Blog about Kurt and Karofsky

http://shamanonramen.com/2010/11/david-the-gleeliath/

by Elam

Dear Blogosphere,

For the second time in my life, I need to come out of the closet in a way that might have significant ramifications for my popularity. For those of you who have been carefully monitoring my twitter like a hungry hungry hippo watches it’s marbles, this may come as no surprise: I am an unabashed and unrepentant Gleek. I know this might be hard to believe- it’s not like a show about being unpopular in High School, showtunes, and Matthew Morrison’s abs has anything to offer a gay man- but it’s true.

I tend to keep my Gleek to myself, at least when it comes to blogging. You see, when you’re attempting to prove your worth as a scholarly blogger who uses math and logic to help other people play Shaman better, your number one priority isn’t talking about how much you fucking loved Lea Michelle/Charice performing Telephone. While I personally have no need to affirm my own masculinity, gaying out over Glee is really not the way to improve readership on a video game played predominately by straight white males whose only exposure to showtunes was the time they had to watch their High School’s annual musical in order to get extra credit.

However, after this week’s episode of Glee, I’ve decided to throw the Gleek closet wide open. “Never Been Kissed,” this week’s episode, centered around everyone’s favorite Marc Jacobs-wearing 16-year old, Kurt Hummel, the man who single-handedly puts the “gay” back in “Glee club.” Over the past season and a half of Glee, Kurt and I have had a rocky relationship. I have issues with any gay main character for which “gay” is the first adjective that can be used to describe them. While I feel he’s acted superbly and his dialogue is nearly always witty, Kurt’s storylines can occasionally be overly stereotypical. “Waah, I’m angsty.” “Waaah, I’m gay and have no faith.” “Waaah, I really want to sexually harass my future stepbrother because I’m the only out gay boy in this High School and I’m sexually repressed.” All of this said, Kurt’s storylines have a right to be stereotypical, because all of them ARE the issues that gay teenagers are going through right now, and while it might seem over-the-top to a cynical 23-year old who has more in common with Asian Mike than Kurt Hummel, Kurt’s storylines will do wonders for teenagers struggling with their sexuality in high school.

This week’s Kurtcentric storyline was slightly different. As anyone who is at least a casual viewer can tell you, Kurt and the rest of the Glee club have spent the past year of High School having slushies thrown into their faces and being slammed into lockers by Dave Karofsky, your stereotypical high school bully. Desperate after being checked into his locker for the 3,279th time, Kurt decides to look for greener pastures at an all boys private school, where everyone is miraculously gay friendly, the Glee club is their equivalent of a football team, and the most popular kid in school is a charismatic gay named Blaine who Kurt totally eyefucks during a performance of Katy Pery’s classic “Teenage Dream...,” which turns out remarkably well for a Katy Pery song. (I highly recommend checking this song out.)

This is all backstory. The real meat of the week’s episode comes when a tearful Kurt details his school issues to Blaine. Blaine is sympathetic, the two bonded over how terrible public school is for out gay kids, and Blaine decides to gift Kurt with some words of advice: Don’t back down. Don’t run away. Confront bullies and let them know that you’re not scared of them. This obviously was intended as a message for the greater Glee audience and not just a valuable life-lesson for Kurt, but in the wake of recent anti-gay bullying and the real need for this type of encouragement, we can’t fault the show’s creators for not being more subtle.

Kurt took this advice to heart, and when Dave the Slushie Man slammed him into a locker the next day, Kurt followed him into the locker room and confronted his tormentor in what I believe is the most emotionally charged and well acted scene this TV show has ever seen.

This was where the episode stopped being about Kurt for me. In this one scene, Dave Karofsky, two-time winner of McKinnley High’s “douchebag of the year” contest (also voted “most likely to cause the next Cloverfield due to overuse of atomic slushies”), goes from “boring, plotless, cute extra” to “most interesting character on the show.”

Not every gay kid in high school is Kurt Hummel. Not every gay kid can come out knowing that they have their parents’ love and support behind them. Not every gay kid is so obviously gay that coming out is easier for them because they have years of gay-bashing and homophobia behind them that they’re used to it by the time it’s ready to throw the closet doors open.

Dave Karofsky exists for those kids. He exists for every jock who has no idea why he can’t be normal. He exists for every popular kid who dates the head cheerleader while daydreaming of her brother. And mostly, he exists for every straight teenager who watches Glee, so that they can know that the strange land isn’t just inhabited by the fey-like, impeccably dressed Kurts and Blaines.

Max Adler, the (excuse my gay: fucking ADORABLE) actor behind the Dave Karofsky character gets it. In a minute and a half long segment, he conveys exactly how it feels to be a repressed teenage homosexual in high school. There’s rage, there’s longing, and in his whimpers there’s pure, unadulterated need. It’s the sort of need that causes Republican Senators to have affairs with pages and “straight” men to put up Craigslist MSM classifieds. It’s heartbreaking because you know that this is Karofsky’s fate if he doesn’t deal with his sexuality issues. And, after Kurt’s rejection of his follow-up kiss, there is hurt and just this utter sense of hopelessness and despair. Max Adler’s performance shows us that the Kurts of the world aren’t the only gay kids in danger of suicide. David Karofsky is just as much a victim of society as Kurt or Blaine, and the idea that we live in a society where a sixteen-year old kid is so fucking terrified and ashamed of himself that he has to resort to kindergarten antics of ponytail-pulling and bullying because he knows no other way of making sure Kurt is thinking about him is just scary.

I think a Kurt/David relationship needs to happen. Blaine, Kurt’s gaydian angel, is so incredibly Kurtesque that their relationship would essentially be masturbation. Kurt/Karofsky (affectionately dubbed “Kurtofsky” by fans) provides a plot that is both challenging to write for the show’s authors, and more importantly would provide a beacon of hope to every high school homosexual who is scared straight.

Needless to say, I’m excited for the development of this storyline. I’m so excited to see what happens with my new favorite character that I’m actually excited for Tuesday to be here…which is pretty sad, considering it’s Friday night right now and the entire weekend is ahead of me. I will be rather disappointed if Kurt ends up with his dark-haired clone, but it’s their call. And honestly, I can’t begin to thank the creators of Glee for creating such a fucking amazing teachable moment in this scene. (Also, if Chris Colfer and Max Adler don’t win Emmys for this scene, I’m gonna cut a bitch. For real.)

(You can watch Glee on Fox Tuesdays at 8PM, EST.)

Slight edit: This post has gotten more attention than I ever dreamed, and I’m ecstatic about that! I’d also like to point out that while I’m decidedly team Kurtofsky, there are some very good dissenting opinions that focus on the fact that a romance between Kurt and Karofsky leads to some very scary issues with abuse. I’d suggest checking out this link for a very well-written argument against Kurtofsky.

End of article

First of all, I'm also going to post and comment on the blog that Elam provided the link to. I think it was very cool of him to send readers to an article that provides a different opinion and perspective to his. I think its a way of showing how important this storyline is to people, and all the various reactions and viewpoints that can emanate from one topic on a television show.

This article has given me emotional whiplash; my head is spinning from the constant, "I agree!" "I disagree!" thoughts as my eyes travel from one paragraph to the next.

Obviously this is a person't opinion, and he has every right to express it, so I'm not saying he's right or wrong. I think anyone who reads my blog might be shaking their heads over why this issue is so important to me, and why I feel I have any authority on the subject, given who I am.

Valid points I think. Yes, I think several of the articles I have posted have been written by women. But how many not-so-young, straight, women are this interested in the journeys of young, gay men? Many of my friends are gay, so that's a big reason, but it seems to go even deeper than that for me. Call me a hag if you want to; I've been ridiculed for years because many of my interests are off the beaten path. I have also been made to feel that my thoughts have no value. So now I say what I want to say through blogging.

I am learning to use my voice. I am realizing that everything happens for a reason. I have the friends that I have, I watch the shows that I watch, I read the articles that I read, because this all contributes to and influences who I am. Not everyone is going to agree with me. But just as I learn from others, maybe someone will learn from me.

I stated from the beginning that Kurt and Artie are my favorite characters on Glee. So far I don't think I have posted anything about Artie or Kevin McHale. I definitely plan to. Kurt's storyline is far more in the news right now. To be honest, I don't think Artie will ever be featured in the press as much as Kurt is. But that doesn't mean that I don't have a lot to say about Artie, and Kevin McHale, because I do. I just haven't had time to write those blogs yet. Artie and Puck were the "C" storyline in the "Never Been Kissed" episode, and I do plan to work on that analysis very soon.

Okay, so, on to this blog. First of all, a picky, but I think important, point. Kurt HAS been harrassed more than the other glee clubbers, the abuse has been more physical, and in some, but not all situations, his sexual orientation has been mentioned as a reason. Kurt has even been ridiculed by his fellow club members, Puck and Santana, for being gay.

But this is the first part that really bothered me:
"Not every gay kid is so obviously gay that coming out is easier for them because they have years of gay-bashing and homophobia behind them that they’re used to it by the time it’s ready to throw the closet doors open."

Coming out ISN'T easy, whether you're "obviously gay" or not. I mean, yes, some gay people are very lucky and have an easy time of it, thanks to supportive loved ones. But I don't understand how you can make the assumption that years of abuse somehow make the coming out process easier. That just doesn't make sense to me.

Unfortunately, I think most of us have been guilty of giggling at celebrities like Ricky Martin and Clay Aiken, saying "Duh!" when they finally made the decision to officially come out. But I agree with Ricky, coming out is a very hard thing to do, and no one should do it until they're ready. Its a personal, individual journey, and I think Perez Hilton is a bully for outing people (he has said recently he is changing his ways.) Yes, I do think society as a whole and the gay community especially, benefit when a young celebrity like Chris Colfer comes out. Kurt struggles at school, but its obvious from the interviews and backstage footage that the entire cast adores Chris.

To me, the comment smacks of the compettion game, which I abhor. "Feel sorry for the closeted jock, but not for the fey kid." I would say it even goes a step further and wanders dangerously close to internalized homophobia. "If Kurt didn't dress and act the way he does, he wouldn't get treated so badly."

Its very obvious from my comments that I am protective of Kurt. I want the audience to care about him and understand his situation. Even though I said in a previous post that its possible to sympathize with the struggles of all the characters, at least for me, I'm not really able to feel much empathy for Karofsky at this point. That's because so far we have only been presented with a two dimensional character: The Bully. He tosses slushies, picks fights, marks on people with pens, shoves people into lockers...and that is all we know of him. I think as we learn more about his backstory, as he rehabilitates, if that happens, then my feelings about him will change. I might even start using his first name. :) I think the actor who plays him, Max Adler, is terrific, and I would like to see the character stick around for his sake.

As I've said before, I think its important to tell the stories of all three gay characters, to show that not all gay people dress or act the same way. But I don't want Karofsky's or Blaine's journeys to become more compelling than Kurt's. I definitely fear that could happen, because as gay characters both Karofsky and Blaine are more accessible to the audience. I was going to be more specific and say "the straight audience," but unfortunately I think even gays would vote to see more of the good looking, could-pass-as-straight Blaine or the butch, tough, misunderstood Karofsky instead of the wisecracking, tear-eyed, queeny Kurt.

And of course I highly disagree with this:
"I think a Kurt/David relationship needs to happen. Blaine, Kurt’s gaydian angel, is so incredibly Kurtesque that their relationship would essentially be masturbation. Kurt/Karofsky (affectionately dubbed “Kurtofsky” by fans) provides a plot that is both challenging to write for the show’s authors, and more importantly would provide a beacon of hope to every high school homosexual who is scared straight."

First of all, we don't know enough about Blaine yet. Yes, that conversation in Breadsticks shows that Kurt and Blaine are similar in some ways. But is the blogger trying to say that two effeminate guys wouldn't be attracted to each other? Because I don't think that's true. And how exactly would a romance between Kurt and Karofsky "provide a beacon of hope?" So closeted people think they can be abusive and then date their victims? Earlier in the blog he used the example of boys on the playground tugging on the ponytails of little girls they like. That and bullying are hardly the same thing.

gleekette