Deeper thoughts on parts of Glee's 'Purple Piano Project'.

[rockinhamburger]

Regarding Blaine's transfer.

I'll be honest: I was so genuinely happy that Blaine had transferred that I didn't hear why he was doing it. I was so excited that I was barely even able to pay attention to the words they were saying in that scene. I was squeeing over the adorable.

Yes I am twenty-three years old, and no I am not ashamed.

But anyway, I went home and watched that scene again and discovered that Blaine actually straight-up transferred to be closer to Kurt, the person he loves. And I guess this is kind of a sore spot for some people in fandom. Some wanted a better reason for his transfer. Transferring for love, I suppose, is not a good enough reason.

But what reason would have been okay? Should Blaine have transferred to face up to his past? To stop 'running away', as he put it way back in Never Been Kissed. I don't like that reason, because I don't view leaving a school you got the 'living crap' beat out of you as running away. Blaine apparently viewed it that way, sure. But could the show have gotten away with having Blaine transfer for that reason? For implying that it's not okay to get yourself out of a dangerous situation and into a safe one? That not doing so is cowardly?

So then, what other reasons are there? He's sick of private school snobbery? I don't think so--he loves Dalton and the Warblers; they cannot remotely compare with McKinley in levels of awesome. So was it money troubles? Well, then the problem would have been plot contrivance, wouldn't it?

My point is this: why isn't love a good enough reason? We're not talking about the situation in the first season, when Jesse transferred to be Rachel, a) not for love, and b) after they'd only known each other for a few days. I personally see Kurt and Blaine as a very different breed of high school relationship. They're not playing around; you know that, and I know that. So why shouldn't Blaine transfer to be closer to the boy he loves?

I'm gonna reveal a little secret about me that I haven't really told many people. It's probably going to also reveal my bias, so do with it what you will.

After I graduated from high school, I took a year off to work. During that year, there was a boy I was getting close to. I really liked him, and one day this boy and I went for breakfast, and he asked me what plans I had for the future. Then he told me about the college he was attending, and about the program he was in. It sounded like a great school and a great program, so I took the necessary steps to apply, and I got in.

This was about four years ago now, and while I am no longer with that boy or in love with that boy; while I am no longer in that particular program of study, applying to that school was one of the best decisions I've made in my adult life.

Did I make that decision based on love? Partly, yes. But I knew what people would think, what they'd say if they knew that was part of my reasoning, and I went and did it anyway. And even though things didn't work out with that boy I truly don't regret a single moment of that relationship, the decision included.

I don't know. I guess I think it's pretty sweet and pretty romantic that Blaine transferred to be closer to Kurt. And sure, it might not work out between Kurt and Blaine, but the relationship we're being privy to will never be a regret for them. I think the decision to transfer will be important to Blaine throughout hs life, completely aside from how he feels about Kurt.

Besides, they really might be together for the rest of their lives! And isn't that a sweet story to tell the grandkids?

So I'm not too fussed about Blaine's transfer and his motives for doing so. I'm just very happy he's at McKinley with Kurt, wearing sexy outfits and beaming at Kurt in the choir room, and I am very eager to see how things play out with Kurt and Blaine in the future.

Comments

[prosen8966.livejournal.com]

I agree that it's sweet and romantic to transfer to be closer to the boy one loves and YES, it was NOT running away, to leave a school where one had 'the crap beat out of them'. However (you could see this coming from a mile away, I'm sure...), the difference I see here is one of practicality (which, of course, does not exist in the Glee universe) whereas Dalton, a prestigious private school that most likely leads to Ivy League schools and such, would not be a school to transfer out of to go to McKinley, a public school that we, the audience, have seen is simply NOT the academic challenge of a lifetime. This was made abundantly clear when Schue visited Kurt, and Kurt straight out said that Dalton was much more challenging academically, and we saw that he was studying in his spare time.

If nothing else, FINN appears to be passing his classes, and this is a student who cheats off a girl who cheats off another girl who has Downs Syndrome.

Personally, TBH, while I originally didn't want Blaine to transfer for the first semester so that we could see the Warblers sing, and also see BOTH Kurt and Blaine come into their own (rather than ALWAYS have Klaine plot-lines, rather than the two of them having separate plots for themselves), I loved the manner in which the transfer was achieved on Tuesday so much that I no longer give a crap about any of that stuff and just want to see more of them b'c they were so adorable on Tuesday I melted into my bed.

And that's ignoring the sweet, sweet Hummelberry...

If it helps in any way, my sister (after college) moved down to North Carolina, to be with her BF of the moment (he had both friends and a job, whereas, at the time, she simply had HIM), and we (her family and friends) strongly recommended against doing such a thing, since she was basically just following him down there and who knew what was going to happen? But she is very strong-willed, and she went anyway, and they were together for a number of years until (actually) they DID break up but by that point she was settled in the area, had a job and friends of her own, and eventually found the man of her dreams, with whom she is with now (and clearly would not have met, had she not moved down originally with Jeff) so these things are not always cut and dry.

[chosenfire28.livejournal.com]

I think it was just weak writing but am ignoring it because Blaine is at McKinley and I love him there! The writers needed Blaine to go to McKinley so they just threw the love thing in there. I would have preferred he transferred because McKinley had a superior glee club, ambition is a totally legit reason to transfer and he could have cited while loving the Warblers they were too set in their ways and didn't have the potential to win that New Directions did.

The love reason just feels so Twilight like to me. I can ignore it though, this is Glee and parts are always going to be ridiculous so I am just going to enjoy the fun :D

[fobsessed54.livejournal.com]

this is why i stay away from twitter and a lot of general fandom stuff. i didnt even know there was outcry about his reasons for transferring. But i love what you've said here darling, and thanks for sharing with us! <3

[valentina-says.livejournal.com]

I feel like if it's okay for an adult couple to move somewhere because one of them is being offered a job, and the other has to find a new job and find their place and everything, why wouldn't it be okay for Blaine to transfer just for being with Kurt? They're just as solid — if not more — as any adult couple.

That being said, the whole "confronting your demons" thing was not what I wanted them to do at all. Kurt didn't run away from McKinley and neither did Blaine. They were both in dangerous positions, in schools where they weren't safe, and the smart thing for them to do was to leave. Going back, for Kurt, wasn't about facing Karofsky or confronting his fear. It was about being back with his friends and at the place where he was most comfortable and happiest. Not that he wasn't at Dalton, it just wasn't the same.

I have a lot of feelings.

[pushplaytobegin.livejournal.com]

I don't know how I feel about his transfer, to tell the truth. I haven't thought about it in a meta way yet. My own history and bias is that I was always told that a good education was the key to everything. So at first, I thought, "Wow, he's going to give up a prep-school education for his high school boyfriend? That's hardcore. What's that going to do to his college apps?" I don't know why one wouldn't transfer from one school to another of equal standing to be with one's paramour; for me, the thing that adds complexity (and potential conflict, and thus interest) is the fact that Dalton and McKinley aren't of equal standing. For me, it's not a question of, "Is love a legitimate reason?" IMO, of course it is. The question is, what consequences will there be?

Also, I have a teensy request: Would you be willing to write "episode spoilers" when you're just writing about the episode? I hesitated to click and read this because I wasn't sure whether you were going to be writing about just this episode or about future episodes (I avoid future spoilers). :-)