Observations of a Crazy Brittanalyst: Part XXXIII
“Don’t stop believin’”: On Brittana, Crossroads, and the Future of Our Family
As is so often the case in transition times, tonight we come to a crossroads. As a fandom, we face a choice: we can either stick with canon or diverge from it entirely.
In this Brittanalysis, I don’t intend to tell anyone what he or she ought to do with his or her feelings for our ship or recommend one course of action over another. Instead, I will examine the content of the episode, then discuss some key points we can take away from what we saw on our screens tonight.
Before I start, though, could I just… could I just give you all a hug?
::hugs::
Thank you, fandom.
Now let’s get started.
Feelings, feelings, feelings under the cut.
Observations of a Crazy Brittanalyst: Part XXXII
“Best prom ever”: On Brittany and Expectations, Santana and Progress, and How Brittana Finally Won at Prom
Last year’s prom saw Brittany going stag, Santana in tears, and both girls dancing with other people but not with one another, however desperately they wanted just to be with each other.
Though the evening ended with Brittany encouraging Santana and Santana taking a positive step toward accepting her own awesomeness as she supported Kurt, the junior prom certainly didn’t turn out as either girl had planned.
To close out the night, Santana proclaimed, “This prom sucks.”
This year’s prom proved entirely different.
Not only did Brittany and Santana attend prom together as a couple, but both of them had a blast spending time with each other and with their friends. Indeed, I think that if one were to ask them, our OTP would heartily agree that their dinosaur prom was, as Brittany puts it, the “best prom ever.”
And, honestly? For them, I really think it was.
In this analysis, I will argue that though neither Brittany nor Santana left their senior prom wearing a crown, both of them “won” the evening by accessing their awesomeness, achieving their goals, showing character development, and generally being their flawless selves.
Feelings, feelings, feelings after the cut.
Sneaky!Brittany – Writers, You’re Doing it Wrong
I admit that while many people were hoping for an actual Brittana sex tape and flailing about Brittana cuteness last night, I was extremely uncomfortable for the entire episode. Yes, our bb Brittany S. Pierce is a genius. I have no doubt about that. But what makes SNG tricky is that Brittany’s plan made Santana uncomfortable about something that was an established sore spot.
Before I begin, I must direct you all to one of many Brittanalyses by JJ on sneaky!Brittany, as seen in “Comeback.” It’s important to understand that despite the innocence and “stupidity” that the casual viewer perceives, Brittany is smart enough to trick people who underestimate her. We have never seen her use this trick on Santana the way she uses it in SNG, so it’s important to revisit JJ’s theories so that we can apply it to this new scenario. I also urge you to read JJ’s review of SNG as well.
I must also issue a disclaimer, alerting readers to the fact that this is by no means a happy Brittanalysis, proclaiming the untainted love that Brittany and Santana share. I love our girls…I love them more than some people in my real life, to be honest. But I cannot turn a blind eye to ethically questionable canon, as much as I’ve tried.
Observations of a Crazy Brittanalyst: Part XXXI
“You say the dream and I help build your dream and that’s what a partnership is about, right?”: On Santana’s Fame, Sneaky!Brittany, and Following Your Dreams
Okay, kids. As Brittany once said, “I’m gonna give you some tough love right now.”
This episode was a shitstorm.
Its highs were really high and its lows were really low. It was also thoroughly ambiguous, a fact which, in itself, is both a blessing and a curse.
So this is gonna be messy.
Anyone with an aversion to his or her favorite characters having flaws ought to turn back now. Also, anyone who dislikes speculation ought to turn back now, as well.
Okay.
We good?
Feelings, feelings, holy fuck, what are my feelings?! after the cut.
Silence and the Strength to Face the Tragic: A Reading of Brittany S. Pierce in Glee’s Third Season (Up to 3x13)
“You have to want to listen to [silence], and then you can hear it. It has a strange, beautiful texture. It doesn’t always talk. Sometimes—sometimes it cries, and you can hear the pain of the world in it. It hurts to listen to it then. But you have to.”
— Danny Saunders, The Chosen, by Chaim Potok
“That happens to me all the time. My lips move but only dust comes out.”
— Brittany S. Pierce, “I Am Unicorn” (Glee, 3x02)
Marjorie’s genius knows no boundaries. She articulates Brittany better than anyone else. This, this, just all of this.
Power Animals (Is Santana really like a lizard in the spiritual sense?)
Spirit guides are not a new subject on tumblr (that chocolate dipped cockatoo is my spirit animal!), but someone asked me what I thought Santana and Brittany’s animal guides would be, so here we go…
“I want Lord Tubbington to kick his ecstasy addiction”: On Brittany Pierce, Deflective Metaphor, and How Brittany Always Protects Santana, No Matter What
Okay, so in my rewatch of episode 3x14, I discussed Brittany’s quirky answer to Mr. Schue’s question about to what she looks forward in the future, namely: “I want Lord Tubbington to kick his ecstasy addiction.”
In that rewatch, I posited that Brittany’s two primary motivations for responding to Mr. Schue’s question with a Brittanyism in this situation are
1. to lighten Santana’s mood after Santana makes herself emotionally bare to the group (“I’m looking forward to the day when my grandmother loves me again”),
and,
2. to conceal her true plans for the future, whatever they may be.
However, after subsequent rewatches and thought, I’ve realized that, in addition to filling these two other functions, Brittany’s answer fits the pattern for a particular type of Brittanyism: namely, the one through which Brittany veils negative feelings she has surrounding things which Santana does or things which happen to Santana by making inane statements about her cat.
The Brittana Rewatch of 3x14
In lieu of a Brittanalysis for this episode, I’m just going to make some random observations about Brittana during my rewatch. Sound okay?
