Is anybody alive after this episode? No? Me either. I’m writing this from the grave. (Actually, I am writing this from the hell that I described here - ya’ll are here with me too, I know it)
The Brittana Skype scene was about 20 seconds long, but so many things were going on here. If you want the tl;dr/praise the gods for Naya Rivera post, look for it here, but now that we’ve had a little time to digest it, let’s dive in even further.
Someone needs to write a fic where Sugar pays the Louisville administration to cancel Homecoming.
Anonymous asked: I just read about Brittany/Becky/Artie in terms of sex, agency, and disability. Would it be so bad if Brittany were actually dumb or had a disability, (not equating these FYI) Does our unwillingness to accept stupid!Brittany come from prejudice? On a show like Glee shouldn't we also celebrate that "canon Brittany" has formed two serious relationships regardless of any stupidity or disability. (doesn't matter which it is) In a way, doesn't that make Santana's love for her even more awesome?
Your last sentence is perfectly legitimate in my estimation. For a long time I held that view, and I wish I still held it, but certain attitudes in the fandom (plus evidence that Brittany isn’t stupid, just very poorly understood by the writers and characters) gradually changed my mind.
I believe the reason why I chafe at the “stupid Brittany” concept is because of these notions in the Glee fandom:
- That if Brittany is “stupid”, or mentally challenged or what have you, then her relationship with Santana is based on Santana’s manipulation of her feelings/taking advantage of Brittany, and Brittany doesn’t know any better;
- That if Brittany is “stupid”, then she isn’t “smart enough” for Santana because she’s not smart enough to know if she’s “in love” with Santana (which smells of an obfuscation of a “Brittany’s not gay enough” argument, considering the bisexual vs. bicurious argument that was going on some time ago)
As a Brittanalyst, I find these arguments repulsive. I agree that it’s prejudice that contributed to the unwillingness to accept that Brittany is stupid (although at the same time I do believe there is a body of evidence that proves Brittany is not stupid).
In any case, the (crappy) finale established that Santana is unwilling to leave Brittany despite Brittany’s shortcomings.
And let’s be clear: I would still ship them even if there were no evidence at all that Brittany was smarter than she seemed.
Re “Heart” and Brittany’s playlist project: As usual, I have not watched the episode, only clips. People unwilling to recognize Brittany’s intelligence view that scene as proof of her limited capacity, can’t even burn a CD… That’s not how I saw the clip. Isn’t the name of the CD Santana and Brittany’s Infinite Playlist? It only makes SENSE Brittany needs Santana’s help to complete the list. Brittany can’t know exactly what Santana would choose. Part of her probably wants to know if “Landslide” and “Songbird” are on Santana’s list. If they are, it would be a wonderful sign of Santana finding peace with some of the awful feelings she had writhing inside her, battling fiercely with the feelings she has allowed herself to now openly claim, bliss to be with her girl Brittany.
Brittany is a genius and no one can convince me otherwise.
I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle [D]harma [G]ate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.
-Sakyamuni Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama)
I believe the best analogy for the interactions between Brittany and Santana within the Glee group dynamic is that ofdirect prajñā (wisdom) oftathātā (suchness) via silent communication. (The Buddha transmits direct knowledge of the true nature of reality by a silent sermon; In this case, holding a white lotus flower). Where only Mahākāśyapa understands the Buddha’s lesson, Santana is the only one who understands Brittany.
Okay, so. That episode was kind of a shit storm of emotion. Like, I don’t even have words. Well, I do, but they mostly resemble “dfrgthyrtgedw” or “OMFG STOP WHAT IS THIS” so if you want that part of my episode analysis, you can go through my liveblogging. If you want my opinion on the Brittana goings-on, however, stick around because that’s coming up right after this disclaimer:
Disclaimer: If we pretend that this was at all in character for Santana (because let’s face it, a girl who calls out her teacher for being horrible and ruining her education doesn’t suddenly decide college is useless), then…
after an original discussion with my beta, i’ve since explained for a few people my headcanon of lilo & stitch as a parallel for brittana, to the point where they themselves might recognize each other in the characters while watching the movie. (i have a half-formed ficlet where they watch it over and over until brittany finally realizes why she keeps wanting to see it: she was trying to figure out why it was so familiar.)
so, i’m going to try to summarize the parallels i see between them.
“You have to want to listen to [silence], and then you can hear it. It has a strange, beautiful texture. It doesn’t always talk. Sometimes—sometimes it cries, and you can hear the pain of the world in it. It hurts to listen to it then. But you have to.”
— Danny Saunders, The Chosen, by Chaim Potok
“That happens to me all the time. My lips move but only dust comes out.”
— Brittany S. Pierce, “I Am Unicorn” (Glee, 3x02)
Anonymous asked: This is kind of a random question, but do you think one of the reasons Santana/anyone-other-than-Brittany shippers often hate Britt could be because they cling to Santana's Badass Bitch persona and they don't like how whipped and dorky she acts with her girlfriend? I personally think it's adorable and a great example of character progress from the mean cheerleader stereotype, but I guess some people could see it as a regression or a weakness or something.
Possibly, although I think those people who ship Santana/anyone-other-than-Brittany like Santana (no matter whether she’s bitchy or softy) but dislike Brittany because she was shown to legitimately love a boy and hence she is at best bisexual, at worst bicurious — and for some reason that offends them. Whereas in their minds Rachel and Quinn are actually heavily closeted lesbians and are therefore somehow “better” for Santana than Brittany is. Biphobia, in a word.
As for those who ship Santana with boys over Brittany (e.g., hardcore Finntana), I am not sure how to comment on them, as that seems to be another ugly beast entirely. I would postulate that they seem to be the least inclined to accept Santana’s character progress because it leads away from boys and towards Brittany.
But as Corey once said, some simply people refuse to see Santana progress as a character. Those people are actually anti-Santana.
(sorry, if this double posts)
- “DON’T FUCK WITH MY HEADCANON RYAN MURPHY!”
- “Somebody just said that Brittana is an abusive relationship…JJ HOLD MY POODLE”
- “Brittany is NOT stupid…”
- “Let’s pretend that AVGC never happened.”
- “Let’s pretend that IKaG never happened.”
- “I have a lot of feelings…feelings about human decency, that I’m afraid of dealing with, because RIB and Co. keep writing offensive episodes…”
Edited to add:
- “BRITTANY IS IN LOVE WITH SANTANA”
- “Feelings after the cut.”
- “Santana did not manipulate Brittany.”
- “Brittany is not stupid.”
- “Brittany is not stupid.”
- “Did I mention that Brittany is not stupid?”
- “I SAID BRITTANY IS NOT STUPID GOD DAMN IT”
- “Brittany is a genius.”
