How Glee became unbearable in 10 uneasy steps - Part 6; the exploitation of Brittana..

So what's the difference between this...

..and this....

Not much.

 When Glee introduced Santana and Brittany to the world, they were simply henchmen to lead character Quinn Fabray as Sue Sylvester's Cheerios cheerleader spies. But as their popularity (aided by what awesome jobs the actors did) grew, the two were elevated to now series regulars. And by season three, lesbian lovers. I think. Let me explain.

In first season 2009, Santana was perceived as the conniving "slut" of the ensemble, bedding down both Finn and Puck, as well as eventually "bearding" Dave Karofsky, though Brittany did pretty good on her own, as well, dating Artie and even playing clothed Twister with Kurt. However during the course of the first season, it was revealed that in fact the two of them were doing the Scissor Sister thing. Not as a relationship, but as a comic aside. Like the "in" joke that the two hottest girls in school would be doing the nasty together. But by season two, the writers decided to push the comic pairing into a proclaimed somewhat serious one, where canoodling wasn't shown anymore and it was all about the feels. But while it was all about Santana supposedly coming to terms with her sexuality, it was only in relation to Brit, with none of these same issues on Brittany's shoulders. Why? If they were really in a relationship, wouldn't Brittany be going through the same tough issues? Or would that be too much of a drain on her purely comic character? The only glimpse of emotion comes at the end of season two where Brittany proclaims her love for Santana (even though she's still with Artie), but nobody, whether cast or writers or audience, identifies Brittany as gay.

So what we've got here are two hot high school girls who are supposed to have this big issue going, yet nothing really comes of it. Santana is "outed" by Finn, yet there wasn't the repercussions for her at school that there were with Kurt or Dave. And Brittany, oblivious to it all, goes on to be class president. Now, not to demean lesbian relationships or bisexual relationships or whatever, but what struggle are these girls dealing with? (I know they had the one tear-jerk scene with Santana's grandmother, but after that there's been nothing said about that subject for months - and I know they're shoving Gloria Estefan in there at the end of this season, but whatevs). Can real teenage girls struggling with their sexuality take anything from Brittana? Or is this just a fantasy on what they would like it to be? It seems crazy that only Santana would be going through all the feels of this ship, and suffering all the anguish from it.

Maybe it's because I got so used to their portrayal in season one, where their bedhopping was nothing but a tease to men and women that two reallly attractive actresses were getting it on. It was as if it was a tease to get men and boys to watch the pretty girls get it on. Then, when the whole Brittana ship went full force, you've got proclamations of love but really no evidence of a dating relationship like their straight counterparts other than the occasional song (and no more Brittana bedroom scenes either). If I was into the couple, and actually I kind of am (I'd love canon to have them end up together down the road in life), I would feel kind of cheated that the hint of attachment is being used by the writers to bring in a male (and gay female) audience with no more payback. And don't give me the Figgins breaking up their kiss was a cute witty state-of-the-world joke. Have them really kiss. Have them really date and have a fucking relationship outside of the high school. And stop being a dicktease. It's like their pairing is mentionned so that Christie Keith at AfterElton can be blinded like an eye doctor patient who just got those dilating eyedrops from coming up with any helpful analysis.


Tomorrow: Sue Sylvester. The New (and ridiculously pregnant) Sybil.