Glee failure: Making Kurt comfort Rachel after she lost
(submitted by: klainestix)
Mod note: I’m publishing this not because I think there’s anything wrong with Kurt being a gracious winner and comforting his friend, but because the conclusion of Diva is another example of a bad pattern in the writing of this friendship: Kurt has some sort of success (getting his NYADA letter in Michael, a great NYADA audition, winning Midnight Madness), which is immediately followed by some sort of failure/disappointment/anxiety of Rachel’s (worry about her NYADA letter, choking on her audition, losing Midnight Madness), and the resulting focus is never on Kurt’s triumph, but always on Rachel’s unhappiness. What this does is deny Kurt the chance to enjoy his success within the narrative, and makes it apparent that Kurt’s achievements are actually not about Kurt, but about Rachel, as they are always in juxtaposition to her failures, which get all the focus. In contrast, when Kurt has a failure, like being rejected from NYADA, and Rachel has a success at the same time, like being accepted to NYADA, the narrative focus still remains on Rachel, to the point where we don’t even see Kurt react to the disappointment. This narrative pattern makes their friendship appear very unbalanced and highlights how Kurt has become largely a support for Rachel’s stories.
