Ask a crazy Brittanalyst, get a crazy answer: Part XX

In which JJ is still working on the ol’ Ask box…

1. Hey, Anon!

Being that the still that we all love so much seems to depict what happens immediately following the “I Kissed a Girl” performance, I think it’s safe to say that Santana doesn’t try to downplay her love for Brittany in 3x07 at all.

Thanks for writing in, Anon!

2. Hey, Anon!

Short answer?

I think that Brittany loves messing with Rachel, and especially in situations where Rachel takes herself too seriously. I also think that Brittany appreciates irony when she sees it. I also think that sneaky!Brittany is sneaky… and kind of vengeful.

Long answer?

Rachel sets out to write an epic anthem. Instead, she churns out “My Headband,” which is possibly the most delightfully godawful song in the history of self-indulgent, godawful songs, aside from maybe “Only Child,” at least in the Gleeverse. Rachel, of course, doesn’t see any flaws in her finished product until she shows it to Finn, who points out that Rachel could really do better, which Rachel does after Quinn motivates her to write “Pretending.”

For her part, Brittany finds all this hilarious. And why? Because Rachel Berry constantly belittles Brittany and acts as if Brittany is incapable of having adult thoughts and feelings. Rachel treats the things Brittany cares about as though they are trite—you know, kind of like she does when she refers to the first public expression of the love of Brittany’s life as nothing but an exercise in “exploring the uncharted world of Sapphic charm,” which is basically a fancy way of calling Brittana’s relationship girl-on-girl experimentation of the “I Kissed a Girl” variety.

So the fact that Rachel sets out to compose this deeply emotional, moving, significant song and comes up with “My Headband” instead? That kind of delights Brittany.

It’s only natural, then, that “My Headband” becomes BrittBritt’s favorite song; it’s basically an audio monument to Rachel Berry’s failure, or at least to the fact that even though Rachel talks a good game about understanding real love, pain, heartache, emotion, etc., she really, really misses the point sometimes… like when it comes to Brittana’s capacity to form a deep and lasting romantic relationship, for example (see here).

I don’t think it’s a mistake that Brittany claims “My Headband” as her favorite song in 2x16, because, frankly, I think the events of 2x15 give Brittany a good reason to want to see Rachel get some comeuppance. As I write elsewhere: “Anyone who watches Brittany during those few, tense seconds that constitute the Pezberry ‘Sapphic charm’ exchange knows how much it kills Brittany to see Santana shut down again like that, because she’s seen that happen too many times before already and she just wants this time to be different.”

I think Brittany probably resents Rachel for spooking Santana at that critical juncture. Accordingly, seeing Rachel fail at something that should come easily to her after Rachel does her damage to Brittana probably hits the spot for BrittBritt.

Does Brittany consciously exert effort to “get back at” Rachel for her hand in scaring Santana in 2x15? No. And does Brittany spend a lot of time blaming Rachel for what she said? Again, probably not.

But has Brittany always resented Rachel’s attitude towards both Brittany’s intelligence and the seriousness of Brittana? Totally. And does Brittany have some private frustrations—with the way everything turns out in 2x15, at the fact that things are so hard for Brittana when they’re so easy for other couples, at the fact that no one even realizes Brittany’s hurting when the combined events of the Hurt and Dirt Lockers have all but broken her heart to this point, etc.—that she needs to get out in 2x16? You bet. And does Brittany take some private pleasure in teasing Rachel in a situation where Rachel doesn’t even realize the extent to which Brittany teases her? Absolutely.

That’s just the way sneaky!Brittany works; she’s an exercise in passive aggression.

Observe:

In episode 2x22 “New York,” Brittany writes and performs “My Cup” in an effort to defuse group tension and make Santana laugh in a situation where Santana might otherwise lose her cool (see here). While Brittany means the performance largely as a joke—knowing that “My Cup” is hardly the epic song New Directions needs to win a national show choir competition—Rachel Berry reacts to said performance in horror, as though Brittany means it in all seriousness.

The way Rachel sees things, Brittany clearly isn’t smart enough to realize that “My Cup” is an inane song, much less that the lyrics sound ever so slightly dirty. I mean, one has to be smart to use double entendres on purpose, right?

Hint: Brittany uses double entendres on purpose. Rachel probably doesn’t even catch half of them.

Brittany, of course, recognizes the source of Rachel’s distress during her performance. Hell, Brittany even purposefully tries to provoke Rachel during the performance, just to rile her up (see here).

Cut to a deleted scene from that episode, which occurs after Brittany performs “My Cup,” in which Brittany again mocks Rachel about “My Headband” during a group songwriting session, saying, “Why can’t we just perform ‘My Headband’? It’s a classic” (see here).

In so saying, Brittany basically draws attention to the fact that Rachel herself has done in the past what Rachel erroneously believes that Brittany does at present.

And that, my friends, is a sneaky!Brittany style burn.

Anyway, blathering now.

Suffice it to say that Brittany dislikes Rachel a lot… and “My Headband” is delightful.

Thanks for writing in!

3. Hey, Jasmine!

First of all, I love you too, darlin’!

Secondly, as I’ve discussed elsewhere, we can’t really be certain about Santana’s home situation at this point, largely because Santana herself has proffered us conflicting information concerning said situation over the course of the series.

In 2x02, Santana claims that her father is a doctor who provides her with primo health insurance coverage, but throughout the rest of Season Two and into Season Three, Santana also claims to hail from Lima Heights Adjacent, an area of town which is, as she puts it, on the “wrong side of the tracks.”

Accordingly, as Brittanalysts, we can’t really say for certain what her home situation is like, in terms of her family’s socioeconomic status or in what part of town they live, and especially considering the indecisive nature of the textual evidence beyond Santana’s dialogue concerning this subject.

For instance:

In 2x15, Santana’s bedroom, as we see it, appears both well-furnished and spacious. It bears the look of a space that an interior designer might put together, perhaps suggesting that her family has disposable income to throw into such a project. Just based on Santana’s furniture, the size of her bed, and the decorations on her wall, one would presume that Santana probably lives in a big, “luxury style” house.

However, that being said, we still don’t know the location of the bedroom that we see in 2x15, being that we don’t see any part of Santana’s house outside said bedroom. Maybe Santana just has a nice house in Lima Heights Adjacent. Maybe Santana has divorced parents, one of whom lives in on the “wrong side of the tracks” and one of whom owns the posh house with the black bedroom. Maybe Santana’s room is just the nicest one in the house. Honestly, we don’t know and the quick bedroom scene of 2x15 does little to answer our questions.

Likewise, one could perhaps point to the fact that Santana dresses in high end clothing, frequently donning shirts, dresses, boots, etc. that cost upwards of $200 a piece (see here), as evidence that Santana comes from a wealthy family. However, being that Santana herself tells us that she has a shoplifting habit—and, moreover, sometimes seems to share clothes with Brittany—we can’t necessarily take Santana’s fashion sense as a sign of her economic status.

Similarly, while the fact that Santana participates in cheerleading could perhaps speak to the fact that her family has the money to fund their daughter’s expensive extracurricular activities—National Championship cheerleading isn’t a cheap after school activity; it involves attending clinics and camps, traveling for competitions, paying for equipment and medical bills, transportation, etc.—it could be that Santana joined the Cheerios on scholarship. Maybe her family doesn’t foot the bill for her participation at all.

Honestly, about a thousand and one different possibilities exist when it comes to the “Where does Santana actually live?” mystery.

Maybe Santana doesn’t live in Lima Heights Adjacent at all and she just lies about her home life to perpetuate a certain “tough” image for herself.

Maybe she does live in Lima Heights Adjacent, but in a nice house.

Maybe she has divorced parents, one of whom lives in Lima Heights Adjacent, while the other owns the nice house with the black bedroom we see in “Sexy.”

Maybe Santana lived in Lima Heights Adjacent during childhood, but doesn’t live there anymore.

Maybe Santana’s extended family—such as the abuela she mentions in 3x06—lives in Lima Heights Adjacent, hence her claims that she’s “from” there, but her immediate family lives elsewhere in Lima, in a nicer area.

Maybe Santana does live in Lima Heights Adjacent in a crappy house, but just has a nice bedroom.

Like I said, we don’t know.

I tend to believe that Santana probably doesn’t live in a bad neighborhood. I think her family is likely upper middle class or even upper class and that she just lies about her background to her peers a) because that’s what they expect of her, and, b) because she likes using her “Lima Heights Adjacent” reputation as a shield, but, really, that’s just a hunch on my part.

Interestingly, fans aren’t the only ones who have noticed the discrepancy in Santana’s background story: Our good Captain mentioned this inconsistency during one of the interviews HeYa did over the summer.

In response to a question about Santana being “from the wrong side of the tracks,” Naya said: “But the thing is, she also said her father’s a doctor. So I don’t know what she’s lying about. I don’t know if she’s lying about her father being a doctor. I think she probably doesn’t live in a bad neighbourhood—she just says that so that she can intimidate people. She probably really is a rich kid” (see here).

So there you go—that’s what Naya has to say on the matter. 

As for the difference between “Lima Heights Adjacent”—which is what Santana calls her neighborhood in 2x12 and 2x22—and “Lima Heights”—which is what Santana calls her neighborhood in 2x19 and 3x06—I think it’s just a name shortening, rather than a lie or a mistake, sort of like the difference between “the Hills” and “Beverly Hills,” for example.

Interesting, there is a real “Lima Heights Adjacent” neighborhood in the actual Lima, Ohio. Sara went there on her road trip last summer, and she can confirm that it’s actually a pretty scary place (see here and here).

I suppose we’ll find out more about Santana’s home life in 3x07—or let’s keep our fingers crossed that we do, anyway.

Thanks for writing in!

4. Hey!

First of all, thanks for your kind words.

Secondly, in regards to the Kurtana interaction in 2x04, honestly, I think it just speaks to the fact that, prior to 2x15, Santana feels uncomfortable with anything that exists outside of traditional gender roles, notions of sexuality, relationships, etc. She knows that so many people in the world expect girls to “act like girls” and boys to “act like boys,” girls to only marry boys and vice-versa, and for everyone to conform to standards of heteronormativity in their dress, behavior, romantic pursuits, etc.

And, honestly? I think Santana’s awareness of these societal expectations cuts her up inside, largely because Santana knows that she herself exists outside of said expectations, even at this early date.

She’s a girl who loves a girl; she doesn’t fit the standards for heteronormative behavior.

Accordingly, as is so often the case with Santana, she “protests too much,” making her distaste for Kurt’s androgyny known to the public so as to disassociate herself from his particular brand of “aberration” in the eyes of their peers. She doesn’t want people thinking that she’s in any way like Kurt—and especially not so soon after Brittany suggests to Santana that she embrace her love for Brittany, and, by extension, her own homosexuality, through song.

At this point in her development, Santana is all about distancing herself from what makes her “different.” She doesn’t want to admit to anyone, even herself, that she deviates from the norm.

Santana fears rejection in the extreme, so everything Kurt says about how persons who are “different” or “special” will have to “get used to being alone” probably strikes just a little bit too close to home for her comfort—and particularly given the reason why Kurt feels he must perform alone.

Due to societal expectations, Kurt decides he oughtn’t sing a duet with Sam, being that the act of two boys singing together would constitute something “culturally taboo.” Basically, then, Kurt finds himself alone on account of the fact that society does not accept him due to his homosexuality. What a sobering message for Santana. And, you mark: she most certainly does make that connection. 

Of course, as you mention, I don’t think Santana necessarily feels good about hassling Kurt on the grounds that he is different. I mean, we know that Santana notices Kurt and his struggles, probably even as early as 2x04, based on what Santana herself reveals to us in 2x15, when she mentions Kurt by name during her Hurt Locker confession, citing him as an example of the type of rejection she fears she will encounter if she comes out, as he has (“I mean, you know what happened to Kurt at this school”).

That being the case, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Santana doesn’t feel a bit of guilt or remorse about acting so flippant towards Kurt. Indeed, I bet she wishes she could just take Kurt’s advice and embrace her own “specialness” without caring about the social consequences of doing so.

Of course, being that this is still early Season Two, Santana can’t do that, neither can she even admit to herself that she might want to do that—which is why we see Santana continue to draw attention to Kurt on account of his sexuality as late as 2x06 (“Okay, hold up: Like a million awesome gay jokes just popped into my head”).

When Santana attempts to distance herself from Kurt in front of their peers, what she’s really doing is manifesting her own self-loathing and attempting to reject her own homosexuality, with Kurt as the visible symbol of that. It’s just another form of misguided gay panic on her part.

Anyway, blathering now.

Thanks for writing in!

5. Hey, Anon!

I have no idea if Brittana will kiss in 3x07, but, even if they don’t, I still have hope that they’ll kiss at some point this season, maybe during sweeps. Obviously, I don’t have any empirical evidence in support of my hope, but I do have a lot of feelings. As long as we have HeYa on our sides, I think we have reason to hope for a kiss. Does that mean we’ll see Brittana kiss in 3x07? Maybe. But I’m still confident it will happen before the end of the season.

We’ll see.

Thanks for writing in, everybody! I appreciate the questions.