Are Blaine and Kurt still together?
Oh absolutely. They really don’t have [many] other options do they?
via ‘Glee’: Chris Colfer talks season 3 | Inside TV | EW.com.
Er, discuss? God I can’t wait to see those two boys again.
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Deconstructing Glee 
I’m not going to take this as bait, just good clean opportunity for discussion!
I’ve read some awesome Kurtofsky fics during the hiatus; add to that my utter fail at finding a soft spot for Blaine during the off season, and you find me flying my Jolly Roger a little higher than usual.
That being said, I wouldn’t expect RIB to toss a moneymaker like Klaine out the window — give it a little poke so that everyone stays glued to the TV to watch it wobble and find its balance, absolutely, but not put it aside.
That being said, I am also pretty sure that CC knows how to be coy and stir up the fandom, so I’ll take all conjecture about things to come with a grain of trolling salt.
Hm. I was hoping it wouldn’t be taken as bait. I just saw it as a blanket confirmation that RIB have absolutely no concept of Karofsky ever being an option for Kurt. CC’s smart. I doubt it’s slipped his mind entirely that there’s another gay character on the show. But I’m pretty sure it’s seen as generally a non-option.
Cannot believe you called Klaine a moneymaker. Our boys!
When I first read Chris’ comment I assumed he meant that the Klaine fans are so dedicated (I was going to use a more extreme term but then realised I include myself in the fandom so chose not to!) that RIB and the rest of the writing team really have no option other than to keep them together (probably with a couple of little shake-ups but nothing serious) if they value their lives (and the sanity of their twitter feeds!)!
I don’t think, like you said, Chris is forgetting about Karofsky at all, he just knows that among the majority of the fandom (and probably for RIB too) there is no concept of another option for Kurt beyond Blaine.
Oh wow, I hope that’s not the case.
The writers I respect most have broken my heart when it came to ships and characters I loved. I hope the writers will write a good show, not read Tumblr to find out what to write!
I was just hoping that narratively (not a word, right) speaking (and even socially responsibily), that the writers would find it awkward to place Kurt in a relationship with someone who was abusive to him.
Chris has actually said that he thinks that putting those two together would send a bad message (you think? It seems obvious, but Max said he thought there could be a love story there, so…) He also is the one actor that seems to take every facet of characterization so seriously that we’ve heard about him asking to change things, and it sounds like they do give his requests at least some consideration. So I’m hopeful that even if the writers decided to go there, Chris might be able to talk them out of it.
I think that the last time that we saw Karofsky, though, they kind of set up such a contrast between him and Blaine. Blaine faced his fears and went to a school dance and danced with Kurt in front of a bunch of homophobes even with his history of getting beaten up at a dance which I think meant he had a lot of guts. Karofsky played it straight under Santana’s blackmail (even in that bully whip scene she was ordering him around on walkie-talkie) and fled from the prom. I don’t think that’s a set-up for theirs to be the true love story by these writers.
I remember when Max didn’t protest at the idea of Kurtofsky. I was kind of disappointed. With the amount of work he seems to have done around bullying, I would have thought he’d be more wary of sending a message like that.
And I’m rooting for Karofsky. I want to see him come around, come out and be happy. I just don’t think there’s much in this world that would heal what happened between himself and Kurt. It was just too ugly.
I think he can heal, I don’t think he’s a bad person, but I think with his and Kurt’s history, a relationship between them really would have a bad dynamic and send a bad message. Maybe not if it was in like 20 years… A history of physical and sexual harassment/assault is sort of hard to just forget.
How to say this… I don’t think that the writers would actually give us Kurtofsky; in part because it would be wildly unpopular and Tumblr would go “OMG disgusting disgusting I puked on the screen my eyes the horror.” But also because of the totally rational people like yourselves who believe it would send a message that would be difficult for a show about high school kids to defend. (Elsewhere, some told me if it were Desperate Housewives, fine, run with it.)
Not that they would have to defend anything to me, because I know good and well that it is totally possible to get past something like what happened between K + D in a way that is not about self-loathing or loving your abuser or anything negative. But whatever. I’ve fought that battle elsewhere on here!
But I do believe that the writers know it is a hot button and I think they’d be stupid not to at least toy with it a little. Lots of scenarios available: Kurt tries to make Blaine jealous and flirts w/ Dave, it hurts Dave, they have a moment realizing that things are unresolved and still painful between them, but Klaine marches on; there could be a couple of mutual flirty jokey moments and lingering glances that neither would ever act on (and then a meaningful hug and kiss on the cheek at graduation); etc. (Like I said, I’ve read a lot of Kurtofsky fic this summer! 😉 ) It’s just chock full of drama, no matter where you take it. People would TUNE IN.
If anyone has Klaine fic that will make me like Blaine/Klaine before the season starts and I have to watch those two be all lovey, I’d love a link.
“I hope the writers will write a good show, not read Tumblr to find out what to write!”
I want to run this sentence as a commercial, or a PSA, or something. Thank you.
(Also it made me laugh, so thanks for that.)
Honestly…I’m sure Max Adler is a lovely and thoughtful person, and I’m sure he is at least somewhat genuine in his support for the gay community and his concern for closeted gay men who need similar role models, but his primary interest when talking about Karofsky to the press has always been self-interest. He’s never really acknowledged the ugliness or the darkness of that whole storyline, and has instead always pushed for woobie Karofsky with a heart of gold who could be healed by dating Kurt and/or joining Glee club, because, of course, either or both of those options would get him more screentime.
I can’t really blame him–an actor’s job in talking to the press is to self-promote, and nobody wants to lose their job or be demoted–but I’ve kind of had to stop reading interviews with him because of the blinders he has on about Karofsky, and especially about Karofsky and Kurt. It’s not especially surprising, though, that his vision of Karofsky is a woobie who needs to be healed by love, given that the writers pretty much brushed over the ugliness in favor of focusing on Karofsky’s pain, and pretty much every journalist he speaks to sees no problems with Kurt/Karofsky and wants to talk about how “hot” that kiss wa.
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Kate, you’ve actually astounded me with your comments here. Wow.
It’s no secret that you and I have a really different take on the Kurt/Karofsky relationship (not as in romantic relationship, just as in two human beings with history) and I’m guessing on Karofsky in general. We’ve fought that battle before here on DG.
I’m a little taken aback, though, by your assertion that Max Adler has been primarily self-interested whenever talking to the press about Karofsky. First of all, based on what the fuck? The fact that he isn’t as disgusted by Karofsky as you are? He has every right to interpret his character in whatever way he chooses, and as an actor I’m pretty sure he has to be able to find something other than “jackass” to draw upon. And I’m not certain what in your experience has led you to be so dubious about a storyline that suggests the ugliness perpetrated by 16/17yo Karofsky was a result of his pain and anger and confusion and that he has grown increasingly ashamed of himself and his past behavior. Do we all have to accept his apology and let Karofsky off the hook? Nope. But is it fair for you to judge Adler for merely doing what tens of thousands of fans — and journalists, and the show runners, as you mention — have done, ie, have a level of compassion for what Karofsky himself has gone through/will go through and accept his remorse as genuine?
When Chris Colfer is in an interview and jokingly makes reference to Kurt having had a rough year, do you tune him out, as well, for not giving the abuse his character received enough gravitas for your satisfaction? Somehow, I doubt it.
I suppose Adler’s work for MDA is self-serving, as well? Gotta keep your name out there!!! Gotta work it!!! Way to judge the actor because you hate his character.
Replying here so that you’ll get a notification if you have them turned on-I can’t reply to your actual comment below.
dontturnitoff, pretty much any actor’s goal when they’re doing press is self-promotion. This goes double for actors in minor roles who aren’t guaranteed much screentime, and who want to raise buzz about their characters in order to prompt writers to beef up their role. The guy who plays Jacob Ben Israel, a character who’s been shown to have no redeeming traits whatsoever and who basically everybody who watches the show just wants to just disappear, did an interview a while back where he suggested that it would be a great storyline for his character to join Glee club and show his squishy inner nice guy. I really doubt his motivation was to improve the show so much as it was to improve his own lot—nobody wants to be fired, and nobody wants to play a character everybody hates. Jessalyn Gilsig, who plays Terri, has pretty much always talked about her character as though she’s more essential to the show than she actually is. I’d be really surprised if the potential for more screentime and meatier storylines didn’t cross Naya Rivera’s mind when she was basically playing Background Cheerleader #2 and telling the press how great a Santana/Brittany storyline would be.
And that’s just the minor characters of Glee—if I started on other shows, I would be here all day. I pretty much always find it distasteful when an actor who plays a minor character tries to raise buzz for a storyline that would obviously benefit them as an individual far more than it would the show they work for as a whole.
And to clarify again: I understand the impulse behind actors doing this, because nobody wants to lose their job. It’s difficult to be an actor, roles are few and far between, and when you get a break on a hit show, you’re going to want to make the most of it. But, again, when actors do this in the press, I find it to be tacky and somewhat lacking in self-awareness. I don’t know if you’ve ever listened to Stephen Tobolowsky’s podcast, but one of the reasons it’s great is that he’s a life-long character actor who’s very aware of the need for supporting players and minor characters. He’s talked a lot about how when he gets hired to play a minor role, like Sandy Ryerson on Glee, he doesn’t just look at his own character’s goals and aspirations and at what he gets to do as an actor. He looks at what his character is doing to serve the plot of whatever the main character of the show is, because that’s what his job is as a supporting character—to serve as support. It’s a very self-aware and gracious way to look at the job of minor character that emphasizes the importance of such roles without aggrandizing them.
When Max Adler talks about what could happen with Karofsky in the future, “staying a supporting character” is pretty much never among those options. I don’t find it tacky or self-promoting when he talks about how he wants Karofsky to find closure, come out, and be happy in the future. I find it tacky when he talks about Karofsky “joining the glee club and singing a big solo”, or dating Kurt, or committing suicide, all of which would be much bigger storylines than he has ever had or is likely to have, and the first two of which would of necessity raise his role from guest star to regular.
As you said, we’ve discussed Karofsky before. So you have previously seen me say that I have compassion for Karofsky, and that I find his remorse to be genuine. Seriously, our discussion about that went on for a very long time, so I find it hard to believe that you forgot the numerous, numerous times that I said that. I said * in the comment that you’re replying to * that it makes sense for Adler to see Karofsky as a big ball of woobie pain, because that’s the way that the writers have written him. As the person who plays Karofsky, Max Adler has necessarily had to put a lot of thought into his internal life, his motivations, and the way he sees the world, and since he’s the person playing Karofsky, his impulse to focus on Karofsky’s better qualities rather than his worse ones are somewhat understandable. However, while I’m not going to judge anyone for having compassion for the character, or for viewing him as someone who is in pain and confused, I am pretty unapologetically judgmental about anyone who brushes over the genuinely creepy things Karofsky did in order to focus on his inner pain. I don’t really care how many thousands of people have done this, it’s pretty much always disturbing. I’m sure the kid who plays Jacob Ben Israel genuinely thinks that his character is a good guy deep down at heart, and that he isn’t *intentionally* ignoring the creepy and invasive things that his character has done in order to highlight those supposed good qualities, but I still find it pretty disturbing that he filmed scenes where he sexually harasses a girl and then apparently plumb forgot them because it’s more beneficial for him to brush over them than to acknowledge his character’s negative qualities.
If it helps, I judge the writers for this way more harshly than I judge Max Adler.
I also said in the comment you replied to that I think that he is at least somewhat genuine in his concern for the gay community, and in his desire to provide closeted gay men with a good role model. He seems genuinely touched by the people who have contacted him about the impact of his character, and I’m certain that that is at least part of his investment in Karofsky’s continuing role on the show. However, I think it’s absurdly generous to think that his desire for more screentime for * the character that he plays * is motivated entirely by altruism, and not at all by self-interest. When he says things like that it’s more important for closeted gay kids to see a character like Karofsky than to see a character like Blaine or Kurt, I have a hard time believing that the fact that he plays Karofsky has nothing to do with him having that opinion. Does he genuinely think that it’s more important for closeted gay kids to see a character who is closeted and struggling than to see a character who is out and happy? I’m sure he does. However, again, I’m fairly certain that the fact that he plays Karofsky is probably part of why he didn’t stop to consider that closeted gay teens aren’t a homogenous group, and different portrayals are going to have differing levels of importance for different people, and that maybe both are equally important.
I also said that he seems like a thoughtful and lovely person in general. Surprise: people can have both good and bad qualities. Human beings are complex. Every time you read my comments, you seem to interpret any sort of judgment on my part as absolute condemnation. There is actually a middle ground between judging someone in the worst possible light, and judging them in the best possible light.
Maybe someone put Chris Colfer’s filter back on, I think they originally intended for Klaine to stay together but people are getting quickly bored with it because Blaine is a dull character and the relationship is dull and passionless…. Maybe they’ll change it….
I want Kurtofsky so badly, I can’t stand Plain Blanderson and and his screentime/solo hogging.