tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1583232612899692330.post6455238656593622020..comments2023-09-17T04:55:58.450-04:00Comments on DR SHE BLOGGO: The RBI Report: "Props"DR SHE BLOGGOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03247285649344958174noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1583232612899692330.post-45563538316001641532012-05-17T17:20:37.707-04:002012-05-17T17:20:37.707-04:00Another great write-up from "The Doctor"...Another great write-up from "The Doctor".<br /><br />I'd say this is the best episode so far, Jenna Ushkowitz has as good a voice as anyone on the show, I hear very little to no auto tuning when she sings. But here's a question for everyone:<br /><br />Does anyone seriously think Tina will ever be the "New Rachel" on 'Glee'? Will she ever get anywhere near as many solos as Rachel? I doubt it.J.A. Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15800901321134394272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1583232612899692330.post-35094000034599282532012-05-17T13:55:59.568-04:002012-05-17T13:55:59.568-04:00To one of the posters above: yes, on paper a solo ...To one of the posters above: yes, on paper a solo is technically someone singing a line by him or herself, but I wouldn't compare Tina's My funny Valentine to, say, Rachel's Take a Bow. If you consider both to be equally meaningful and respectful for the characters and their actors, well, then I guess the basis for Props didn't make any sense to you.<br /><br />Completely agree with the previous comment. It's no coincidence that Blaine's rendition of Teenage Dream was (is?) Glee's best selling single, so it's easy to imagine the producers' eyes turning to dollar signs. However, I can't help but feel that this change in direction, inevitably linked with Blaine's introduction to the show, has been one of the main factors in the series quality and ratings decline. When one desperately tries to cash in as much as possible using this kind of easy tricks, the quality of the scripts inevitably goes downhill, and everything that was special, charming and unique about season 1 was crushed and erased in favour of meaningless solos of current top 40 hits and nonsensical storylines. Yes, I can't help but being biased against Blaine, specially when a chapter as good as Props features as little of him and turns out this good. The correlation is very clear to me. <br /><br />Now, Darren Criss is a fine actor and has a beautiful voice, and Blaine could have been an interesting character, but the writing staff decided to make him an empty (nice-looking) shell in which they projected the fantasy boyfriend every teenage girl and gay guy supposedly would love to have: friendly, cool, supportive, charming, loved by everyone. D-U-L-L. <br /><br />Anyway, thank you as always Dr She Bloggo for your clever, deep analysis. A big part of the fun for me in watching Glee is reading your wonderful comments :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1583232612899692330.post-46501561656514449142012-05-17T10:40:18.383-04:002012-05-17T10:40:18.383-04:00I think one of the reasons people rag on Blaine es...I think one of the reasons people rag on Blaine especially (as opposed to characters like Santana) is because of how often the usage of his character feels like a money-grabbing ploy on part of the producers. This being a show with a presumably proportionally very large female viewership, i'd argue that quite a number of fans like Blaine primarily because Darren Criss is cute. They will therefore buy Blaine's songs (however bad) because Darren Criss is cute. There have been several occasions this season when they have given Darren a solo or lead in a song regardless of his role in the related storyline or whether the song could have been sang by someone else. I'd argue that "You Should Be Dancing" from Saturday Night Glee-ver and "Cough Syrup" from On My Way are blatant examples of this. The episode "Big Brother" struck me almost as a deliberate vehicle for these guaranteed sellers. I really don't think anyone can argue the same in the case of Santana.<br /><br />Blaine stands out because these solos are irrelevant and arguably detrimental to the plot (in that they take time away from other characters and actual development.) And also because Darren is not the show's best male singer, I don't even know if i'd consider him as being within the top three. Whereas i'd suggest that Naya Rivera is clearly one of the strongest female singers alongside Amber Riley and Lea Michele.<br /><br />Now, you could quite clearly say the same about Cory Monteith and Finn... he is not one of the best singers but he IS the male lead of the show and would argue that his over-representation has decreased substantially since Blaine joined New Directions. The fact that Blaine is newer to MicKinley also serves to highlight just how much he is favoured. I wasn't even as bothered when he was a Warbler because the Dalton arc was kept separate from the rest of the show. Now it feels more obvious that Blaine is taking attention from other characters.thestooshiehttp://www.twitter.com/thestooshienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1583232612899692330.post-89776477722825023172012-05-17T04:06:10.476-04:002012-05-17T04:06:10.476-04:00I think your Blaine stanning is showing.
First of...I think your Blaine stanning is showing.<br /><br />First off, a solo is a solo - what song is sung, what "emotional aspect" it has doesn't change the fact that it's a solo. (I mean, come on; Ice Ice Baby was a tragedy, but it still counts as a Will solo.) I for one tend to count solos as a song sung mostly by one person, uninterrupted, as presented on the show. External factors like studio recordings and editing don't count within the Glee universe itself. <br /><br />It's pretty clear that Blaine's character is afforded a lot of singing time, numerically he's way above most of the New Directions, and percentage wise he's still really high up there. (I think we can safely remove Rachel and Finn from the running, as they are the de facto main characters of the show, and as such carry the largest amount of solos and screen time.) What makes it such a sore point for characters like Tina is that he gets all this in a relatively short period of time - he was only introduced about 1/3 of the way through season 2 as a recurring cast member, and did not become a permanent cast member until season 3. And like Tina said, she's been there since day one, as one of the founding members of New Directions. And yes, Santana has indeed been given quite a few solos - but she has been a recurring cast member since the first episode, and a permanent cast member since halfway through season 1, and did not start getting solos until midway through Season 2. To add to the sense of disparity of solos, the others heavily participated in large group numbers, perhaps belting out a line or two, and essentially swayed in the background. Blaine's character doesn't really do any of that until he joins New Directions, in fact almost every song he is a part of in Season 2 is a solo, with the exception of his duet with Kurt at Regionals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1583232612899692330.post-57725480511883554322012-05-17T01:45:51.201-04:002012-05-17T01:45:51.201-04:00I guess that chart is very accurate from a purely ...I guess that chart is very accurate from a purely numerical point of view. However, to really "calculate" the amount of solos each one gets, we must take into account other factors. Some of the solos (as part in a group number) presented by Glee wiki weren't shown in their entirety on TV, and in several occasions Tina's parts were removed from the episode. On other occasion (Marry You) the supposed "solo" is so short and mixed in such a "blurred" way that it doesn't feel like a proper solo. Other Tina solos include include two interrupted songs, two or three fragments of songs performed "live" (episode 1, I kissed a girl, My funny valentine) on the chapter, without studio production or musical accompainment of any kind, and therefore not legitimate solos. If we consider such things a solo, then we must consider as well Brittany practicing notes with Artie a "solo". <br /><br />Then there are the emotional aspects of the solo, which can't be measured numerically. Blaine has had several meaningful ones, Brittany's solos have always been surrounded by big production values and meaningful character interactions (getting a point across, having a comedic moment, etc). Out of Tina's three "real" solos, he first one was tucked in the middle of its episode without any comment, the second was part of a concert, interrupted after 30 seconds and treated as a joke, and this third and final solo was FINALLY completed and treated as a meaningful part of the chapter. The only thing that chart proves for me is the way Mike and Quinn have been very badly treated as well, except for different reasons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1583232612899692330.post-71701712958289226512012-05-16T21:53:38.815-04:002012-05-16T21:53:38.815-04:00It depends on which chart you examine. I like this...It depends on which chart you examine. I like this one. It gives greater perspective. <br /><br />http://headasexual.tumblr.com/post/17572079272/glee-solo-comparison-chart-ive-seen-many-ofAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09711743439868985297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1583232612899692330.post-12155286350974996432012-05-16T17:21:23.712-04:002012-05-16T17:21:23.712-04:00Great review, as always! I just want to add one sm...Great review, as always! I just want to add one small thing - this remark "(And then Blaine gets another solo.)" I thought was unnecessary. Not a long time ago there was a list going on tumblr with numbers, how many solos or duets each member of New Directions had this year and Santana is actually the one who sang the most. Somehow, everyone always seem to complain only about Blaine singing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1583232612899692330.post-83619474415476634802012-05-16T16:28:28.164-04:002012-05-16T16:28:28.164-04:00Hands down the best episode of the season for me. ...Hands down the best episode of the season for me. If GLEE wrote all their episodes like this one, I would have actually tuned in for the whole season.Aimsnoreply@blogger.com