Blaine and Karofsky Thoughts

Reblogged from breakthistrap

Blaine and Karofsky Thoughts

darren-naya:

aelora:

breakthistrap:

I posted this elsewhere in response to a discussion about the juxtaposition done in Cough Syrup. I’m bringing it over here, slightly cleaned up, because other people seemed to like it. So Cough Syrup meta. Or really Blaine and Karofsky meta.

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This is fascinating, and I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed this.

I find the contrast between the two of them interesting because in a lot of ways they do come from very similar circumstances. The real difference between the two of them comes from the conscious choices they’ve made.

This is why a part of me really wanted them to include Blaine in any storyline they had for Karofsky. I feel like if they actually showed those two around each other that Karofsky must resent the hell out of Blaine for all the reasons the OP points out and I really would’ve liked to see that explored. It could’ve been interesting for both characters involved.

Well, I do remember someone making a post (it might have been you Lauren, but my memory’s hazy) saying that Dave was a “dark mirror” of Blaine while Sebastian is a “dark mirror” of Kurt (same confidence, wit, and performing ambition, none of the moral high ground). This makes a lot of sense since they were essentially “introduced” (or at least, Dave demonstrated he was more than a background bully character) in the same episode and highlighted as the first two gay characters Kurt meets. They were basically introduced as opposite sides of the same spectrum - one who is closeted and violent, and one who is open and brave.

While I agree on a lot of points - two things I disagree with. 1) The comparison between Blaine’s “brave” fresh start at Dalton and Dave’s closeted fresh start at St. Whicheverthefuck seems a little unfair. I don’t know if you intended this, but I personally inferred from that passage that Blaine was brave for choosing to be out at Dalton whereas Dave was taking the “coward’s way out” (more on that later) by remaining closeted at his new school.

Dalton is famous for having a zero-tolerance bullying policy, and Blaine likely went there expressly for that. He probably went to Dalton so that he could remain out. I’m not saying going to Dalton was cowardly, but I’m asking what about Blaine being out at Dalton is meant to be specifically courageous? And as it’s clear from “On My Way,” Dave’s school had no such harsh measures against bullying. One could argue that Dave’s decision to remain in and Blaine’s decision to remain out were more based on their interpretations of the different environments of their respective schools than any personal bravery or cowardice on their parts. Blaine came out because he knew Dalton was tolerant. Dave remained in because he sensed his new school was not.

Blaine being out at McKinley (and transferring solely because of Kurt) seems a more indicative example of Blaine being courageous and choosing not to pass, because the choice to be out at McKinley, where bullying is tacitly permitted and where Dave did not feel safe being out, seems a harder choice than choosing to be out at Dalton, where bullying is not tolerated on any level. And here I’m looking at intention and not actual consequences, since I think that the lack of bullying Blaine’s received at McKinley is more due to inconsistency and general sloppiness on the part of the writers than any intentional message.

And 2) Dave constantly taking the coward’s way out. Now, I agree with you with most of Dave’s actions. Dave being a dick was cowardly, Dave bullying Kurt was cowardly, Dave bullying pretty much everyone else was cowardly. Yes to all of this. But - again, this may just be me and my personal inference - but were you intending to imply that Dave remaining in the closet was a cowardly move?

Because I kind of object to that. Gay kids who remain in the closet aren’t necessarily cowards and that raises all sorts of issues for me. Gay kids who bully and hate on others to distract from their own sexuality - yes, total cowardice. But remaining in the closet because they recognize that their current environment would be unsafe for them if they were out? Is that cowardice? Really? I keep thinking back to “Prom Queen” when there were loads of asinine comments on Tumblr about how much of a “dick Dave was, leaving Kurt there at prom to dance by himself! Why couldn’t he just have come out like Kurt asked!”

Granted, it would have been *~totally brave~* of Dave to come out right then and dance the dance of life with Kurt, and Kurt was very courageous to take what happened to him in stride, but taking an incredibly insecure and frightened gay boy to task because he wouldn’t out himself in front of a crowd of people who had only minutes previously voted to humiliate the only openly gay kid in school seems callous and insensitive.

Otherwise, though, it’s an interesting comparison. I wish Dave could have the chance to show some courage soon.

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Blaine and Karofsky Thoughts

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