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blainehasregrets · 1 month ago

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Shelby and Burt

These two could not be any more different, both as characters and how they were written, and that’s why I find it so interesting that their stories are paralleled in Theatricality. While Glee is not the best written show ever, I still believe season 1 had the most thought put into it and Burt’s story and character development in the lamp scene taking place in the same episode Shelby decides she isn’t Rachel’s mom, was a deliberate choice.

Burt and Kurt

Since Burt is such a memorable, stand out character, some people think Burt and Kurt had always been super close and Burt had always been super supportive of him, but that wasn’t always the case for them. And I feel like reducing Burt to having “always been supportive of Kurt” undermines the character development he went through in season 1.

We know Burt, for the most part, did try to accept Kurt for who he was growing up, buying him sensible heels and having tea parties with him when he was a kid, but we can tell from as early as Showmance that he and Kurt had a strained relationship. From the little things we hear Burt occasionally say, he’s never really understood Kurt. We find out Burt bribed Kurt with a car to get him to stop wearing knee length sweaters, and subsequently takes said car away when he finds Kurt’s tiara collection in Acafellas. In Preggers, Kurt is extremely nervous to tell his dad he’s dancing and lies about being involved with sports. It takes a lot of effort and courage for Kurt to come out, and he’s even genuinely surprised by Burt’s reaction which is not how people would typically react if they knew they were going to be supported unconditionally. This realization that Burt accepts him is a big relief, and begins the first step to them mending their previously distant relationship.

To Burt in this episode, Kurt coming out starts and ends with Kurt liking boys, which he says “he’s not too crazy about.” In Wheels, we get another instance of Burt being slightly uncomfortable with the idea, as he tells Kurt he’s still not ready to talk to him about boys and looks unamused when Kurt jokes about not getting anyone pregnant. However, in this episode, Burt finds out that Kurt being gay means Kurt has to deal with obstacles he hadn’t previously considered.

Kurt tells him he wants to try out for a song, but he can’t because Will’s mind is already made up. Burt, realizing this is getting Kurt down, goes to talk to Figgins and Will, managing to get Kurt a chance to try out for the song because Will shouldn’t discriminate based of sex, religion, or the fact that Kurt is “queer as a three dollar bill.” Granted, semantics wise while this particular situation doesn’t actually have to do with Will discriminating Kurt for his sexuality specifically, it’s very much tied into the overall message that Kurt isn’t the “acceptable, traditional” fit for the role (which we also see Puck, Artie, and even Rachel struggle with as well in the rest of this episode). This isn’t just about one song, it’s a metaphor for the greater picture.

Which is why I find it sort of annoying when people say there was no way Kurt was going to win against Rachel and how dare Kurt even try out, because that’s not the point of the episode! lol The unifying theme of Wheels was discrimination. Also I do think it’s a little stupid to act as if Kurt was so out of line for wanting to sing. Like it’s a school club, why can’t someone try out for a song if they want to? Mr. Schue had such a vendetta against auditions, he even says he hated them in Funeral because it feels like he’s picking between his favorite children, but he also has no problems just assigning roles without asking the rest of the club what they feel.

After that, Burt gets the phone call calling Kurt a slur. He’s so irritated by it after he can’t properly work the coffee pot and is super defensive when Kurt comes to talk to him. He tells Kurt about the call and Kurt says he gets that all the time, but Burt says he doesn’t. Coupled with the whole song thing, Burt is being faced with the reality that Kurt being gay means more than just the fact that he likes boys, or doesn’t like sports. Kurt, by virtue of his sexuality and being nonconforming in a cishetero world, will be denied opportunities and be a target for harassment and discrimination.

Kurt, however is determined to keep Burt shut off from this part of his life, and takes matters into his own hands to throw the competition. He knows his dad isn’t exactly thrilled that he’s gay in the first place, and he doesn’t want his dad to have to be further burdened by him. It took him a long time to come out because he was afraid of the outcome, and he at this point is still unsure that Burt’s support is actually unconditional.

Later, he tells Burt what he did, and while Burt’s not happy about it, he doesn’t press the issue. You can see on the look on his face at the end of the episode, when Kurt goes to change so they can work on a car together, that it’s really hitting him that being there for him means more than being a passive supporter.

In Home and Laryngitis, Kurt continues to struggle where he stands exactly with his dad. While it’s natural for kids to be a little jealous of their parents treating another kid like their own, Kurt’s behavior in these episodes shows him and Burt haven’t always been close, and he’s still insecure about it. Which is why Burt’s easy friendship with Finn, someone who represents everything Kurt isn’t, hurts more when compared to how hard it’s been for him, how long it took him to come out and how they still don’t quite understand each other (Burt wants to go to a baseball game and Kurt still can’t fathom the thought of stirrup pants!). Finn accomplished something in one conversation that Kurt’s struggled with his whole life. Which is why, in Home, he drops the crush on Finn and tries to get them to break up their parents. And why in Laryngitis he tries to act more like Burt so he can be the son Burt’s always wanted. This time, Burt has to be a lot more clear about his stance with Kurt. He says himself they don’t really talk about their feelings (and we see that manifest with Kurt a lot throughout the show! He tends to bottle things up a lot, doesn’t really communicate about where he stands with people, and in turn hurts others because of it.) but in this conversation he reassures Kurt. He doesn’t want Kurt changing who he is just to please him, or anyone else, he loves him just the way he is.

Shelby and Rachel

To start this off, Shelby is…not a very well written character? It feels like they wanted to have their cake and eat it too when it came to her, and so her backstory is all over the place, the way she's presented almost doesn't match her actions. She’s, apparently, a failed actress yet talks about how she has walls lined with trophies. Surrogacy and adoption are used interchangeably because they wanted to mirror Quinn’s storyline (season 1 was particularly obsessed with mirroring. Everything had to have its 1:1!) and so they could take all the dramatic aspects of both situations. She’s meant to be a cutthroat choir director, literally the mind behind the Vocal Adrenaline, yet she delivers her critical, cutting lines in such a soft way that I believe was meant so she didn’t seem so “mean” so the audience would want to see her as Rachel’s mom (she definitely wasn’t a Sue Sylvester, Jesse, or Dakota Stanley). She acts in ways that are just so…cruel, but she’s presented like she’s this wise, sympathetic woman. She, by what we see, would make a terrible mother but we’re supposed to root for her when she adopts Beth as her redemption arc. We’re supposed to think Quinn is being unreasonable for wanting to report her for sleeping with a student. The relationship between Shelby and Rachel is almost treated like a weird, but “understandable” separation between two people that had no chemistry, rather than the manipulation of an already sensitive and insecure minor by a calculating, selfish adult.

Before Rachel even meets her, she uses Jesse to manipulate Rachel into thinking about her (and the show tries to soften it but saying her intentions weren’t for Jesse to get romantically involved with Rachel. But in my opinion that doesn’t make anything better, especially when Jesse did get into a romantic relationship with Rachel anyway.) She forces her way into Rachel’s life, and leaves just as fast when it’s not what she wanted right off the bat.

(Also she basically lets Vocal Adrenaline get away with egging Rachel...no mention of it when she’s in Figgin’s office as she’s more upset that Finn and Puck had slashed Vocal Adrenaline’s tires. But I also half believe it’s because the writers forgot that the reason Puck and Finn were even in trouble was to defend Rachel because they often forgot how point B happened because of point A…And I’m not sure if it makes it “better” or worse that Funk was meant to be before Theatricality, since it means Shelby was still trying to get to meet Rachel but also means she doesn’t know her personally yet and let her students harass Rachel like that...)

When she meets Rachel in Theatricality, she bluntly tells Rachel that this was supposed to feel good, they were supposed to run into each other’s arms, but it all just “feels wrong”. Selfish and shortsighted, the moment they met and they didn’t feel an instant connection, Shelby backs out. Unlike Burt, who struggled to connect with Kurt but continued to go out of his way to find ways to support him, Shelby absolutely refuses to put in the extra work. The second it didn’t live up to her fantasy, she wants nothing to do with it.

The final straw for Shelby during their conversation is when Rachel tells her about how her dads would bring her a glass of water whenever she was upset, so she stopped being able to tell when she was sad or thirsty. (And while it’s a sweet story, I do think it shows an unintended consequence of that action is Rachel now has trouble understanding what she really feels, and will downplay her own sadness like in Mattress)

She doesn’t want Rachel, a person with her own life outside of Shelby, she wants a baby to mold to be her own. She tells Will (who, imo, as an adult and is framed as the "voice of reason" in this scene didn’t do enough to call out Shelby, which in turn feels as if the show also doesn’t realize how bad Shelby is) that Rachel doesn’t need her, she’s 16 and that’s already an adult. And…it’s ridiculous! Not just the statement alone but especially when we know Rachel! While her dads seem supportive, (though I find their characterization to be pretty disconnected between what we’re told and what we’re shown by virtue of the fact that they didn’t cast her dads until way later and then they ended up being such large name actors they couldn’t really be reoccurring characters, so despite them being obsessed with her...they're also never around.) she absolutely did need more loving people in her life. And being abandoned by Shelby didn’t help the insecurities she already felt.

So much of Rachel’s self worth is tied to her voice like in Laryngitis, and she strives to be the best singer, not just because she’s ambitious but because she seeks approval this way. She thinks the only thing about her that’s likable is her voice, and the club doesn’t exactly help to disprove this to her. They talk about needing her like in The Rhodes Not Taken and Sectionals, but they don’t hide how annoyed they are by her. She faced a lot of rejection in her life, and Shelby’s rejection was pretty much her worst fear come true. Even with her talent, she’s still not enough. (Which makes her early season 2 behavior make more sense, and why she was so eager to get rid of Sunshine.)

Still, Rachel is the one who tries to make plans to meet again and get to know each other more, she asks Shelby for help on her Gaga costume. She wants to make things work, but even with Shelby’s help with the costume, Shelby doesn’t want this relationship to work. Because...it’s too much work.

The Lamp Scene

Of course there a billion discussions about this scene and I’m not about to get into the details of it all. Most of it is besides the point here anyways, this is not about Finn. I’m going to focus solely on Burt’s reaction and what this scene means for him.

Finn uses the f slur right as Burt comes down the stairs, and Burt is immediately angry. What people never talk about is Kurt’s immediate response is to defuse the situation and downplay what happened. He instantly defends Finn, says he didn’t mean anything by it (despite how hurt he is, because it came from someone he didn’t expect to talk like that, but at the same time we know he gets called it a lot so he’s not truly shocked by it. His face is more “disappointed but not surprised.”). Like in Wheels, this is Kurt once again trying to shut Burt out of the bad aspects of his life because he feels it’ll inconvenience or hurt him. If Burt gets mad at Finn, it’ll possibly put his relationship with Carole in jeopardy, too.

Unlike in Wheels though, Burt doesn’t let Kurt let this slide. He tells Finn off, and says he knows exactly how Finn meant by it. That he also used to use the f slur, and thought being gay was wrong when he was young, too. Not only does Burt defend Kurt, he owns up to his own prior ignorance in a way Kurt has most likely never heard before. So while we do know that Burt was supportive of Kurt when he was growing up, we also don’t know if he went around saying things that were homophobic adjacent (much like how Finn used the slur against the furniture, instead of directly at Kurt) that Kurt internalized. It could be why Kurt was so afraid of coming out at first. In its own way, this scene is an apology for all the times Burt has maybe implied something negative before, the times he had already verbalized to Kurt that he wasn't thrilled about Kurt being gay, and for all the ways he didn’t stand up for Kurt before.

This scene is super important for a lot of reasons. For one, I think this moral was very much needed for the time, where homophobia ran a lot more rampant in America.

Second of all, by not letting Kurt let this slide, he’s demonstrating to Kurt/the audience that you shouldn’t just accept being called a slur because the person didn’t meant it like that/they’re someone you’re close to, you should want better for yourself and expect better treatment from the people around you.

Thirdly, this scene is a huge turning point between Kurt and Burt. It shows how much Burt has progressed as a person, and as a father. They started off the series hardly being able to have an honest conversation about Kurt’s interests, to Burt fiercely protecting him against homophobia, even at the cost of his own personal life, which was one of Kurt’s biggest fears. Burt could have very well broken up with Carole over this, but his son was more important.

Bit of a hot take but I truly think when people walk away from this scene believing Burt was too harsh on Finn, or they only consider Finn’s POV here, they’re missing a huge chunk of Finn and Kurt's story, as well Burt’s character development.

Poker Face

Rachel and Shelby meet at the auditorium. Shelby says the story about Rachel’s dads and the glass of water made her realize that it’s too late for them. Rachel says she feels awful (because of Shelby!) and that she should want to run into Shelby’s arms, but she just doesn’t (well of course she doesn’t, she’s sad because of Shelby!). Shelby says she’s Rachel’s mother, but not her mom. (Right, that’s it. And not that she directly caused Rachel’s sadness!) And that they can appreciate each other...from afar.

They hug and Rachel is devastated. Shelby gifts Rachel a gold star cup, so that she can always think of her when she’s thirsty. While I think the show wants us to believe this is a sweet gesture, because they sorta skirt around the fact that Rachel is so upset directly because of Shelby, I once read another analysis where this gift could be interpreted in another way. This cup is her final way of worming her way in Rachel’s life, without actually having to make an effort on her part. She knows it’s something special between Rachel and her dads, and instead of deciding to make her own memories with Rachel (because it would “confuse” her), she inserts herself into something that’s theirs. She doesn’t have to waste her time, she doesn’t even have to physically be present, but now every time Rachel is thirsty, or sad, she’ll think of Shelby.

It’s also still clearly a gesture Rachel only seems more hurt by, given her expression when she’s handed the cup. She has to grapple how she’ll never have the relationship she wanted with Shelby, and the gift only serves to highlight that.

Of course, it’s obvious that Poker Face is probably not the most appropriate duet for a mother/daughter to sing. The reason why it was chosen was for its most literal interpretation: it’s meant to represent hidden feelings. Rachel, not wanting to burden Shelby anymore, needs to pretend everything is okay and she’s fine that the woman she idolized wants nothing to do with her. And unlike Kurt, who felt the same need to hide his problems but had Burt who got him to open up, Shelby won’t put forward the same effort.

I also think in a meta sense, them choosing such an inappropriate song based more on vibes than meaning really is sort of a perfect representation on how much thought they put into Shelby as a character, and the effects she’d have on Rachel. Ryan Murphy stated it wasn’t about the lyrics specifically, it was about the idea that these two actresses could sell “longing.” And that’s a bit how I feel about Shelby. She’s more of an idea (poor mom who had to give up her baby and the relationship between Rachel and her didn’t work out due to circumstances out of their control) than a fully thought out character.

Final Moments

So, obviously, Burt and Shelby couldn’t be anymore different. But there’s this moment between them and Kurt/Rachel at the end of these scenes that just perfectly encapsulates the stark difference between them, without any words.

At the end of the lamp scene, Burt tells Kurt the place looks great and places a hand on Kurt’s shoulder that Kurt holds onto. It’s a really powerful, small touch that shows just how much progress they’ve made, and how close they are. Though I believe Burt would have stood up for Kurt like this since episode 1, I think this scene is made much more meaningful after the build up before it, and seeing how much they’ve grown.

Right before Shelby leaves, she touches Rachel on the chin, which seems to be another last ditch attempt at a motherly gesture, but it lasts a second before she awkwardly pats Rachel’s shoulder. There’s no closeness behind it or any sense of fondness, it’s an incredibly hallow gesture. She leaves, and doesn’t look back once. (Which is crazy because even Sue looked back to check on Kurt when he talked to her about his dad in Laryngitis!) Like they say in the show, Shelby might have been Rachel’s mother, but she’s not her mom.

It’s honestly hard to truly compare these two characters, because you can tell so much more care went into Burt’s character while Shelby was more vibes than anything, but I think this final touch showed who each character is: Burt is someone who tried, and Shelby was not.

I feel like there’s also something to say about the difference in effort that went into writing the male characters vs the women, but I feel like a lot of the missteps with Shelby’s character comes down to the framing of her actions and how the show never wanted to depict Shelby as too bad because of her connection to Rachel, even when her actions were downright horrible. But that was kind of glees main problem, they wanted to tell you one thing while showing you something else.

I think if they had wanted to improve Shelby’s storyline, they should have committed and actually explored Shelby as an antagonist more and had really lean into her encompassing all of Rachel’s worst traits, instead of giving her Beth as a redemption arc. (Especially hypocritical when Shelby is seen sympathetically for messing with Rachel’s life, yet Quinn is seen as the antagonist for messing with Beth’s)

A big lesson Rachel has to learn in season 1 is that she isn’t actually alone, and though she can’t always be the center of attention, she can still have fun being apart of something (of course I feel like this lesson is later undermined as the focus shifts to “no, actually Rachel is a star and everyone else DOES need to bend over for her” but as of season 1, this is what a couple of her storylines are about and it continues into season 2). It would have been interesting if Shelby was someone who never learned that lesson, and was now alone because of her own decisions and it was acknowledged her looking for Rachel was yet another instance of her doing something out of her own selfishness rather than something for her and Rachel. Shelby is a peek into Rachel’s future if she continued to push other people away, and through Shelby and the club, Rachel learned that she doesn’t always have to be alone. I think a big misconception about Rachel’s character is that she’s a Broadway machine and everyone else just gets in her way, because I think that misses a big part of her character is her longing for connection and love. If Don’t Rain On My Parade is Rachel’s most character defining song, I think People from Funny Girl is the second most important song to her even if it isn’t sung until season 5.

#s1 #Theatricality #Burt Hummel #Shelby Corcoran #Kurt Hummel #Rachel Berry #anaylsis #glee

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