Kurt Hummel Snark & Bark Thread--Part 4

[tanita_mors]

how about "newshow4kurt" ?

[CloveGlee]

Yeah, well, after the ultimate result of the moresongs4kurt campaign, I am not sure I've got the heart to do it again. One part of me wonders if we helped get him Music of the Night, or if we are the reason Sue wanted to stick him in a dress.

[BlueJazz]

They deserved it !

[BlueJazz]

how about "newshow4kurt" ?

Should be "newshow4chris"

[Glorfindel]

Yeah, well, after the ultimate result of the moresongs4kurt campaign, I am not sure I've got the heart to do it again. One part of me wonders if we helped get him Music of the Night, or if we are the reason Sue wanted to stick him in a dress.

I'm afraid the latter (Sue wanting Kurt in a dress) is indeed a direct result from Kurtsies tweeting/whining on forums about Kurt not getting solos in competitions.
RIB never intended to give Kurt a solo and this was their way out, with an excellent "f*ck you" to the fanatic fans imbedded in it.
Just look at the Tina/Jenna meta: that was practically the same thing.

I don't know if agressive twitter campaigns are the way to make RIB change things. They do not respond well to pressure like that. For example: the Brittana kisses. They caved in and gave the fans the Brittana kiss, but they used a lot of "f*ck you" meta to make them kiss in that episode (Heart) as well, giving the fans the finger along with their wish.

As soon as fan demand forces RIB to change things, they turn into stubborn children, knowing they have to do something about it, but twisting it in a way that we still don't get what we want, or handle it in a very unsatisfying way.
Although I don't know what to think about all the positive tweets from the Finchel and Klaine fans: RIB seem like the kind of persons that are subjective to flattering and praise.

What I think is that the show is realizing that they were wrong in overexposing Blaine and Santana so much. But if that is because of the fans protests or the media call out: I don't know. Maybe it's a joint thing: the media getting part of their POV from the fans as well.
Anyway: I think it is still important to keep talking and posting and protesting in forums, I really believe they read that and partly listen to it. And Fox more than RIB will be willing to please the fans. The protests of no gay couples PDA in Glee has probably been felt over at Fox by now, maybe that's why they are moving Glee to the 9 o'clock slot.

I do think our #Moresongs4Kurt twitter campaign made the Anders brothers more aware of us, but they are on Kurt's side already anyway.

[E-ko]

^ Maybe moresongs4kurt resulted in that oh-so-adorable self-delusion in DWS where Kurt mentioned he used to get a solo every other week?

I don't know where I stand on campaigns, tbh -- it doesn't seem to make a lick of difference either way. Faberry campaigns and gets a lot of fanservice, but then again so does any other 'ship as long as it involves Rachel. Nobody seems to like Finn/Rachel (--at least internet-wise) yet all the episodes so far have had a plot revolving or involving them. Almost every other character-stan resents Blaine getting everything handed to him on a silver platter, yet it's the only story-line they seem willing to give him. I just have no idea, really.

@BlueJazz, that bit about the baidu's really warms and saddens my heart. I get so discouraged by Western fandom swallowing Kurt's maltreatment/digression so easily because they can't fathom Kurt as his own character anymore. Everything is wrapped up in Blaine and the myth of the 'happy gay couple'.

[BlueJazz]

I don't know if agressive twitter campaigns are the way to make RIB change things. They do not respond well to pressure like that. For example: the Brittana kisses. They caved in and gave the fans the Brittana kiss, but they used a lot of "f*ck you" meta to make them kiss in that episode (Heart) as well, giving the fans the finger along with their wish.

I'm not sure about the effectiveness of twitter campaign, either. All I know is I'm still willing to try and will give my support if any of the hardcore fans here suggest to do a twitter campaign at the right time

Voicing our opinion in the forums is definitely a must, though.

[valkeakuulas]

I don't know where I stand on campaigns, tbh -- it doesn't seem to make a lick of difference either way. Faberry campaigns and gets a lot of fanservice, but then again so does any other 'ship as long as it involves Rachel. Nobody seems to like Finn/Rachel (--at least internet-wise) yet all the episodes so far have had a plot revolving or involving them. Almost every other character-stan resents Blaine getting everything handed to him on a silver platter, yet it's the only story-line they seem willing to give him. I just have no idea, really.

I've been wondering how Blaine got to be such a major player even though a lot of fandoms hated that. (I know the rumous of Ryan...I won't go there.) I think they are slowly trying to stear the ship to a different direction, ie. less Blaine, but it'll take a while to do that and that's why the last part of season 3 has been such a rollercoster of very good episodes and very bad ones. What I'm afraid of is that if, and that is a big IF, Kurt and Rachel do become the main focus of season 4, how long will it take the other fandoms to crush their raised storylines.

However after saying that, I do believe both of them are tolerated more in general fans of Glee and in all of the individual fandoms than Blaine, so it can not be as bad backlash as this Blaine situation has created. In the past few days I've had few feelings of regrets of so many being quite harsh on Darren...me included...I should calm down first, the end of season is just making us all angry and sad. And these last episodes have given us the comedic/played down Blaine which has made a lot of people happy.

As for Twitter, I do now own one, but would imagine the effect being very feeble. If a big advertiser demanded more open gay-friendly SL, it would happen in an instant. Money is the only thing that speaks in TV nowdays.

[Jellyrolls]

I don't know where I stand on campaigns, tbh -- it doesn't seem to make a lick of difference either way. Faberry campaigns and gets a lot of fanservice, but then again so does any other 'ship as long as it involves Rachel. Nobody seems to like Finn/Rachel (--at least internet-wise) yet all the episodes so far have had a plot revolving or involving them. Almost every other character-stan resents Blaine getting everything handed to him on a silver platter, yet it's the only story-line they seem willing to give him. I just have no idea, really.

I've been wondering how Blaine got to be such a major player even though a lot of fandoms hated that. (I know the rumous of Ryan...I won't go there.) I think they are slowly trying to stear the ship to a different direction, ie. less Blaine, but it'll take a while to do that and that's why the last part of season 3 has been such a rollercoster of very good episodes and very bad ones. What I'm afraid of is that if, and that is a big IF, Kurt and Rachel do become the main focus of season 4, how long will it take the other fandoms to crush their raised storylines.

However after saying that, I do believe both of them are tolerated more in general fans of Glee and in all of the individual fandoms than Blaine, so it can not be as bad backlash as this Blaine situation has created. In the past few days I've had few feelings of regrets of so many being quite harsh on Darren...me included...I should calm down first, the end of season is just making us all angry and sad. And these last episodes have given us the comedic/played down Blaine which has made a lot of people happy.

As for Twitter, I do now own one, but would imagine the effect being very feeble. If a big advertiser demanded more open gay-friendly SL, it would happen in an instant. Money is the only thing that speaks in TV nowdays.

The thing with Blaine is last year at this time, eveeryone saw potential in him. Yes, we got a bit annoyed by the random songs he was singing, but overall Blaine was a character with potential, and Klaine was a relationship with potential. At this time last year, I think most of us would ssay that we were very much on a Klaine high--we were excited for Kurt, and looking forward to what the relationship would bring. RIB was banking on Darren being able to be the lead the show.

Fast forward to the start of season 3, Klaine's now in the same school. Blaine is immediately loved by everyone. He's getting solos left and right. He's gets the lead in the school play. When I think back on the past 21 episodes, it is amazing to think about how little development there has been between Klaine. Really, the only major development between them was having sex. There has really been very little interaction between them. Any contact was brushed aside.

And even more more shocking is how little development for Blaine for all of the screen time he has had. All's it seemed was song after song after song. And when he finally got a big storyline it was the most ridiculous storyline possible--sibling rivalry because his brother didn't love him as much as the rest of the universe.

The more they showed Blaine on the show, the more he was coming across as only a pop song jukebox. And people were getting more and more frustrated because we were realizing that Darren wasn't the promising actor we thought he would be, and Klaine wasn't the promising couple we thought they were.

The animosity a lot of us feel towards Darren comes from RIB's insistance on shoving Blaine down her throats, at the expense of pretty much everyone else in the cast. Watching Blaine sing so many songs, and not much out week after week just became more and more frustrating. He was likable the past few episodes because he was used properly as a supporting actor--not the lead actor (or performer, really) RIB and the writers have made him.

But Darren himself is a big part of the blame as well. Watching him talk about Klaine, and just his general attitude in interviews was a big turn off for me. Hearing him say that he doesn't put much effort into the character lost him a lot of points in my view.

Hopefully next season will have a lot less Blaine focus. They really need to tighten up the cast, and keep the supporting cast in supporting roles. They can't have this many characters (and counting), and develop them all properly.

[sahhar]

I don't know where I stand on campaigns, tbh -- it doesn't seem to make a lick of difference either way. Faberry campaigns and gets a lot of fanservice, but then again so does any other 'ship as long as it involves Rachel. Nobody seems to like Finn/Rachel (--at least internet-wise) yet all the episodes so far have had a plot revolving or involving them. Almost every other character-stan resents Blaine getting everything handed to him on a silver platter, yet it's the only story-line they seem willing to give him. I just have no idea, really.

I've been wondering how Blaine got to be such a major player even though a lot of fandoms hated that. (I know the rumous of Ryan...I won't go there.) I think they are slowly trying to stear the ship to a different direction, ie. less Blaine, but it'll take a while to do that and that's why the last part of season 3 has been such a rollercoster of very good episodes and very bad ones. What I'm afraid of is that if, and that is a big IF, Kurt and Rachel do become the main focus of season 4, how long will it take the other fandoms to crush their raised storylines.

However after saying that, I do believe both of them are tolerated more in general fans of Glee and in all of the individual fandoms than Blaine, so it can not be as bad backlash as this Blaine situation has created. In the past few days I've had few feelings of regrets of so many being quite harsh on Darren...me included...I should calm down first, the end of season is just making us all angry and sad. And these last episodes have given us the comedic/played down Blaine which has made a lot of people happy.

As for Twitter, I do now own one, but would imagine the effect being very feeble. If a big advertiser demanded more open gay-friendly SL, it would happen in an instant. Money is the only thing that speaks in TV nowdays.

The thing with Blaine is last year at this time, eveeryone saw potential in him. Yes, we got a bit annoyed by the random songs he was singing, but overall Blaine was a character with potential, and Klaine was a relationship with potential. At this time last year, I think most of us would ssay that we were very much on a Klaine high--we were excited for Kurt, and looking forward to what the relationship would bring. RIB was banking on Darren being able to be the lead the show.

Fast forward to the start of season 3, Klaine's now in the same school. Blaine is immediately loved by everyone. He's getting solos left and right. He's gets the lead in the school play. When I think back on the past 21 episodes, it is amazing to think about how little development there has been between Klaine. Really, the only major development between them was having sex. There has really been very little interaction between them. Any contact was brushed aside.

And even more more shocking is how little development for Blaine for all of the screen time he has had. All's it seemed was song after song after song. And when he finally got a big storyline it was the most ridiculous storyline possible--sibling rivalry because his brother didn't love him as much as the rest of the universe.

The more they showed Blaine on the show, the more he was coming across as only a pop song jukebox. And people were getting more and more frustrated because we were realizing that Darren wasn't the promising actor we thought he would be, and Klaine wasn't the promising couple we thought they were.

The animosity a lot of us feel towards Darren comes from RIB's insistance on shoving Blaine down her throats, at the expense of pretty much everyone else in the cast. Watching Blaine sing so many songs, and not much out week after week just became more and more frustrating. He was likable the past few episodes because he was used properly as a supporting actor--not the lead actor (or performer, really) RIB and the writers have made him.

But Darren himself is a big part of the blame as well. Watching him talk about Klaine, and just his general attitude in interviews was a big turn off for me. Hearing him say that he doesn't put much effort into the character lost him a lot of points in my view.

Hopefully next season will have a lot less Blaine focus. They really need to tighten up the cast, and keep the supporting cast in supporting roles. They can't have this many characters (and counting), and develop them all properly.

Great, great, great post Karen. Couldn't have put it better myself .

[brisallie]

I don't know where I stand on campaigns, tbh -- it doesn't seem to make a lick of difference either way. Faberry campaigns and gets a lot of fanservice, but then again so does any other 'ship as long as it involves Rachel. Nobody seems to like Finn/Rachel (--at least internet-wise) yet all the episodes so far have had a plot revolving or involving them. Almost every other character-stan resents Blaine getting everything handed to him on a silver platter, yet it's the only story-line they seem willing to give him. I just have no idea, really.

I've been wondering how Blaine got to be such a major player even though a lot of fandoms hated that. (I know the rumous of Ryan...I won't go there.) I think they are slowly trying to stear the ship to a different direction, ie. less Blaine, but it'll take a while to do that and that's why the last part of season 3 has been such a rollercoster of very good episodes and very bad ones. What I'm afraid of is that if, and that is a big IF, Kurt and Rachel do become the main focus of season 4, how long will it take the other fandoms to crush their raised storylines.

However after saying that, I do believe both of them are tolerated more in general fans of Glee and in all of the individual fandoms than Blaine, so it can not be as bad backlash as this Blaine situation has created. In the past few days I've had few feelings of regrets of so many being quite harsh on Darren...me included...I should calm down first, the end of season is just making us all angry and sad. And these last episodes have given us the comedic/played down Blaine which has made a lot of people happy.

As for Twitter, I do now own one, but would imagine the effect being very feeble. If a big advertiser demanded more open gay-friendly SL, it would happen in an instant. Money is the only thing that speaks in TV nowdays.

The thing with Blaine is last year at this time, eveeryone saw potential in him. Yes, we got a bit annoyed by the random songs he was singing, but overall Blaine was a character with potential, and Klaine was a relationship with potential. At this time last year, I think most of us would ssay that we were very much on a Klaine high--we were excited for Kurt, and looking forward to what the relationship would bring. RIB was banking on Darren being able to be the lead the show.

Fast forward to the start of season 3, Klaine's now in the same school. Blaine is immediately loved by everyone. He's getting solos left and right. He's gets the lead in the school play. When I think back on the past 21 episodes, it is amazing to think about how little development there has been between Klaine. Really, the only major development between them was having sex. There has really been very little interaction between them. Any contact was brushed aside.

And even more more shocking is how little development for Blaine for all of the screen time he has had. All's it seemed was song after song after song. And when he finally got a big storyline it was the most ridiculous storyline possible--sibling rivalry because his brother didn't love him as much as the rest of the universe.

The more they showed Blaine on the show, the more he was coming across as only a pop song jukebox. And people were getting more and more frustrated because we were realizing that Darren wasn't the promising actor we thought he would be, and Klaine wasn't the promising couple we thought they were.

The animosity a lot of us feel towards Darren comes from RIB's insistance on shoving Blaine down her throats, at the expense of pretty much everyone else in the cast. Watching Blaine sing so many songs, and not much out week after week just became more and more frustrating. He was likable the past few episodes because he was used properly as a supporting actor--not the lead actor (or performer, really) RIB and the writers have made him.

But Darren himself is a big part of the blame as well. Watching him talk about Klaine, and just his general attitude in interviews was a big turn off for me. Hearing him say that he doesn't put much effort into the character lost him a lot of points in my view.

Hopefully next season will have a lot less Blaine focus. They really need to tighten up the cast, and keep the supporting cast in supporting roles. They can't have this many characters (and counting), and develop them all properly.

I couldn't have said better Jelly

To sum up, everyone had big expectations in Blaine and Klaine but through the months everything has gone down and currently most of the fandom not mattering the country is not bearing Blaine so much or not how they used to do.

[E-ko]

The thing with Blaine is last year at this time, eveeryone saw potential in him. Yes, we got a bit annoyed by the random songs he was singing, but overall Blaine was a character with potential, and Klaine was a relationship with potential. At this time last year, I think most of us would ssay that we were very much on a Klaine high--we were excited for Kurt, and looking forward to what the relationship would bring. RIB was banking on Darren being able to be the lead the show.

Now I feel special. I stopped seeing any sort of potential in Blaine, Klaine and by extension Darren as an actor since, as I call it affectionately, the Trifecta of Doom (SLS, BIOTA & Sexy). Blaine was torn down from his pedestal, became frightfully oblivious, experienced bisexuality with Kurt's best friend and the first inklings of the fact that Kurt's bullied past just doesn't concern him much (he compared Kurt with Karofsky to win an argument, just like he considers the tragedy of his hair-gel more important than Kurt winning Prom Queen through a school-wide hazing) and on top of that insulted Kurt to his face knowing he had a crush on him, then was pushy about Kurt learning about sex and guilt-tripped Burt into giving him a sex-talk on the off-chance he might get molested someday (incidentally, this did come to pass--but it's a good thing Kurt wasn't drunk himself, wasn't it). I just really, really couldn't after those episodes.

And perhaps more shallowly, Darren was just absolutely horrible in every one of his heartfelt scenes (the BIOTA coffee-table scene is really all the evidence you need to disqualify him as a talented actor, tbh). Now normally I give the mediocre Glee-cast some slack, but considering this person was cast as starring opposite Chris, who was already a break-out star and had already nabbed an Emmy nom, I really don't blame myself for finding him coming up wanting and being incredibly frustrated by it.

So yes, to me the relationship (--if we count the relationship as only starting at OS) has never had potential, because the seeds of the Thing that became Blaine Anderson were actually all already there since the moment they started spinning Blaine as something other than Kurt's mentor.

[Delight]

Now I feel special. I stopped seeing any sort of potential in Blaine, Klaine and by extension Darren as an actor since, as I call it affectionately, the Trifecta of Doom (SLS, BIOTA & Sexy). Blaine was torn down from his pedestal, became frightfully oblivious, experienced bisexuality with Kurt's best friend and the first inklings of the fact that Kurt's bullied past just doesn't concern him much (he compared Kurt with Karofsky to win an argument, just like he considers the tragedy of his hair-gel more important than Kurt winning Prom Queen through a school-wide hazing) and on top of that insulted Kurt to his face knowing he had a crush on him, then was pushy about Kurt learning about sex and guilt-tripped Burt into giving him a sex-talk on the off-chance he might get molested someday (incidentally, this did come to pass--but it's a good thing Kurt wasn't drunk himself, wasn't it). I just really, really couldn't after those episodes.

And perhaps more shallowly, Darren was just absolutely horrible in every one of his heartfelt scenes (the BIOTA coffee-table scene is really all the evidence you need to disqualify him as a talented actor, tbh). Now normally I give the mediocre Glee-cast some slack, but considering this person was cast as starring opposite Chris, who was already a break-out star and had already nabbed an Emmy nom, I really don't blame myself for finding him coming up wanting and being incredibly frustrated by it.

So yes, to me the relationship (--if we count the relationship as only starting at OS) has never had potential, because the seeds of the Thing that became Blaine Anderson were actually all already there since the moment they started spinning Blaine as something other than Kurt's mentor.

You've made a lot of good points here.

I think Chris's portrayal of Kurt's 'love at first sight' crush on Blaine was what sold the Klaine relationship to the audience in Season2 and made us optimistic of its potential. Also, Darren at least seemed to have a better understanding of what his character is supposed to be like in season 2.

If we only had the writing of Blaine's character (which was quite atrocious for the reasons you've pointed out) and Darren's abilities as an actor (his weak grasp of his character, mingled with the decision by the writers to make him a junior this season, turned Blaine into an immature chameleon with anger management issues) to go on, no one who seriously roots for Kurt would feel inclined to have Blaine as a boyfriend for Kurt.

I believe that nearly all the characters on Glee have been written badly at one point or another, and the show relied a lot on the actors portraying the characters to sell the scenes and make the audience care about these characters. To be fair, Darren/Blaine isn't the only victim of the poor quality screenwriting.

To name a few others:

• Beiste-- Most of us started to dislike her for laughing at Kurt during his R&J audition and rejecting Kurt because he didn't excite her lady parts.

• Brittany-- She stopped being funny and started becoming annoying after too many instances of 'I'll say whatever I want and do whatever I want without consequences because I have the mental age of a young child'. Maybe I'm alone in thinking this, but I haven't liked her since she ran for presidency against Kurt for no discernible reason whatsoever.

• Santana-- Too nasty, too insulting, too often, too much. One of her biggest offenses to me this season was singing 'Smooth Criminal' against Sebastian without much plot relevance. But in exchange, we got the only Kurtana scene this season (where it doesn't just consist of Santana insulting Kurt and Kurt taking it quietly), so I suppose we can't complain too much.

• Rachel-- I like Rachel most of the time, but it gets harder and harder to feel sympathy for her when the show becomes too aggressive in promoting her as this big, deserving star whom nearly everyone on ND needs to bend over backwards to please, praise and support (see last 3 episodes for reference).

[Divalicious]

Delight, you and I are mind twins. I just posted on another thread basically the same things you did about Santana, Britt and Rachel. I consider Beiste a supporting character, but did find my affection hit by her behavior with Kurt's audition, I lost a lot of respect. Blaine, I truly believe, hit so big because of the happiness of Kurt in that scene. People wanted Kurt to be happy, Blaine made him happy, so it must happen. I was there too. But the overwhelming Blaine is gorgeous and desirable, and only Rachel is more talented has eroded that feeling. Especially what Kurt has lost, despite being brave by being true to himself. Season four better have some whopping payoffs.

[E-ko]

I think Chris's portrayal of Kurt's 'love at first sight' crush on Blaine was what sold the Klaine relationship to the audience in Season2 and made us optimistic of its potential. Also, Darren at least seemed to have a better understanding of what his character is supposed to be like in season 2.

If we only had the writing of Blaine's character (which was quite atrocious for the reasons you've pointed out) and Darren's abilities as an actor (his weak grasp of his character, mingled with the decision by the writers to make him a junior this season, turned Blaine into an immature chameleon with anger management issues) to go on, no one who seriously roots for Kurt would feel inclined to have Blaine as a boyfriend for Kurt.

That's true. Darren seemed really into the mentor/support-system-thing (which I thought was a good idea, myself-- I would've loved to have Blaine turn down Kurt's puppy-crush and just continue to be a good friend, as I believe he could've been if the writers weren't totally inept and responded to fan pressure), which is why I think he started getting rather off-track acting-wise from SLS-onwards.

I also think there's something to be said about Blaine being gay representation, tbqh, of the 'not-Kurt'-kind. The amount of comments that now finally there was a 'passing' gay guy who didn't shove the fact that he's gay in their face really seemed an undercurrent to everybody being forgiving of his myriad of character-flaws (or justifying them with elaborate headcanon) just because he's the one they absolutely want to identify with and/or lust after. Why they can't do that while still admitting that Kurt and Blaine should break up, I have no idea. Too afraid Blaine would then end up with a guy who was more talented/handsome/masculine than him and thus end all their self-righteous and sexist whining?

The other examples you mention are spot-on, but I give those a little more slack because they aren't relationship/OTP-wise. A better comparison to what I'm talking about is Brittany putting a sex-tape of her and Santana on the internet without bothering to tell Santana of that fact, or how Santana persuaded Brittany into having sex with her while Brittany was in love with Artie because "the plumbing is different". I think my leeway for these characters has a lot to do with the fact that although they swing my way, I really do not feel any connection or attraction to these characters at all.

I think it's just a fact that Glee is absolutely horrible at relationships, chemistry and/or PDA be damned, which is why I would want nothing more than for Kurt to remain single and fierce for the rest of this kriffin' show.

[Buenos]

I believe that nearly all the characters on Glee have been written badly at one point or another, and the show relied a lot on the actors portraying the characters to sell the scenes and make the audience care about these characters. To be fair, Darren/Blaine isn't the only victim of the poor quality screenwriting.

I would add to the "roadkill" character development the poor way they handled Mercedes wanting the spotlight vis a vis Rachel (Asian F) and the Shelby/Puck/Quinn baby Beth storyline . In both of those they sort of waved their hands and conveniently forgot what actually occurred, ie Mercedes dissing inexplicably Rachel and Shelby sleeping with a student.

That is why Chris Colfer, Lea Michelle and Cory Monteith are so vital to the show, because no matter the crap they are required to wade through, they manage to bring the exceptional acting and energy to the table. Those characters have not exactly been well served by story lines either, but they are the big guns who deliver the emotional/dramatic scenes as expected and truth to be told, they do get more character development than the rest, as maddening inconsistent and poor as that treatment usually is. Their line readings of even the most banal dialogue usually have some bite and verve to them, and so a lot of the other characters (such as Blaine) can't quite overcome the script because it's very bad and they only get development so many episodes with huge gaps in between. Mike, Tina, PUck, Artie, Quinn, Blaine, have been MIA sometimes for 5 or 6 straight episodes as far as story lines and while I like all those actors, they are not really that exceptional in being able to rise above their material consistently.

(Naya Rivera to me is a special case. I like her and I thought that she needed more development and song, but once she got them, it seems she isn't quite as good as I thought she would be)

So Darren is not alone in getting crappy treatment in Glee. His pickle is that something that was uttered apparently by a higher up Fox pesron in season two, something to the effect IIRC that Darren has more "crossover" appeal than anyone else on Glee is sort of taken seriously. So IMO they have tried to straddle the character in trying to make him more "macho" ie, the boxing scenes, but the problem is his only real development is as Kurt's boyfriend, so that they can't downplay the gay aspect either or the character will get no development at times. If he wasn't gay and Kurt's boyfriend I have no doubt they would have paired Blaine off in those straight love triangles that Glee loves so much. Take Artie,as the kid in a wheel chair he has been involved in 3 love triangles and dated/tried to date Tina, Brittany and Sugar. (The irony is that Fox doesn't seem to realize that it's the "gay" aspect of Blaine/Darren character that give him a special unique appeal, otherwise he's just a shorter Finn/Sam variation)

It's telling to me that the one time the show attempted to give Blaine some character development/ extended scenes they did it with a non regular actor, Guest star Matt Bomer, and "invented" a storyline that prior to the episode we never knew existed, ( Ie a big brother who neglected and mistreated Blaine). The story was stand alone in that probably we will never hear about Cooper Anderson again.

So the Blaine character's only other development at times seems to come through song, and the problem with that is that in song the Blaine character seems a bit over the top and even a caricature. While that can be appealing and entertaining, it's limited how much genuine development you can get from that IMO. It doesn't help that the strain shows in the show trying to present Blaine as a incredibly talented golden boy who everyone gushes over when he doesn't appear any more talented than any of the other main characters. It's sort of the same problem when the show presented Finn as the most talented male vocalist in season one, but once we got to hear Kurt, Artie sing more and with guest star Groff and Puck coming into the scene, that premise sort of collapsed also.

Chris/Kurt usually gets some dialogue interaction in most episodes and show dropped the ball badly in not actually making Kurt and Blaine a "power couple" in just giving them dialogue and normal couple interaction (not necessarily PDA's ) on a regular basis. They could have had comic adventure, dramatic adventures, etc, during the year, but instead we got the long drawn out NYADA angst fest for Kurt, the fizzled out Warbler/SEbastian ARc with Santana front and center, and the "Karofsky/suicide needing Kurt" pretty pain porn. The show is hesitant to show Klaine as
"matter of fact" as a couple, with no bells and whistles but simply together. AS badly written and neglected as Mike and Tina are, you see them as a couple in a way you don't see Kurt and Blaine. The lack of physical contact at times is quite jarring.

The most telling double standard IMO was the Christmas episode. IN the context of the show not giving them any PDA's or close interaction before that other then "The fist time" , the whole tongue in cheek premise of the "bachelors and best friends" seems cruel in context now. The satirical point of a wink/wink couple only works if in Glee " real life" you have them being able to be a couple, so using a 60's format to separate them was really an insult to the audience. (they could have shown them off camera actually engaging as a couple and then the "joke" has genuine bite to it).

I'm not sure how the split narrative is going to work in Season 4. With or without Blaine, I don't think the writers want to give Kurt an adult love life with someone and I'm hoping against hope that they at least concentrate on his career goals/dreams/school life. I"m nervous that he'll be comic fodder for Rachel's dreams/ambitions but in order not be just that, Kurt and Rachel need another support cast of secondary characters.

Spoiler:

And Glee has enough cast bloat as it is so I'm cynical how successful the split narrative can be.

[fantastica]

i honestly don't think blaine will ever be well written. there are some characters - mostly those who are conceived before their actors are hired, like Finn, Puck, etc. who all have very identifiable characteristics. blaine is an epic fail because aside from the intial mentor image they didn't have much to say about him. then they realized that dc is very popular and they need him to stay permanently so they have to come up w/ some personalities, so he started to sprout different personalities left and right. Aside from being an attention whore (that's perceived as canon only by some of the fans like US, but not blaine stans) this guy is a big mystery - but not in an interesting way. his brother meanwhile, w/ only one episode of appearance, is 100 time more of an character than blaine is. what can I say - they will either have to reinvent him and give him a strong personality or just drag him along and let him be whoever he should be for the moment. I think the best part of blaine aside from the earlier mentor one, is when he plays a supportive, fun boyfriend who smiles but does hardly anything to distract me so I can just enjoy his background presence and not having to worry about who the hell he is.

[Buenos]

i honestly don't think blaine will ever be well written. there are some characters - mostly those who are conceived before their actors are hired, like Finn, Puck, etc. who all have very identifiable characteristics. blaine is an epic fail because aside from the intial mentor image they didn't have much to say about him. then they realized that dc is very popular and they need him to stay permanently so they have to come up w/ some personalities, so he started to sprout different personalities left and right. Aside from being an attention whore (that's perceived as canon only by some of the fans like US, but not blaine stans) this guy is a big mystery - but not in an interesting way.

Part of the problem is Darren's line readings. His "acting choice" of giving Blaine this precise, preppy enunciation of his dialogue I think was a bad choice, it makes a sketchy character even more cartoon like. You add that to his old man fashions and look and it's quite strange.

It worked in Dalton because the Preppy blazer and the surreal Warblers seemed liked a tongue in cheek gay Hogwarts environment, transplanting the character to McKinley, making him younger and not anything other then Kurt's boyfriend there really isn't anything particularly distinctive about Blaine. He's not even a high school "type" and that is most clearly evident in his fashions. There is nothing "believable" about how the Blaine character dresses. Blaine Stanners claim he has a "with it" modern fashion look, but for all the WTF fashions Kurt wears, its suits his character as this fashion loving Diva .

I've yet to see any other TV show or movie where any male teenagers dresses like the Blaine Character and pretends it's part of what's new/hip/current now. High water red pants, white and red vest and bow tie is something seen at a senior citizen home but not what a teenager wears today.

[fantastica]

i heard in Murphy's new comedy the New something (???) about a gay couple and a surrogate mom, one of the gay guy has the exact blaine look - bow tie, no socks, gelled hair, etc. either it's a very current thing or it's murphy's favorite fantasy look. I don't know anything about man's fashion and I have never never never even dated a guy who wear a bowtie, even in formal settings.

[E-ko]

I think the bow-tie, gelled hair, no socks thing is actually a fashion-look, if not high-fashion. At H&M they'll have one of those looks up as their ads pretty much every spring/summer-season. But I think you need a certain kind of 'model-charisma' to pull it off and not look like (as Buenos pointed out) a senior-citizen or a toddler. Unfortunately, Darren doesn't.

[sahhar]

The costume department got Blaine's clothes completely wrong in Season 3. Kurt's clothes make a lot of sense even if I have some issues with them, especially this season, plus Chris pulls them off flawlessly.

Blaine's clothes don't match his personality at all (how much of it that we know anyway). He just doesn't seem like the kind of guy at all who would dress that way from head to toe. Plus it doesn't help that Darren seems extremely uncomfortable in them and that shows on screen. Chris is not comfortable with his wardrobe either but you never get that feeling when he's on screen. It's a terrible epic fail on the clothes designer and Darren's part for not putting in enough thought to Blaine's wardrobe. His few outfits from Season 2 were absolutely perfect. They should have kept that look for him, junior or not.

P.S- While on the subject of clothes, I hope Kurt's wardrobe changes a little next season when he's in NYADA and starting his new life in New York. I hope it becomes more mature, still stylish, but mature.

[brisallie]

... His few outfits from Season 2 were absolutely perfect. They should have kept that look for him, junior or not.

P.S- While on the subject of clothes, I hope Kurt's wardrobe changes a little next season when he's in NYADA and starting his new life in New York. I hope it becomes more mature, still stylish, but mature.

You know one thing I noticed in "Choke" was the fact that Blaine was dressing up similar how he was dressed up in season 2 and it made me frown and ask to myself "Where are his bowties?" Possibly the costume department was experimenting which style fits better to him but though his current style is horrible and seems uncomfortable, he's well known and mock by his bowties hahahaah

I'm sure Kurt's wardrobe gonna be awesome next season because if we see through the seasons, his wardrobe has grown up next to him :D For a second I felt like a proud mom

[Jellyrolls]

The problem with Blaine's clothes for me right off the bat in episode 3.1 is that it wasn't at all like the image that we had of Blaine from season 2 (I guess you could call the clothes part one of Blaine's character rollercoaster). One thing we knew about Blaine from his talks with Kurt is that though he was "out and proud" he didn't really like to stand out. He talked to Kurt about blending in at Dalton (though that wasn't about clothes). He expressed concern about Kurt's decision to wear the kilt to the prom. So, to me, Blaine didn't want to stand out from the crowd so he should have been wearing clothes that would blend in more with the look of a typical high school boy. Jeans, polo shirts, t-shirts, American Eagle type shirts.

When I saw him in the red flood pants, black shirt with bow tie, I was just shaking my head thinking, "What the hell have the done to Blaine?" All season long, as I saw him in old man sweaters and sweater vests, and more and more shots of his ankles to please what I can only assume is Ryan Murphy's ankle fetish, I kept thinking, "Kurt needs to give his man some fashion advice because Kurt would not let his man dress like that." I was glad when they confirmed with Big Brother that Kurt didn't pick out Blaine's clothes because there is no way Kurt would pick out such an old and unusal look for his boyfriend.

I know that the writing is bad, I have to say again that I don't think the problems with Blaine can be blamed completely on the writing. I do think that RIB and the writers know full well the limitations within Darren's acting ability, and they can't give him more meaty material because he can't handle it (as well illustrated in Big Brother). Very little in Darren's acting comes across as natural. His reactions almost always seem off--they almost always seem like he is digging his brain for something he learned in acting 101 as opposed to being natural. I think the fact that he is partnered with Chris so much shows just how limited Darren's acting abilities are--if he had been linked with one of the middle of the road to poor actors on Glee, he wouldn't seem so bad.

[sahhar]

... His few outfits from Season 2 were absolutely perfect. They should have kept that look for him, junior or not.

P.S- While on the subject of clothes, I hope Kurt's wardrobe changes a little next season when he's in NYADA and starting his new life in New York. I hope it becomes more mature, still stylish, but mature.

You know one thing I noticed in "Choke" was the fact that Blaine was dressing up similar how he was dressed up in season 2 and it made me frown and ask to myself "Where are his bowties?" Possibly the costume department was experimenting which style fits better to him but though his current style is horrible and seems uncomfortable, he's well known and mock by his bowties hahahaah

I'm sure Kurt's wardrobe gonna be awesome next season because if we see through the seasons, his wardrobe has grown up next to him :D For a second I felt like a proud mom

In the last episode when Kurt was showing them the video from Vocal Adrenaline's performance Blaine was wearing what he had worn in BIOTA and almost seemed like a different person just sitting there. It's amazing what difference these little things make. I wish they would just stick to a look for him, it's all over the place.

Argh, whatever, Kurt is what matters to me at the end of the day, why waste energy on what they could have done with Blaine, I'd need to write an essay on that .

[Emile]

I think the bow-tie, gelled hair, no socks thing is actually a fashion-look, if not high-fashion. At H&M they'll have one of those looks up as their ads pretty much every spring/summer-season. But I think you need a certain kind of 'model-charisma' to pull it off and not look like (as Buenos pointed out) a senior-citizen or a toddler. Unfortunately, Darren doesn't.

Ugh, I noticed too that they have this kind of things at H&M.

I think as well that you need the 'attitude' for that kind of clothes. Plus, IMO, those my-house-just-got-flooded type of pants don't suite short people well (not that this is Darren's fault haha) and the gel lowers (? is it the right term?) him even more.

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