MIKE CHANG IS ALL THAT IS PERFECT AND GOOD IN THE WORLD, THE END. I am happy to stan for him unironically. ♥
Mercedes is amazing. I love her so much, and I am furious that she's being painted as the bad guy in fandom, and that RIB have decided that the issues she faces are because she -- the black girl! -- is LAZY. That is gross on so many levels, I can't even. I am going to build on my headcanon for her right this second and declare that Mercedes, like many teenagers, likes to downplay the amount of effort she puts into things because she wants her achievements to appear effortless. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, and RIB can go fuck themselves.
The whole Will/Mercedes tension really drove home some crucial stuff about both of their characters, for me. Will is a neediness junkie. He's turned on by vulnerability and people who want him to make everything better. That, more than anything else, is why he favors Rachel so much: right from the beginning, Rachel reacted to him emotionally and personally -- she treats him like he's is important to her. Even when Rachel fights with him, she never accuses him of neglect, but of active SABOTAGE. Rachel has cast him at the center of her own personal psychodrama: whether she's making him into the Beloved Mentor or the Arch-Nemesis, it's always a central role, and she treats him accordingly. And Will, who wants desperately to feel needed and powerful, eats it up with a spoon. It's not just that Rachel demands his attention, it's that she demands HIS attention. Rachel treats him like he matters to her, which is why he lets her get away with things (diva fits, challenging his authority, personal insults, sabotaging the team) that get people like Kurt, Mercedes, and Santana sent to the office or kicked out. Will and Rachel are very similar to each other, but especially in the "no sense of boundaries" and "taking everything personally" ways, which is why they gravitate to each other
Will neglects Mercedes and Kurt because they both cope by making a big display of confidence. They don't invite him in emotionally -- they don't give him his fix -- so he tells himself they don't need his attention as much as Rachel does. Will only starts sticking up for Kurt when he catches Kurt right after Karofsky threatened him, because now Kurt is one of his Vulnerable Students Who Needs His Help. Obviously Will's straight white guy privilege blinders are a big part of this too, but I think his need to feel needed is the major factor -- Kurt always presented himself as aloof and above-it-all, which doesn't feed Will's desires.
The saddest thing in that episode for me was that it revealed that Mercedes ALSO sees Will as central and important to her life, but because she doesn't make a big production of her emotional vulnerability the way Rachel does, he ignores her. A lot of the lines Mercedes gets in the show are supportive or even complimentary (she likes his chin!) of Will; that, along with the Dreamgirls sequence, seems to indicate that she wants his personal approval as much as Rachel does, but doesn't know how to get it. So she blames herself or Rachel, the safer targets. I was so glad to see her finally take it to the source of it all, and tell Will off. It was wonderfully satisfying, and I want to see how that conflict is going to play out over the rest of the season. If it doesn't end with him crawling to her and begging forgiveness, I may throw something.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 10:45 pm (UTC)Mercedes is amazing. I love her so much, and I am furious that she's being painted as the bad guy in fandom, and that RIB have decided that the issues she faces are because she -- the black girl! -- is LAZY. That is gross on so many levels, I can't even. I am going to build on my headcanon for her right this second and declare that Mercedes, like many teenagers, likes to downplay the amount of effort she puts into things because she wants her achievements to appear effortless. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, and RIB can go fuck themselves.
The whole Will/Mercedes tension really drove home some crucial stuff about both of their characters, for me. Will is a neediness junkie. He's turned on by vulnerability and people who want him to make everything better. That, more than anything else, is why he favors Rachel so much: right from the beginning, Rachel reacted to him emotionally and personally -- she treats him like he's is important to her. Even when Rachel fights with him, she never accuses him of neglect, but of active SABOTAGE. Rachel has cast him at the center of her own personal psychodrama: whether she's making him into the Beloved Mentor or the Arch-Nemesis, it's always a central role, and she treats him accordingly. And Will, who wants desperately to feel needed and powerful, eats it up with a spoon. It's not just that Rachel demands his attention, it's that she demands HIS attention. Rachel treats him like he matters to her, which is why he lets her get away with things (diva fits, challenging his authority, personal insults, sabotaging the team) that get people like Kurt, Mercedes, and Santana sent to the office or kicked out. Will and Rachel are very similar to each other, but especially in the "no sense of boundaries" and "taking everything personally" ways, which is why they gravitate to each other
Will neglects Mercedes and Kurt because they both cope by making a big display of confidence. They don't invite him in emotionally -- they don't give him his fix -- so he tells himself they don't need his attention as much as Rachel does. Will only starts sticking up for Kurt when he catches Kurt right after Karofsky threatened him, because now Kurt is one of his Vulnerable Students Who Needs His Help. Obviously Will's straight white guy privilege blinders are a big part of this too, but I think his need to feel needed is the major factor -- Kurt always presented himself as aloof and above-it-all, which doesn't feed Will's desires.
The saddest thing in that episode for me was that it revealed that Mercedes ALSO sees Will as central and important to her life, but because she doesn't make a big production of her emotional vulnerability the way Rachel does, he ignores her. A lot of the lines Mercedes gets in the show are supportive or even complimentary (she likes his chin!) of Will; that, along with the Dreamgirls sequence, seems to indicate that she wants his personal approval as much as Rachel does, but doesn't know how to get it. So she blames herself or Rachel, the safer targets. I was so glad to see her finally take it to the source of it all, and tell Will off. It was wonderfully satisfying, and I want to see how that conflict is going to play out over the rest of the season. If it doesn't end with him crawling to her and begging forgiveness, I may throw something.