Today I’m taking a break from my platonic Blam flailing to look at another aspect of Blaine’s narrative arc… because, if you haven’t noticed yet, that is the reason I watch this show. Anyway, today’s topic struck me when my husband noticed it this past episode at the most ridiculous moment. Also, I need to give credit to sothinky because she started this discussion while I was still plotting out what I wanted to say about it.
How many times have people on Tumblr posted random letters and yelled “Blaine Anderson, you’re just the most perfect boy/baked good/hobbit/etc. ever”?
Trust me, I track that tag. I know how often it happens. What’s funny is, as much as we all jokingly say it, this season the show has been saying it too. Yes, we’re going to go ahead and stress again, before this goes any further, that Blaine is not perfect. He’s cheated, he’s a bit of an attention seeker, and so on. However, this isn’t about the viewer acknowledging it.
This is about the impression that the other characters have of Blaine and the message the show is sending by enforcing it. We can all have differing opinions of how talented characters like Rachel or Blaine are(especially when the entire cast is talented), but to follow the show, you have to buy into the narrative construct that everyone else sees them as the most talented. If you disagree, just think of it as the same suspension of disbelief you maintain when watching a film where everyone in Ancient Rome is speaking perfect English.
This is only a look at Season 4. Obviously there are some examples from Season 3 you can use, but I’m narrowing my look at it on how it’s affecting the current season.
Finally, this isn’t meant to be a list of just how often Blaine is complimented. The point of this is to examine how the show is conveying that message, why it’s doing it, and speculate on where this story could be headed.
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