Because I feel it has to be said
Sep. 24th, 2009 06:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mag_pieI think the writers could do more to show why the "bitches" are the way that they are - I mean, I have no excuse for Terri and her sister, but I'm going to have faith in and show compassion for our high school ladies.
Bear with me while I delve a bit deeper into the real issues.
Rachel has never had friends, and she was hoping to have Glee help her out developmentally. She doesn't know how to deal with rejection in the one area she's always been encouraged in, and while everyone else is learning to be confident in performance, she isn't getting any benefit out of the club - people still throw drinks into her face, etc. If someone can take the time to get to know her and not, you know, kiss her and then the next day insult her, that might go a long way. Yes, she is flawed. Yes, she was acting like a diva. But someone needs to reach out to her and teach her how to both be herself and give her a chance to be liked and have friends. High school is really hard without that.
Quinn is a girl in high school who became pregnant because Puck got her drunk and had sex with her - he raped her (she was drunk = no consent, and she obviously didn't want it to happen in the first place), and she clearly hasn't had anyone to talk to about this since it happened. She likely feels violated, ashamed, and scared as hell, especially considering the moral values to which she ascribes. And she has to go to school and see the guy who did this to her every day. I don't blame her for not knowing how to talk to someone about this, and I don't blame her for not wanting Puck to be around. It sucks that she's pulling Finn into the mess, but she's a scared teenager who doesn't know what to do. Someone needs to really help her, and I'm kind of appalled that Will hasn't tried to go to at least Emma or SOMEONE who can give her the help and resources she needs.
So, honestly? Don't give up on these girls. It's easy to write them off as "bitches," but that's how problems don't get solved. Hopefully the writers realize that.
PS I really loved this episode, and Kurt and his dad made me so freaking happy. And Tina's singing was gorgeous :)
Bear with me while I delve a bit deeper into the real issues.
Rachel has never had friends, and she was hoping to have Glee help her out developmentally. She doesn't know how to deal with rejection in the one area she's always been encouraged in, and while everyone else is learning to be confident in performance, she isn't getting any benefit out of the club - people still throw drinks into her face, etc. If someone can take the time to get to know her and not, you know, kiss her and then the next day insult her, that might go a long way. Yes, she is flawed. Yes, she was acting like a diva. But someone needs to reach out to her and teach her how to both be herself and give her a chance to be liked and have friends. High school is really hard without that.
Quinn is a girl in high school who became pregnant because Puck got her drunk and had sex with her - he raped her (she was drunk = no consent, and she obviously didn't want it to happen in the first place), and she clearly hasn't had anyone to talk to about this since it happened. She likely feels violated, ashamed, and scared as hell, especially considering the moral values to which she ascribes. And she has to go to school and see the guy who did this to her every day. I don't blame her for not knowing how to talk to someone about this, and I don't blame her for not wanting Puck to be around. It sucks that she's pulling Finn into the mess, but she's a scared teenager who doesn't know what to do. Someone needs to really help her, and I'm kind of appalled that Will hasn't tried to go to at least Emma or SOMEONE who can give her the help and resources she needs.
So, honestly? Don't give up on these girls. It's easy to write them off as "bitches," but that's how problems don't get solved. Hopefully the writers realize that.
PS I really loved this episode, and Kurt and his dad made me so freaking happy. And Tina's singing was gorgeous :)
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-25 05:06 am (UTC)And I am totally in love with YOUR icon!!! You won't believe how much my friend and I go around parroting that quote!
So I've gotta ask - what is up with the American cheerleader stereotype in film/TV? Is it really that way in most of the schools?
no subject
Date: 2009-09-25 05:12 am (UTC)You know, I have no idea. Both about why that stereotype and what they're like in most schools. I've never really had serious cheerleaders at any of my schools. But I'm guessing it has some basis in facts cause I've heard people talk about how horrible cheerleaders are. And then there's the whole thing with head cheerleaders and qb's. Don't really know what's up with that either; though I feel that that's more likely to have just been established/popularized by someone and has just been continued. I think there is actually some credence to the snooty cheerleader idea though.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-25 11:17 am (UTC)First of all - NO WAY do cheerleaders wear their uniforms every day. They only ever did it on game day, and that was the same for other high schools that I knew of. And the football players don't wear their pads during school either - on game days they'll either wear their jerseys or dress up, depending on whether the game is home or away.
Second - the meanness has to depend on the clique-iness of the school. My high school had a lot of overlap between all the clubs, despite being a large, public school. So there wasn't this disconnect or hierarchy that we see in the films and TV - our star football player played the tenor sax in our wind ensemble; we had field hockey players who were in the musical in the spring; etc. But I do hear from other people, who, like Rachel, hated high school, that they did have to deal with the hierarchy and the cliques. But not necessarily the cheerleaders.