Santana is the hero of her story, but I believe what Ms Snarker was trying to point out is the fact that Brittany has been left out of the story completely in the last few episodes. It is very clear that Brittany was/is the one who encoraged and supported Santana more then anyone. It's also clear that behind every hero there is a person who believes in them before they believe in themselves. The problem with Ryan Murphy's interpritation of santana's story is not simply the fact that he allowed Finn to be the so-called "hero" but that he completely neglected how very important Brittany was in allowing Santana to finally love herself. We all need a hand to hold, no matter how strong we may be, and in this case it was Brittany who held Santana's hand when she needed one.

Your friend, Rusty said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Your friend, Rusty said...

This is going to earn me a ration of sh!t but I'm going to say it anyway.

The biggest mistake the writers made was trying to appease lesbian fans by thinking they could just make Santana a lesbian because of a throw away line. "Um, yeah; sure. Santana is a lesbian. Why not? We'll go with that."

If they weren't willing to go all the way with the story line (and clearly they aren't) they should have apologized for the Brittany saying "sex and dating are not the same otherwise she and Santana would be dating line" as being a joke in poor taste and moved on. Instead, they tried to throw teh lesbians a bone (so to speak) and it blew up in their faces.

A taste of honey is truly worse than none at all. And that's all we're going to get with this story line. Santana was never meant to be the lead character the Brittanaiacs desperately want her to be. This is the Finn/Rachel/Kurt show.

The Santana / Brittany romance should have been left to fanfic where some truly amazing stories would have been told.

And it's dumb of writers to let fans drive plot lines. Imagine if an author posted chapters of their book online and then raced to Twitter, Facebook, and other blogs to see what the fans thought. Stay off the Interwebs and just write the damn story - either we will like it or we won't. If I wanted a "make your own adventure story" I'd go buy one.

I miss the first season when they had a clear (for Glee, anyway) idea of where they were going and stuck to it.

Solo said...

Im writing only to say that the video was brutally emotional and beautiful ! Respect to the fan who made it !

Brittany is no one at the moment...some sort of shadow... nd when she talks is some lame nonsense which makes her sound as retarded ...

Anonymous said...

this show overall is crap, and self-important gay men are probably the last people that should be writing lesbian story lines.

Anonymous said...

I agree with most of this, but the important thing being misunderstood is FINN DID NOT OUT SANTANA, the politician did. The worst Finn is guilty of is not lowering his voice and momentarily forgetting to be the bigger person, resulting in him lashing out (at the person who has been severely harassing him, no less).
He did not. out. Santana. Why is everyone missing this?

Anonymous said...

Finn DID out her. In the halls of the school. The politician continued it, but he did not start it. Finn did.

Anonymous said...

Exactly, Finn did out her. And all his bs about the whole school already knowing...well, if the whole school already knew, why didn't Salazar's niece say something earlier? Why did she told her uncle only after she overheard Finn? The ad was a consequence of Finn's outing Santana.

Anyway, I'm so glad there are vids like these (and fanfics) because that's the only way I can still enjoy Glee.

Lisa said...

Thanks for keeping our girls front & center .Yes, I agree w/ you but ... just thanks for caring about this storyline. For all its flaws ,it has still changed my life.