Checking in with Quinn Fabray: Part Three

QUINN, SAM, AND HAPPINESS

Here’s my admission.  In a bigger picture, it seems that where the characterization of Quinn Fabray has deviated a bit in Season 2 is in regards to her relationship with Sam.  Now, before the shippers jump on my back, please let me give some (rational, I promise) reasons.

I mean the ship no disrespect.  Quinn and Sam are cute together, and I actually rather like them in “Duets.”  Their rendition of “Time of my Life” is pretty adorable, to boot.  And it is nice to see Quinn happy.  But the thing is, I don’t ship Quinn/Happiness.  I ship Quinn/Good Storyline.  I realize this might make me a bad fan.  And ultimately, I do want Quinn to be happy.  But... she’s a fictional character, and I’m a persnickety television junkie.  I care more about her storyline.

And where, exactly, does Sam fit into her storyline?  Quinn is just one of the shining examples of the Glee writers having no concept of character arc.  Let’s take a moment to examine what Quinn’s trajectory as a character is, and should be.

She started the show as a villain, a Christian character from a WASP-y family with a perfect exterior.  She appeared to have it all.  But this facade began to crumble when she was basically proven to be a hypocrite.  Pregnant at 16, the President of the Celibacy Club.  Sinner, child of God.  Daddy’s Girl, a disappointment to her own father.  Everything that came to define her - how she defined herself - was stripped away.  The things that she loved turned her back on her.  Her family.  Her status.  Her power.  Her control.  One thing didn’t abandon her: the Glee club.

So that character?  Her arc?  It should be about her doing penance for her previous sins.  It should be about her rejecting the expectations of others and learning to live of her own accord.  It should be about her embracing the one thing that embraced her, and discovering who she truly is beyond the bullshit facade that society provided for her.  It should be about her redefining herself in whichever way she chooses, in the aftermath of a huge cataclysm in her life.  Isn’t every character on the show supposed to find themselves through the Glee Club?  Why wouldn’t Quinn? 

The thing is, Quinn has showed very few signs of ever being happy, truly.  Content, sure.  Satisfied, perhaps.  But happy?  The only non-musical number that comes to mind is the baking scene with Puck - and it’s hard to really ground that in anything specifically meaningful.  No, the fact of the matter is that Quinn Fabray is actually a rather joyless character.  Through everything, she’s shown herself to be stoic and intimidating and moody and vulnerable and hardened, and I want to see why.  I want to see her reconciling where’s she’s come from and where she’s going and who she currently is.  She was unhappy.  She was unfulfilled.  And I refuse to believe that all she needed was a dopey blonde-headed boy to come along and make everything bad go away.  It goes against everything the character is.  Acceptance and a baby changed her life.  Glee Club changed her life.  Not Sam.  The existence of Sam as her boyfriend should not make all the problems go away, as though all she was really lacking, all along, was the right boy to love her.  That is a disservice to her character, and quite honestly, to Sam’s as well.

So yes - it’s nice to see Quinn happy.  But I want that happiness to be deserved, when she works through her character arc and comes to some sort of realization as a person and as a character.  I don’t want Quinn to be happy just because she’s got a boy.  She had a boy.  She had two boys.  Both loved her, in their own ways.  And neither worked out.  And this new boy?  He’s basically an amalgamation of the two previous boys, thanks to some wobbly characterization by the writers.  I just can’t see how Sam could be something new for Quinn, something to progress her character and bring meaning to her storyline - and ultimately, that’s what I want for her character.

I will say, however, that “Duets” did a very nice job exploring the potential Quinn and Sam relationship because they talked.  Sam expressed understanding of Quinn’s situation, and that was lovely and he seemed like someone who might be good for her.  Then they were just relegated to making out for the next few episodes, and then BOOM!  Sam gives her a promise ring.  Oh, goodness.  Too soon!  Not deserved yet, writers!  Just because you have a wedding amongst the adults in the episode does not mean you need to mirror it with the kids!  That’s not a necessary storyline parallel!

If Quinn and Sam are going to continue as a couple, I would like for their relationship to be earned.  They need to have scenes where they are relating to one another and not just kissing or progressing their relationship when we haven’t been given good reason to think that they should.  And unfortunately, the writers are only giving us the latter, and that is when I want to chuck things at the television screen.  In all fairness, Quinn and Sam aren’t the only couple suffering from this treatment, and the advice can be generally applied to all pairings across the board.  We need to be reminded, as an audience, of why these people are dating each other.  I know high school relationships can be frivolous, but television relationships are much better when they have meaning.

NEXT: QUINN, THE BABY, AND PUCK 

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Master Post: CHECKING IN WITH QUINN FABRAY

Part One: QUINN, THE CHEERIOS, AND POWER

Part Two: QUINN, FRIENDSHIPS, AND KINDNESS

Part Three: QUINN, SAM, AND HAPPINESS

Part Four: QUINN, THE BABY, AND PUCK

Part Five: QUINN, FINN, AND HER FAMILY 

Part Six: QUINNDEPENDENCE, AND THE MEANING OF THE WORD

Part Seven: CONCLUSION

Checking in with Quinn Fabray: Part Two

QUINN, FRIENDSHIPS, AND KINDNESS

 In Part I of this mammoth piece, I analyzed Quinn’s relationship with the Cheerios, and power.  Season 2 has shown us choosing to get her power back, for better or worse.  Power is mostly equated to the “old” Quinn - the one that tortured Rachel Berry and had everything she ever wanted.

Of course, “old” Quinn was completely overridden by “new” Quinn, who was stripped of her power and carried with her a growing baby instead.  And the “new” Quinn?  The “new” Quinn showed inarguable signs of kindness.  This kindness mainly manifested itself in her storyline in “Home” with Mercedes, but also stretched further into small moments like her simple gesture towards Artie during “Dream a Little Dream.”  

Quinn’s kindness has been established.  And now that she has chosen power again, she similarly must continue to choose kindness, or else the character development is lost.  So what’s the status of Quinn’s kindness - and her friendships - in Season 2?

For better or worse, Quinn is somewhat of an isolated character.  In general, I appreciate this attribute of Quinn’s personality, but I do also like the idea of her interacting with others.  It gives us some insight on how she’s conducting herself socially, which is part of her character’s huge change.  Without Quinn having friends to interact with, it’s significantly more difficult to track her development.

Quinn’s oldest friends, within the context of the show, are Santana and Brittany.  I touched a little bit on the Quinn-Santana dynamic in Part I, but I made the mistake of surmising that Quinn and Santana were never friends, which is definitely an oversight on my part.  Confounded absolutes!  It’s more complicated than that, and unfortunately we don’t get a lot of concrete Santana-Quinn interaction without any piss or vinegar.  It’s true that Santana’s loyalty to Quinn runs deeper than one would think - she didn’t rat out her pregnancy to Sue, yet Quinn ratted out Santana’s summer surgery.  Quinn also slept with the guy that Santana had been quasi-dating.  The question of loyalty is certainly interesting with these two.

Regardless, Quinn and Santana can probably be easily classified as the tried-and-true, if somewhat superficial, distinction of “frienemies.”  Season 2 opened up their dynamic instantly, with the fight in “Audition,” and then dropped it just as immediately.  Remember in “Rocky Horror Glee Show,” Quinn and Santana both played Magenta?  What a lovely opportunity to explore the dynamic of two friends and rivals playing the same role.  Magenta, Head Cheerio - a great parallel could have been used there.  But instead, we got to see Mr. Schuester needlessly overturn the whole production so he could be Rocky, and Season 2’s Quinn and Santana are relegated to sniping at and dancing with each other.  Missed opportunities, party of OH-SO-MANY.

Brittany and Quinn are even more mysterious.  Quinn seems to have a permanent “WTF” face in Brittany’s company this season, but it’d be nice to see another dimension to the dynamic.  I’m assuming Quinn is no exception to the “Brittany likes everyone” rule (aside from those few early episodes where Brittany was not quite Brittany yet) but as of yet it’s largely unexplored.  Brittany's unerring and daffy sweetness would either drive Quinn crazy or be exactly what she needs.  Either way, I'm game.

All in all, Quinn’s post-pregnancy relationship with her erstwhile sycophants is maddeningly uncharted, and for a set of characters frequently packaged up and delivered as a trio, they rarely interact in a meaningful way.  Change this, writers!  

Next on the list of Quinn’s friendships is Mercedes.  The writers brought Ms. Jones in during the Back 9 for Quinn to relate to on the topics of body insecurity and feeling like a minority.  Needless to say, I think we all did a double take.  While my initial reaction to Quinn and Mercedes was one of skepticism, I have come to appreciate their dynamic and accept it as something that does need to be continued, even if it was originally a bit out-of-nowhere.  Mercedes and Quinn were a very real entity in “Home,” "Laryngitis," and “Funk,” and Quinn even requested Mercedes to be in the delivery room with her when she had Beth.

So far, in Season 2, the extent of their relationship amounts to occasionally sitting next to each other in Glee Club, and what’s sad is that we consider this an accomplishment of continuity.  Even though they may not seem to be able to relate to one another in their current (lack of) storylines, their friendship needs to be present.  Mercedes opened up her home to Quinn in a time when the girl did not have many good things going for her.  This relationship should not just disappear.

Speaking of relationships that should not disappear, we are now rounding the corner into perhaps my favorite dynamic the show has ever given us: Rachel and Quinn.  It is perhaps a dangerous idea to get me ranting on these two, because I could write pages.  PAGES, I tell you!  Their relationship is genius in that it is tied inextricably into the show’s construct and the two characters’ arcs.  YET, we find that after the first 13 episodes, their interactions are few, far between, and frankly, don’t speak to the reasons why these two SHOULD be interacting in the first place.

Quinn and Rachel were initially designed to be enemies.  Opposites.  Cheerleader/loser.  Popular girl/unpopular girl.  Traditionally beautiful/unconventionally beautiful.  They are each other’s foils, and represent the core dynamic the show addresses - Quinn is the embodiment of the Cheerios, the cool kids, and Rachel is the embodiment of Glee Club, the losers.  On paper, they should hate each other.  But in one of the show’s true brilliant moments, Rachel reached out to Quinn when she got pregnant, setting aside all past animosity, and made her feel accepted.  This gesture itself is an embodiment of one of the show's main themes.  What's not to like?

My favorite Quinn Fabray moment is the scene she shares with Rachel, and then Puck, in “Sectionals.”  I’ll expound on the Puck part later - for now, let’s discuss the Rachel portion.  Rachel initially pursued Quinn with friendship, but her obsession with Finn led her to destroy his relationship with Quinn by telling him the secret of the baby’s father.  But in this wonderful scene of tension, silence, and yet so much meaning, it is Quinn who forgives her for the transgression.  This is the moment where Quinn chooses kindness, which is key to her character.  It’s a beautiful scene.  They are supposed to hate each other.  They’ve both transgressed against the other, and yet... they don’t hate each other.

What more, they actually complement each other.  Beneath their superficial polarities, Rachel and Quinn are actually quite similar.  Their character traits both deal with control and determination, and their arcs both speak to the negotiation of self vs. others.  These factors simultaneously attract and repel one another, making for a fascinating dynamic. The fact of the matter is that Quinn and Rachel were designed to interact, and all signs at the end of “Sectionals” seemed to point towards this development.    

Of course, the Back 9 was sorely lacking in this respect, and the pair’s complete and utter dearth of screentime in these episodes makes me cranky to this day.  Season 2 has stepped up, however, in that they’ve at least spoken to one another.  “Brittany/Britney” finds Rachel asking Quinn for a favor in regards to Finn, which has got to be a touchy subject - and yet, Quinn obliged, in a scene we were unfortunately not privy to.  “Duets” shows Rachel encouraging Quinn to sing with Sam and win the competition.  However, this specific interaction, while lovely to see, has little relevance to what their dynamic should be at this stage.

No, the original direction for Quinn’s and Rachel’s characters seems to have been largely dropped or ignored, and so I go into every episode hoping things will turn around, only to get irrationally angry when Quinn says she wants to punch Rachel in the face.  Way to go, writers.  I love it when you completely undo perfectly good character development for no good reason other than throwaway jokes.

As far as I’m concerned, Quinn’s character needs to exhibit a healthy appreciation for the acceptance of the Glee Club when everything else in her life turned her back on her.  And while it’s true that the whole club came together to support her in adorable ways like in “Keep Holding On” and “Lean On Me,” there are two characters in particular I want to see Quinn be grateful to: Mercedes and Rachel.  Those two girls were treated atrociously by Quinn, yet they both stepped up to the plate and offered their kindness to her even when the situation didn’t really pertain to them.  (It’s for this last detail that I’m hesitant to include Puck and Finn in this category - both boys felt obligation, however sweet and well-intentioned, towards Quinn on account of feeling fatherly.  The fact that Mercedes and Rachel were so peripheral to the circumstances makes their actions all the more lovely.)

So, when it comes to Quinn and kindness, I want to see it manifest in the form of gratitude to Glee - Mercedes and Rachel in particular.  We got a snippet of this in “Duets,” when she tells Sam she sticks with Glee because they’ve been good to her; and I won’t lie, I cheered when she said it.  If I ran the show, I would push for the construct that Quinn is terribly protective of Glee Club out of thankfulness, and that she fights back when the Glee Club is threatened.  But alas, I do not run the show, and instead Quinn toes the line when it comes to acting out against her popularity.

Regardless, I still want some actual positive interaction between the people that Quinn has held tenuous friendships with, and perhaps even a storyline that allows for this to be developed simultaneously.  Season 2 so far is generally on the right track, but still lacking in the character specifics.  Quinn is capable of kindness, and even in her solitude, I want the writers to actively demonstrate that.  

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Master Post: CHECKING IN WITH QUINN FABRAY

Part One: QUINN, THE CHEERIOS, AND POWER

Part Two: QUINN, FRIENDSHIPS, AND KINDNESS

Part Three: QUINN, SAM, AND HAPPINESS

Part Four: QUINN, THE BABY, AND PUCK

Part Five: QUINN, FINN, AND HER FAMILY 

Part Six: QUINNDEPENDENCE, AND THE MEANING OF THE WORD

Part Seven: CONCLUSION

Checking in with Quinn Fabray: Part One

  QUINN, THE CHEERIOS, AND POWER

Long before Season 2 started, we’d been spoiled with the information that Quinn was going to go back to the cheerleading squad to reclaim her position as “HBIC” of McKinley High School.  Since then, I’ve seen a lot of kerfuffle out there over whether or not she would actually do such a thing - especially in light of her scene in “Mattress” where she tells Sue she wants to be a part of a club that’s proud to have her, like Glee Club.  It seemed that Quinn had largely rejected the Cheerios, so why would she go back?

It’s easy: power.  I don’t really have an issue with Quinn returning to her former role, because it makes sense for the character.  Quinn likes being in control.  Having power.  Power and control define her.  She’s the girl who wears the same uniform everyday and treats it like it's armor.  The girl raised with strict values and a belief system that didn’t bend, but broke instead.  Her existence is as tightly wound as her ponytail. 

Even though she got pregnant and wore babydoll dresses and let her hair down, it still doesn’t ring false to me that Quinn would try and get her power back should she have the chance - which she did.  It affords her certain luxuries in the social structure that are hard to pass up, especially once you’ve had them and lost them.  I get that.  Rather, I’m more interested in discussing two things that I think are more discerning of her character: how she gets said power back, and what she does once she has it. 

So how does Quinn regain her power?  By complete manipulation, of course.  She bribes Sue with confetti cannons, and rats out Santana’s “summer surgery” - 100% schemed.  That’s not terribly out of character.  Other than Sue Sylvester herself, Quinn is perhaps the sneakiest on the show.  And, she’s clearly very smart - making her a lethal combination when it comes to manipulation. 

Quinn she steps on Santana to get her power back.  And that’s key.  What is this saying about Miss Fabray?  I admit, I find her moral compass completely fascinating.  It stays intact with most things - except when it stands in the way of something she desperately wants.  It seems that if you back Quinn Fabray in a corner, she will fight you.  Literally, perhaps - her hallway confrontation with Santana was no girlish scrap: those ladies were brawling. 

Quinn’s actions towards Santana do read as a betrayal.  She ratted her out.  But are Santana and Quinn even friends?  Their dynamic as companions is referenced repeatedly, but never truly explained.  They are frequently in each others’ company and they share many similar characteristics, but they have never, not once, done something remotely nice for one another.  I wouldn’t classify them as friends, and so that makes Quinn’s backstabbing of Santana even more interesting.  I’m not saying it wasn’t mean, or bitchy - but I’m hesitant to classify it as a betrayal, exactly. Quinn shows, and has shown, no loyalty to Santana because Santana shows, and has shown, no loyalty to her.  They are mutually insulting to one another, and yet they still get lumped together because they wear the same uniform.  It’s a riveting and nebulous dynamic I wish the show would explore a bit more.

So as far as I’m concerned, Quinn stepping on Santana to get her power back is in character, and not necessarily a regression in development.  I prefer not to summarize Quinn solely by her cold-hearted pre-baby persona, nor by her pregnancy-induced streak of kindness.  In Season 1, she was those two things, rather separately.  Season 2 is about synthesizing the two.  Now she is both.  And that makes for an interesting character.  A character who can successfully be both.  Internal conflict, party of one!

Truly, the only thing I care about Quinn’s recoup of power is what she chooses to do with it.  I don’t care that she has it - it makes sense that she should want it.  But this time around, she must choose to use it wisely or her character arc is stunted.

Quinn’s first round as Head Cheerio was a Reign of Terror - she was needlessly cruel to Rachel Berry, and went out of her way to keep the Glee Club under her heel.  She was obsessed with holding onto Finn, and verbally abused anyone that came in her path.  She lied, schemed, and hurt a lot of people.

Now she has that power back, and all I want is for her use it for good.  And for the most part, she has.  Season 2 hasn’t shown any examples of Quinn terrorizing any of the students in McKinley High.  She can still sling an insult like nobody’s business; but actions speak louder than words, and Quinn’s Season 2 actions do indicate that she has changed.  Again, I maintain that throwing Santana under the bus points to a fundamental part of Quinn that will perhaps never change.  But going out of her way to make others miserable?  Quinn seems to have given it up, and I am all for that.

“Duets” gives us the best indication of Quinn’s relationship with popularity, when she flat out tells Sam, “What’s the point of being popular if you can’t do what you want?”  And that’s the key.  It doesn’t matter if Quinn chooses to be popular as long as she’s choosing what she wants.  Quinn was raised in an environment where she always did what she should.  Character growth needs to point her away from that, showing us that she’s learned something - and the writers have hinted at that.  Of course, “Never Been Kissed” showed her going back to Sue Sylvester for counsel on keeping up appearances with Sam, so inconsistency is still there - unfortunately.  On the whole, however, I think the developments regarding Quinn, power, and popularity are spot-on and recognizable onscreen.

UP NEXT: QUINN, FRIENDSHIPS, AND KINDNESS 

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Master Post: CHECKING IN WITH QUINN FABRAY

Part One: QUINN, THE CHEERIOS, AND POWER

Part Two: QUINN, FRIENDSHIPS, AND KINDNESS

Part Three: QUINN, SAM, AND HAPPINESS
Part Four: QUINN, THE BABY, AND PUCK
Part Five: QUINN, FINN, AND HER FAMILY 
Part Six: QUINNDEPENDENCE, AND THE MEANING OF THE WORD
Part Seven: CONCLUSION

Checking in with Quinn Fabray: the Kickoff

One of the first big posts I ever wrote here at SHE BLOGGO was titled, “How Quinn Fabray Could Be the Best Character on Glee (And Why She Isn’t).”  It was mostly a venting exercise for how frustrated I was in Quinn’s stop-and-start development throughout the first season, particularly in the Back 9.  But, many of you agreed with what I wrote, and I feel like the post has come to define a lot of what I talk about here on the site.

So, 10 episodes into Season 2, I want to check in with Quinn Fabray.  I have a lot invested in her character, and I desperately want the writers to do right by her.  I don’t think I’m alone in that respect, either.  Her character deserves the development that was set up in the First 13 episodes, and I want to reflect, and evaluate whether or not Season 2 is delivering.

But when I sat down and began writing this piece, I had a hard time figuring out how to frame everything I had to say.  There is no absolute “yes” or “no” on Glee’s accomplishments - the show has nearly as many missteps as it does successes.  So a lot of it was just me rambling in circles. I didn’t really want to organize it chronologically by episode, because a) that’s boring, and b) episode-to-episode characterization is really not Glee’s strongpoint so it would have looked like a lot of complaining - which is not my intention.

So instead, I am breaking up this piece into five seven themed parts, covering all aspects of Quinn’s character and her progress so far in Season 2.  And, since these five seven parts are ridiculously long, this endeavor will be stretched over five seven days.  That's how wordy it is, gang.  I’ve inadvertently made it Quinn Fabray Week at DR SHE BLOGGO.  Perhaps I should have made it Kurt Hummel or Sue Sylvester Week in honor of Chris Colfer and Jane Lynch's well-deserved wins at the Golden Globes last night, but alas; Quinn was already on the docket for blogging.  Regardless, this festivity is going to unintentionally collide with my 100th post here at the site!  Celebrate!
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Master Post: CHECKING IN WITH QUINN FABRAY

Part One: QUINN, THE CHEERIOS, AND POWER

Part Two: QUINN, FRIENDSHIPS, AND KINDNESS

Part Three: QUINN, SAM, AND HAPPINESS
Part Four: QUINN, THE BABY, AND PUCK
Part Five: QUINN, FINN, AND HER FAMILY 
Part Six: QUINNDEPENDENCE, AND THE MEANING OF THE WORD
Part Seven: CONCLUSION

Glee's Most Underrated Actor: Naya Rivera

So, here at SHE BLOGGO, I like to occasionally indulge in the superlative game.  Y'know, who's the best or the most or the least, or whatever.  It's a dangerous game to play, largely because absolutes make me skittish and also because declaring someone the BEST at something always seems to insinuate that you think that everyone else is the WORST.  Stupid binary comparisons. 

But, I can't help myself, and so I try to point out some excellence here and there - reminding everyone fully that selecting just one person does not negate others' awesomeness.  Last time, I awarded Kevin McHale with the honor of Glee's Most Versatile Performer.  This time, I decided to ponder over Glee's Most Underrated Actor.

Now, this is acting we're talking about.  Not singing, not dancing, not musical performances.  Just, acting.  And not only acting, but who is underrated in their portrayal.  So that immediately rules out anyone who was nominated for an award - Lea, Chris, Matt, and Jane?  Ineligible.

No, I decided that Glee's Most Underrated Actor is indeed Ms. Naya Rivera, whose birthday is today so it's perhaps timely to give her a superlative.  But please, let me elaborate on the un-birthday-related reasons.

On the surface, Naya Rivera has met all the qualifications to effectively portray Santana Lopez.  She's solidly reliable for a perfectly-delivered sarcastic comment, an artfully loathing bitchface, and the occasional dirty joke.

This is the basis for a good performance - Glee characters are built almost entirely on stereotype.  Rachel's the diva, Finn is the dumb jock, Puck is the bad boy, Tina is the shy theater geek, Brittany is the dumb cheerleader, and Santana's the bitch.  And what's great about the show is that each of these characters is allowed to be something more.  However, the original stereotype and the "something more" aren't always synthesized effectively in every scene.

But somehow, Naya Rivera has managed to do exactly that.  Santana Lopez is a bitch.  We're never allowed to forget she's a bitch - in fact, she's written almost exclusively as such.

But Santana is also so much more - more which is not always written explicitly on the page.  There aren't many solid examples of Santana doing good deeds.  And yet, the general consensus is that something is going on underneath her lizard-skin exterior.  Beneath the disdain and the boredom and the ego, there is a real, vulnerable, human being.  There is very little concrete development happening with Santana on the screen (thanks a lot, writers), yet we're all convinced that something is going on with her.  That, ladies and gentlemen, is Naya Rivera doing a bang-up acting job.

Because, with every second she's appeared on screen, she has simultaneously embodied and defied her character's given stereotype.  We love her because of her obnoxious comments, disgusted bitchfaces, and sneering ego-centrism - and we love her in spite of it.  We love her because she's given us reason to believe that there's something more there - it could be gay panic, body image insecurity, loneliness in love, or a troubled family life - who knows?  But the fact of the matter is that none of these things are even remotely spelled out on the page.  This is all reading between the lines of what Naya interpreted and presents us with in the few moments where Santana is not snarking.

It's also in no small part due to Naya that the Brittana relationship exists.  Because they were originally supporting characters, Naya and Heather were most likely - and understandably - afforded a certain freedom in constructing their characters onscreen, because the written storylines weren't focused on them.  So Naya took her role as Bitch, ran with it, and then added to it.  It's there in the background, it's there in the forefront, it's there in the musical numbers: Naya Rivera is Santana Lopez onscreen, 100% of the time.  Vulnerable, truthful, loyal, sarcastic, biting, determined, inappropriate, confident, bitch.  And the icing on this cake of accomplishment is that she is still empathetic, if not even downright likeable the whole way through.

And it is because of this that I declare her Glee's Most Underrated Actress.  I highly doubt she's going to get nominated for any actual acting awards, unfortunately, but the truth of the matter is that she is sneakily one of the best the show has.  Her range is impressive, her line deliveries consistently hilarious, and the way in which she believably integrates all different parts of her character simultaneously is masterful. 

To Naya Rivera, an Underrated Actor, on her birthday!

(And, in case you were wondering, Runner-Up in this category was Cory Monteith, who plays a main character yet often gets overlooked for his rather convincing performance firstly as a person 12 years his junior, and secondly as an average guy finding his way and through music.  Cory's got solid acting chops, himself.  But it's not his birthday.)

10 Things: Dance Appreciation

I have a confession to make: I hate dancing.  You may ask, how is this possible?!  I love musicals!  I love Heather Morris and Harry Shum and Katee Shean and Mia Michaels!  I love dance movies!  But before you jump down my throat, let me clarify: I do not like when I dance.

But watching others dance?  Oh my goodness, do I love it.  Like, athleticism-meets-grace-meets-amazing-choreography dance just blows my mind.  Hip-hop and contemporary are by far my favorite styles, but all dance is pretty amazing.  


So, to honor my love of (others) dancing, here's a 10 Things.  

X.  Beat Freakz - Okay, so this video is a compilation, but watch any of the first three.  They're all awesome.  Beat Freakz was the best all-female dance crew ABDC ever saw.  If they were up against anyone other than Quest Crew they would have won.

IX. Mia Michaels, "Will I?" - Oh, be still my beating heart.  Mia Michaels is a goddess.  Her sense of ensemble in this is amazing, and the movements are just so rich and heartbreaking.  It always makes me tear up.

VIII. Dancing with the Stars Tribute to Michael Jackson - Okay, okay.  It's kind of cheesy, but this tribute gives me goosebumps.  I want people to group dance when I die.

VII. Joshua Allen Solo - This boy's movements are insane.  A great popper, and he was crazy good at nearly every other style he tackled - even with minimal training.

VI. Wade Robson, "The Chairman's Waltz" - Beautiful.  The stories and characters are woven into every movement the two dancers make.  Just, breathtaking.

V.  Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden, "Imagine" - Part of what makes this piece amazing is just the two dancers performing it.  They are so technically strong, and they handle the choreography with such grace, strength, and intensity.  Love it.

IV. Dmitry Chaplin, "Hip Hip Chin Chin" - The subject of tonight's lesson is rhythm.  The beat.  (Just watch it.  It's a sexy samba.)

III. Mia Michaels, "Gravity" - Heartwrenching piece about addiction.  Everything about this dance is perfect.  Each movement tells the story of an unhealthy relationship so perfectly. 

II. Lil' C, "Yellow" - Lil' C is primarily a hip-hop choreographer - he even pioneered the crazy technique of krumping - and yet, we have him to thank for this awesome pseudo-contemporary piece performed by the LXD.  The whole thing just blows my mind.  How do they move like that?!

I. Best of Hip-Hop, Quest Crew - You will be hard-pressed to find a better dance crew than Quest.  Their trip through the different hip-hop styles is so sophisticated in its choreography, down to every little detail.  One of the best hip-hop group dances out there.

There you have it!  Now, I am going to crank up some music, close every door and window to my house, and, erm... dance. 

Happy Birthday, Elvis!

For reasons I'm not entirely sure of, I became an Elvis fan at the age of 6.  I heard "Burning Love" on cassette tape once and was just like, "Yep.  I like this guy."  It still baffles me a bit how I chose such an outdated teen idol to obsess over in my elementary school days, but I have to say I wouldn't have my childhood any other way.  Regardless of what Elvis' legacy is - either in jumpsuits, screaming fans, conspiracy theories, or jelly-filled donuts - he, himself, was a legendary performer and fantastic singer. 

Today would have been his 76th birthday.  By all standards, he should still be with us, an old man who shows up to the Grammys who we all clap for because he is a living legend and we can't believe he's standing among us mere mortals.  He should be singing at events with Beyonce in one of those charming-but-awkward duets that show just how much music has changed in just fifty years.  He should be getting Lifetime Achievement Awards and joking about how time flies and it seems just like yesterday he was singing on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Unfortunately, he is not doing any of those things.  I never believed the "ELVIS LIVES!" stories anyways.  Luckily, though, we can still listen to his music, and even better, watch his performances.  His performances are great.  A lot of people give Elvis guff for not ever writing his own music, but frankly, he didn't have to.  Elvis performed the hell out of every song he ever sang.  It didn't matter who wrote it; he put his signature all over it.

The one thing that I truly love about Elvis' performances is his dancing.  That man loved to dance and saw absolutely no harm in it.  And yet, the entire nation freaked out over his gyrating hips and bouncing legs.  Funny that that was such a scandal.  Today, I think it's joyous to see him twist around on stage, lip curled in a grin, hair flopping in his face, and the entire audience screaming their lungs out - especially knowing the tragedy of his later career.  This image is what I choose to remember him by, not the drugs, and the weight gain, and the jewel-encrusted jumpsuits.  Long live the King.

Happy Birthday, Elvis.  You have made my life complete, and I love you so.

Hermione Granger: F***ing Badass and Total Champ

Friends, it has been far too long since I've updated.  I know this because I'm sick and tired of seeing Jake Lloyd's face when I go to my blog.  It's unacceptable, and I apologize if it's repeatedly happened to you in recent days.  To make it up to you, I have something awesome to address today.

And that something is Hermione Granger.  (Okay, someone.  Whatever.)

As you know, I think a lot of thoughts about fictional beings, and in my cerebral wanderings the other day, I realized something.

Hermione Granger is a F***ing Badass and Total Champ.

It's not like I didn't know this.  Like any self-respecting Over-Achieving Lady Nerd, Hermione was my favorite character in the Harry Potter books.  I knew she was awesome.  But honestly, I haven't devoted a lot of thought to her being as a whole - the cumulative effect she had on the novels and her place within the narrative.  And it's when I started counting up the awesome that I realized.

Hermione Granger is a F***ing Badass and Total Champ.

Let's begin.  It is a very basic fact that without Hermione, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley would have been stuck in some very dire situations.  They saved her from the troll once, and she repaid the favor several times over.  Even within the narrative of the books, so much information is revealed, and so many conflicts are resolved at the hand of Hermione.  

Who solved the majority of the clues to get Harry through to Snape Quirrell at the end of Sorcerer's Stone?  Who figured out that the Chamber of Secrets housed a basilisk?  Who had the Time-Turner that completely facilitated the third act of Prisoner of Azkaban?  And who figured out how to outsmart time and save two innocent souls, not to mention hers and Harry's time-traveling skins?

Hermione Granger, ladies and gentlemen.  She OUTSMARTED TIME.  Can you argue with that?  I think not.

I mean, it's well-established that Hermione is The Brains.  In any Heroic Trio, there's usually The Brains, The Brawn, and The Heart.  Harry Potter is no different - Hermione takes her place as The Brains alongside Harry as The Brawn and Ron as The Heart.  

But I love that Hermione is so much more than Brains.  If she were just Brains, she would have been sorted into Ravenclaw faster than you can say "Hogwarts, A History."  But she's not.  Hermione Granger, even with all her "books" and "cleverness," is a Gryffindor.

Because she is a F***ing Badass and Total Champ.

She successfully blackmailed a slandering reporter out of her career.  She could easily hatch a plan and smell a trap.  You would expect her to be completely socially inept, but she actually is astoundingly good at reading people and shown herself to be exceptionally compassionate.  As a teenager, she tried to establish her own organization to champion the rights of underprivileged house elves.  Through it all, the girl had an unfailing moral compass.  When did Hermione Granger ever do the wrong thing, I ask you?

But perhaps the thing that I love most about Hermione is that she is a character who made a choice.  The stories are about Harry Potter and his prophecy.  He is The Chosen One.  I don't mean to diminish Harry's importance, but the fact that he is chosen makes his character inherently passive.  He didn't choose his fate; fate chose him.  But Hermione?  Hermione chose.  She could have easily turned her back on the Wizarding World, and on Harry's destiny to fight Voldemort.  She could have returned to her dentist parents, and lived like a Muggle.  It would have been easy.

But she didn't.  She chose to stay, and to fight.  She chose be hunted.  She chose to die, if the Death Eaters got to them.  She chose Harry Potter and his cause over her own family.  She chose to rid her parents of the memory of her.  She chose to stay with Harry, even when Ron left.  

Hermione Granger was not chosen.  She chose.  And not only does that make Hermione Granger an active character, but an amazingly noble one at that.  A F***ing Badass, and Total Champ.  She was subjected to torture by one of the most cruel and twisted witches history ever saw, and she refused to let any secret slip.  Hermione Granger, she of book-smarts and fears of failure, chose to fight an impossible battle for the cause of justice, goodness, and loyalty. 

She is a true Gryffindor, and a fantastic literary creation.  Actually, I think she's even better onscreen than on the page, thanks to some excellent interpretation by Steve Kloves and Emma Watson.  But that's a different post for a different day.  Today, I'm here to remind you that Hermione Granger is a F***ing Badass and Total Champ.  And anyone who tries to tell me otherwise will get a fist in the nose just like Draco Malfoy in The Prisoner of Azkaban.

(Just kidding.  I think.)

A Star Wars Fan's Lament

Here's the thing: it kind of sucks to be a Star Wars fan.  

This idea did not really dawn on me until recently, after growing up a bit and learning to look at the things I've loved since childhood a little more objectively.  And it's not entirely true - "sucks" is perhaps too strong and absolute a word to describe exactly what it's like to be a fan of George Lucas' sprawling saga.

No, the associated malaise is better described as the general angst derived from the fact that these movies can be SO GOOD and also SO BAD.  They giveth, and they taketh away. 

I'll be honest, most of the "taking away" has stemmed from the prequels.  And let me get this out of the way - they're not all bad.  In fact, I was one of those people who got SO. EXCITED. about the prequels and would defend their honor when critics dressed them down, right out of the theaters.

But I've come to learn that every diehard Star Wars fan has to confront the sad realization that the prequels are just... upsetting.  The story of how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader should be the most fascinating, compelling, amazing story, and yet, the prequels tell the underwhelming story of a whiny mama's boy who turns evil because he was weak and things just weren't going his way. 

There are a slew of problems with Episodes I, II, and III, many of which I have of course discussed endlessly with my similarly-minded friends (largely because they're the only ones who'll listen.)  For instance: why are there so many new characters, when we already care so much about the pre-existing ones?  Lucas cluttered up the prequels with useless new characters like Mace Windu and Qui-Gon Jinn and Jar Jar Binks and Darth Maul and Darth Sidious and Jango Fett and General Grievous and it was practically pointless.  Did any of those characters matter?  Not so much.  But did we get anything substantive about Owen and Beru Lars, or Grand Moff Tarkin, or Bail Organa, who were connected to characters we actually cared about?  Or anything meaningful about the Clone Wars, which was even name-dropped in A New Hope?  Of course not.

It's so frustrating that this trilogy spawned a whole expanded universe where the most background of background characters have their own names, species, languages, home planets, and back stories, YET the most basic connections to real characters with interesting conflicts were completely ignored.  Why did Anakin and Padme fall in love?  Beats me.  They just did, because the story required them to.  How uninteresting.  Why did Obi-Wan decide to train Anakin?  Oh, just because his dead master wanted him to.  Oh, okay.  What a compelling reason.  Why did Anakin kill all those little Jedi?  I'm still baffled about that.

The prequels' representation of the Jedi is just baffling on the whole, frankly.  The OT gives us the impression that the Jedi are supposed to think with their heads, not their hearts, which is great and Enlightened and all, but remember when Yoda and Obi-Wan told Luke NOT to save his friends just because it wasn't really in his best interest as a budding Jedi?  That's some cold shit right there, and honestly makes the Jedi a little off-putting.  So of course, the Jedi were ALL like that in the prequels, generally making them rather unlikeable and wooden.  Do you know how hard it is to care about unfeeling characters?  And yet even with Anakin being the one to break this rule, he still turned out boring and unsympathetic.  Why on Earth wasn't it decided that the Jedi used to be emotional, social beings in the prequels, but because Anakin turned out like such a dud/evil, they all died off and Yoda went back on what it originally meant to be a Jedi?  Now, that would be interesting.  Sigh.

All of this basically amounts to the fact that while George Lucas may have fantastic ideas, he often makes terrible creative decisions.  The man who thought up the lightsaber also invented "midi-chlorians."  The mind who created Han Solo also spawned "Little Ani."  The brains behind the Force also bastardized its original meaning and turned the Jedi into annoyingly pedantic and emotionally isolated monks.  It's enough to make one want to put his or her fist through a wall.

And there, ladies and gentlemen, is the angst that comes along with being a Star Wars fan.  There is the magic of C-3PO and R2-D2, and then there's Jar Jar Binks.  There's Princess Leia, who kicks ass straight through her three films, and then there's Padme Amidala, who loses luster in hers and just becomes a casualty of Anakin's storyline.  There's the peaceably powerful puppet Yoda, and then there's the lightsaber-wielding, bouncing-of-the-walls CGI Yoda. We, as fans, have to negotiate the fact that there is so much good and yet so much bad, all wrapped up in one shiny far-off universe.

Yesterday, three diehard devotees (me included) sat down and forced the original trilogy on someone who had never seen them before.  (He had, unfortunately, been exposed to the prequels.)  The following exchange happened, brought on by a rather large continuity error between the prequels and the OT:

Q: "But didn't they watch their own movies before they made the prequels?"
A: "Soon, you will know what it feels like to be a Star Wars fan."

And that's what it feels like: bewilderment at such a grand misinterpretation of what would expand on and honor the original stories, bitterness for the epic disappointment that tastes a little too much like betrayal, and the tiniest hint of foolishness for having such high hopes in the first place.  Star Wars fans are obsessively devoted, so this letdown is awfully damaging.  George Lucas gaveth, and tooketh away.

But at the end of the day, it's still nice to pop in the theatrical release DVDs and watch the twin sunsets, and the first glimpse of the lightsaber, and the Millennium Falcon maneuvering through the Asteroid Field and know that some things can't be ruined.  Some things were taken away, but also a lot of things were given, and it's important to focus on that.  Because  the true tragedy of a Star Wars fan is that through all this bitter angst, there always lies the tiniest bit of optimism.  We fell in love with these stories for a reason, and so we'll always keep going back.

Happy New Year!

2011 has officially come upon us!  The swift passage of time is truly frightening.  But, it's easy to dull the shock by watching CNN's Times Square coverage with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin - my New Year's television of choice!

Granted, the choice isn't hard.  The competition is Ryan Seacrest and Carson Daly - both of whom make my teeth grind, to be frank - and so I settle onto CNN instead.  But the fact of the matter is that the Griffin/Cooper duo is just plain awesome.  Their dynamic consists of Kathy desperately pulling out all the stops to make jokes and Anderson giggling and trying to make her PC for the cameras.  Together, they are awkward, and adorable.

In this year's incarnation, we got a glimpse into the unlikely BFF status of Kathy and Anderson's mom, Gloria Vanderbilt (and Anderson's resulting embarrassment), Kathy repeatedly punching Anderson in the stomach, Kathy repeatedly trying to undress Anderson, Anderson asking the viewers to vote on which pair of his glasses they liked, and Kathy throwing said glasses over the edge of their platform.

And of course, there's always the threat of Kathy being fired because she drops an f-bomb on television.  And although I usually don't mind when she gets offensive, I desperately hope she can continue to rein it in because I don't want to switch over to NBC.


Behold, Griffin and Cooper in all their giggly glory:

 

Happy New Year, all!  May 2011 bring you awesomeness - even if you watch Carson Daly or Ryan Seacrest.