I read something recently and it's scratching at my brain. I wanted to just scroll past and ignore it … but I can't. The bold text is what I read – I don't want to get into a beef with the OP but you'll need context for my ranting.
Actually the Finn-outs-Santana-in-season-3 plot line was exactly the same as the Finn-calls-Kurt-slurs-in-season-1 plot line. It's really frustrating because the writers wanted to show Finn learning this lesson about not being homophobic but they also wanted him to continue being the golden boy who is perfect and a good leader so they had to justify his actions by having Santana be especially mean to him and having Kurt hit on him and make him uncomfortable.
And to be fair, I don't think Finn would have done those things if he hadn't been made uncomfortable by Kurt and Santana, but whatever lesson they were trying to teach about not saying slurs and outing people is muddied when the person who is supposed to be learning the lesson is not clearly in the wrong. It comes across like Finn is just trying to defend himself, but that is obviously not an appropriate way for him to do that.
I think it is important for writers to allow their characters to suck sometimes, even when they are supposed to be generally likable.
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Now, maybe the OP simply phrased it badly or I misunderstood but, in order for me to move on with my life, I need to vent about this.
Yup. It's almost the same plotline … showing that Finn has learned ABSOLUTELY nothing. He's not a leader. He's a bully. He started as a bully and learned NOTHING in 3 seasons.
Finn WAS clearly in the wrong. And he's not actually very likable. Kurt and Santana were dumb kids – just like Finn. But it's okay what Finn did as a dumb kid because dumb kids Kurt and Santana were just as bad or worse? They “made” him do it? Makes him sound more like an abuser than a leader.
Season 1: He's homophobic toward Kurt. Yes, Kurt was hitting on him and making him uncomfortable so I can ALMOST understand him popping off with the f-slur. Almost. But he CONTINUES with the homophobia even after Burt tells him to get out. Burt asks him where he was when Kurt was getting bullied – and Finn's got no answer. Then we've got this great “Gaga moment” of Finn standing up for Kurt and then Finn dancing with Kurt at Carol and Burt's wedding. So we think, okay, Finn's figured it out, learned his lesson.
Until.
Season 2: Remember Sam? Yeah, Sam who Kurt developed a crush on and who agreed to do a duet with Kurt only to have FINN be homophobic AGAIN … telling Kurt he was painting a target on Sam's back. SAM didn't have an issue with it – FINN did. And, ostensibly, it was to get Sam to duet with Quinn so they could win the competition and get Sam to stay in Glee. Don't care the reasons – Finn was homophobic about it.
Season 3: This one STILL makes me FERAL. I DO NOT CARE how “mean” Santana was. Finn was a BULLY – he tossed slushies, tossed people in dumpsters (or had them tossed into dumpsters) … awww poor little Finn got his feelings hurt because he wasn't SMART ENOUGH to best Santana in a battle of wits? So he OUTS her. To a FULL HALLWAY. And suffers ZERO consequences. And he didn't just “blurt” it out in anger … it was cold and calculating – She was halfway down the hall when he he said it, very deliberately and then STALKED towards her to twist the knife with “I think you're a coward; you can't admit that you're in love with Brittany and you're afraid that she might not love you back” … That wasn't an “oh, my bad, I said it in the heat of anger” … it was cold, it was cruel, and there is ABSOLUTELY NO justification for it.
Look, outing Santana could have had DEVASTATING consequences – she could have been assaulted, raped, thrown out of her house, KILLED (think about how Josh Coleman spoke to her … only imagine it wasn't a school hallway but a dark alley and Josh wasn't just a grade-A douchebag but an angry in-cel loser). She lost her abuela over it. She was FORCED out of the closet before she was ready. That is NEVER okay. Not for ANY reason. The only harm done to Finn was to his fucking EGO. Santana could have lost her LIFE. And … what REALLY frosts me? Neither Rachel NOR Kurt called Finn to task for it. NOBODY did.
Somehow… Finn's a FUCKING HERO because he stages “lady music week” (GAG) because “you were my first; that means something to me. YOU mean something to me.” I CALL BULLSHIT … because when you lost your virginity to Santana, your EXACT WORDS were “I don't feel anything because IT DIDN'T MEAN ANYTHING”. AND … AND … if you were actually worried about Santana – you pull her aside and talk to her in private (like you did when talking to her about Lady Music Week), ask her if she's okay. You don't fucking announce it in a crowded hallway. And it doesn't matter if “everybody knows” (which, clearly, they didn't). Keep your fucking mouth shut.
Talk about a fucking ret-con.
Think about it, though. No matter what Finn did – ever – he was forgiven and it was all okay with everyone. He was given grace for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. (what a great guy – he let Kurt take off his new Marc Jacobs coat before he got thrown in the dumpster – ON FINN'S SAY-SO).
Santana is blackmailed by Sue (to get rid of the pianos), gets thrown out of Glee Club (because heaven forbid Mr. Schue show any sort of understanding), is outed (and don't get me started on WHY THE FUCK Schue was in that meeting with Burt and Sue instead of Shelby), SHE gets threatened with suspension for SLAPPING Finn while he gets NOTHING for OUTING HER and (possibly) putting her in danger … and then Finn gets to play HERO by claiming it was a “stage-slap” … and BLACKMAILS her into Lady FUCKING Music Week where … >checks notes< NOT ONE FUCKING LADY sang until “I Kissed a Girl” and Santana didn't even get a solo. Brittany didn't have a fucking line in the ep. PUCK sang YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE to Santana with Brittany sitting right there.
Santana wasn't given ANY grace for being a terrified, closeted, lesbian. She was just a bitch. Nobody stopped to ask WHY she was a bitch. Why she was so good at insulting people and why being insulted rarely affected her. (The only time it actually affected her was when Rachel said something about the only <whatever> Santana would get was dancing on a pole – think about it for a moment – why would THAT affect Santana when pretty much nothing else did?) Santana was (mostly) a defensive and reactive bitch. The signs of abuse are there.
Finn and Rachel were both framed as the “stars”, the “leaders” … the two of them were, quite possibly, the WORST characters because neither of them seemed to learn ANYTHING (Rachel showed ZERO growth in 6 seasons. I can't speak to S4 Finn because I found it almost unwatchable)
When you look at the beginning of Season 1: Finn, Quinn, Santana, Brittany, and Puck were ALL bullies.
Somehow, Santana is the worst … but Rachel's given a pass on sending Sunshine to a crack house.
In Season 5 – we get the Pezberry feud because Rachel can't accept that Santana isn't trying to sabotage her. Never even gives Santana a chance to explain. Simply thinks the worst of her despite all Santana has done for her (stopped her from doing a nude scene in a student film – with Quinn's help. Helped her through her pregnancy scare. Figured out what was going on with Brody.) And even after they “make up” - Santana saves her ass from being sued into oblivion and she STILL doesn't get it. Assumes Santana did it for some ulterior motive.
Santana is the ONLY bully from Season 1 who isn't allowed to grow – despite having the MOST growth of all of them. Finn, Quinn, Brittany, Puck – they're all forgiven and given grace. They were ALL stupid teens but Santana was held to a much higher standard than any of the others.
I have gotten way off point here and I know I've made these (and similar) arguments before but I just can't help getting angry when I see stuff like this.
Neither Kurt nor Santana deserved what Finn did. If Finn had truly learned his lesson in Season 1, Season 3's outing never happens.
UGH … I fucking hate Finn Hudson.
My thoughts/opinions - worth about what you think they are
Like, why did they suddenly have Santana propose to Brittany without showing any of the preparation? Why didn’t they show Santana planning the proposal or getting nervous about it, like they did with Blaine when he was going to propose to Kurt? I’m not saying Klaine shouldn’t have gotten those scenes, but they got so much screen time for their relationship, and they even got that whole proposal buildup only to break up again afterward 😭 Meanwhile, Brittana barely got any buildup for their proposal. Santana literally seems like the type to overthink everything, so why was she so calm when she finally proposed? I wish we could’ve seen her secretly planning everything, asking someone for advice, freaking out over whether Brittany would say yes, or trying to hide the whole thing from Brittany. It would’ve made the proposal feel so much more emotional, especially after everything Santana and Brittany had been through. And honestly, I still wish Brittana had gotten their own wedding instead of the double wedding.
