First, before we get started with today’s blog post, I’m very happy with THIS REVIEW of Earthly Desires from jeayci at Reviews by Jessewave! 4.5 out of 5 stars!
“Once upon a time, there was an m/m romance that with its first paragraph transported me to that magical realm of fairy tales. This story is beautifully written, almost lyrical in its flow, like the fairy tales of yore. This was a light (ha!), fun, engaging story. Great for a beach read, a comfort read; one of those moments you want something you know will make you laugh, smile, and feel good.”
Read the rest of the review and, if you haven’t already done so, I won’t stop you if you wanted to buy the book. 😉 Now on to a beautiful vid!
I’m not linking to Lola’s Vividcon video (yet) because the vid that she released just before she left for the con is breathtaking. For the record, I don’t watch Glee (anymore) but I still thought this vid was not only gorgeous but also spoke volumes about the character of Kurt. However, what really got to me was the way it spoke on a meta-level to the difficulty still attached to achieving one’s dreams when a person doesn’t perfectly fit the gender stereotypes. Yet, Kurt is resilient…his love may be too big for us yet, but he doesn’t quit. There he goes again.
Title: You
Summary: My love’s too big for you my love. A Kurt character study, with help from Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, and Lady Gaga, to name just a few.
Warning: Spoilers through Season 3
Links of interest about this vid:
1) This vid was dedicated to the life of Alex Doty who passed away. Lola links to his work of analyzing Glee.
2) Annotations and credits as well as other information on the making and inspiration of the video.
3) The video on Archive of Our Own
4) Kurt and the Casting Couch— To quote this amazing analysis:
The central contradiction at work here was the assertion that Kurt could not be an object of erotic attraction for women and girls, when in fact, beyond Glee’s textual confines, the opposite is true. Female (and many gay-identifying) fans eroticize Kurt/Chris Colfer constantly — more than any other character on Glee – at his concerts and in countless online fan sites. Kurt/Chris is a nexus of identification and desire for fans worldwide, and it is precisely his unique blend of feminine and masculine characteristics – his genderqueerness– that audiences find erotic about him. It is also what cultural authorities find discomfiting. Colfer is both feminine and an out gay man, and his popularity proves that his femininity and gayness do not preclude his eroticization; fan reactions to Colfer are notably not those of mere “tolerance” or “acceptance” but rather of passionate love and unbridled enthusiasm for the new queer erotics that he embodies.
My favorite parts:
1. The opening. Because, really, how delicately she prepares our brain for the introduction of additional/older source material.
2. The Hepburn moments, the James Dean red jacket, the Gene Kelley and Fred Astaire all mixed up with Kurt and Blaine, and, gosh, okay, just the whole thing. There’s not a bum note in this video.
If you watched, I’d love to hear your thoughts, or for you to share your favorite parts in the comments below. 🙂
Leta Blake 
That is just stunning work. I also didn’t realise Alexander Doty had died, so this post has double value!
Brigid, I’m glad you loved it. I think it is one of Lola’s most accessible works. It’s also so uniquely her, you know? So intelligent and thoughtful and not at all superficial. I’m happy you liked it.
Thank you for sharing. It’s a lovely video. And there are some interesting points to be made about the gender blur around Colfer. I find him to be masculine in the same sense that the great dandies were (and I would kill for him to play The Scarlet Pimpernel), and while his singing voice is high, his presentation isn’t feminine at all.
Thank you for sharing. It’s a lovely video.
It really is! I’m happy you liked it!
And there are some interesting points to be made about the gender blur around Colfer. I find him to be masculine in the same sense that the great dandies were (and I would kill for him to play The Scarlet Pimpernel), and while his singing voice is high, his presentation isn’t feminine at all.
Yes, I see what you mean. I think that it is fascinating that we are constantly being told by the creators of media that women don’t find gay men attractive, when from what a friend told me about standing in line to get his autograph on The Land of Stories, there were literally hundreds of girls and women going into utter hysterics over him. I get so frustrated with media trying to tell me/us what I/we want. Should I be surprised, though, when our society doesn’t value women’s voices anyway? *sigh*
I haven’t been following Glee at all, mainly because Hubby doesn’t like musicals. I participated in several high school musicals, so I secretly want to watch the show. (I may have to borrow the DVDs from a friend!) This video has enticed me to check out the show, as well. I loved how the old clips were interspersed with the series – and must say, I recognize many of the movies from which the clips were taken. (I grew up watching Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn and Gene Kelly) Thanks for sharing this video. 🙂
My hubby also loathes musicals. When I did watch Glee, I watched it by myself. 🙂 I stopped watching it because I lost interest for some reason I could never really put my finger on. I could never point at anything and say, “This is when they lost me.” But one day I just couldn’t be arsed to watch the next episode, and I never got back to it, and found that I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything particularly. But I think this video is wonderful, I love the Kurt character, and I am loving the various writings and intellectual analysis that have been applied to both Kurt and Colfer’s popularity. It’s so fascinating and awesome. Glad you liked the video! Thanks for letting me know!
I stopped watching it because I lost interest for some reason I could never really put my finger on. I could never point at anything and say, “This is when they lost me.” But one day I just couldn’t be arsed to watch the next episode, and I never got back to it, and found that I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything particularly.
I had exactly the same experience. I watched almost every episode through the introduction of Blaine, and then I lost interest. Can’t put my finger on any one thing; it wasn’t Blaine.
Never mind. This is a gorgeous and moving vid that explicates and amplifies Kurt’s character. It situates Colfer as an heir of Hollywood glamour…no torn T-shirts and untied sneakers here. And yet, in some of his expressions, we also see that being bathed in glamour does not innoculate him from pain…because there is pain in his expression, along with a knowing naivete and freshness.
The vid also makes me think about how vids can contribute to our understanding and enjoyment of narrative entertainment. I know that if I am writing a fanfic, and I want to be sure I’m am staying in-character, I will rewatch particularly effective vids like this one. Sometimes the music and the juxtapositions can illuminate truths better than words. njs
Isn’t it weird how interests can wane like that for no discernible reason?
The vid also makes me think about how vids can contribute to our understanding and enjoyment of narrative entertainment.
Yes, I think so, too! I know that I often learn something about the source that I missed the first time by watching vids. The one I posted today about Draco is a perfect example. (I didn’t exactly learn anything new about Draco, I guess, but it presented the problem of Draco in such a way that, for the first time, I truly, deeply empathized with him.)