We have another Lea Michele related post for you today. However, this time, it’s about her ‘Glee’ character, Rachel Berry, rather than herself. When we were first introduced to Rachel Berry, she was a 15 year old high school student who was determined to become a Broadway legend. She also had a huge crush on Finn Hudson (played by the late Cory Monteith), who wasn’t available at the time because he had a girlfriend who tricked him into believing that her unborn child was his even though they never had sex.
Rachel then meets Jesse St. James (played by Michele’s real-life best friend and ‘Spring Awakening co-star, Jonathan Groff), who ‘s her main rival in the Glee competition. They have an instant connection and chemistry that’s hard to deny. Rachel begins dating Jesse, and they connect with each other through their shared goals and dreams for their futures. They respect each other and motivate each other, which is something that Rachel doesn’t have with Finn.
It later turned out that Jesse was initially ‘hired’ by his coach, who is later revealed to be Rachel’s biological mother, to get closer to her. It’s implied throughout their fake relationship that Jesse develops real feelings for Rachel. However, h feels pressured to fit in with his ‘friends’, so he breaks Rachel’s heart in the end and breaks up with her by egging her even though he knows she’s a vegan. Rachel then moved on to have an on-and-off again relationship with Finn until his death, which was due to the real-life death of Cory Monteith.
Judging by the premise of the show, ‘Glee’ is geared towards a teen audience who will practically believe anything. As an adult woman who watched the show (It’s on Netflix and we’re living in a pandemic, give me a break!) , I find the show to be unrealistic and absolutely inappropriate. The inappropriate part, we’ll probably discuss in a different blog post. Right now, I want to discuss the unrealistic part, specifically Rachel Berry.
Ryan Murphy, the creator of ‘Glee’, was always open about the fact that Rachel was always meant to end up with Finn in the end. If Cory Monteith hadn’t died in real life, Rachel would’ve given up her career that she’d worked so hard for since she was a child to be with Finn. So here’s the problem….
Rachel always knew what she wanted to do in her life, and she did everything she could to get there. She never took no for an answer, and her annoying and sometimes obnoxious spirit got her to where she was going. Finn, on the other hand, was very much lost in his life. He was so lost that he felt he needed to propose to Rachel and get married to her before he finished high school in order to fulfill his needs and feel like he’s needed and wanted by someone. The showrunners of ‘Glee’ wanted the audience to believe that they were true love and meant to be when in reality, their relationship was toxic. They both brought the worst in each other, and they both wanted to change one another to fulfill what the other wanted. Rachel, for instance, expected Finn to follow her to New York once they graduated high school and follow her around like a Muppet.
It seems that TV shows really love to degrade women. It seems that women are portrayed as though they have to choose between love and career in their lifetimes, and they somehow always choose love. It was the same case scenario on ‘Friends’ when Rachel (Green) chose to be with Ross when he confessed his love for her at the airport when she was about to leave for Paris for her new job. Spoiler alert – Rachel (Berry) ends up with Jesse in the end, and it actually made sense. In fact, even if Cory Monteith hadn’t died, Rachel should’ve ended up with Jesse.
Jesse had always cared for Rachel even though he never showed it directly when they were in high school. As he sincerely started like her, he told his coach he didn’t want to hurt Rachel, and therefore, didn’t want to continue their scam. After their breakup, they still crossed paths from time to time, and when they did, yo could still tell that Jesse had feelings for Rachel, and that he felt remorseful for what he’d done to her. He always wanted her to get ahead and succeed in whatever she did even when they weren’t together without expecting anything in return. When Rachel was applying to NYADA (a fictional college based in New York, Jesse recommended her to the school’s Dean even though he applied and didn’t get in, as well as despite the fact that he knew she was engaged to Finn and he had no chance with her.
Finn was Rachel’s high school sweetheart, and that’s all that relationship should’ve represented. Adult relationships represent something different, and her relationship with Jesse represented exactly that – a healthy relationship where both parties knw what they want and neither one has to compromise or sacrifice themselves to make each other happy and to build a life together, specifically the woman in the relationship.
Of course, everyone’s situation is different. Relationships as a whole are all about compromises. My husband, for instance, studied Automotive Business in college. If he were single when he started his schooling, he could’ve been very much successful in the field. The automotive industry is all about travelling and moving to a different continent every 6 months in order to get ahead. That’s not something that can be done when someone is married and has their own family. And so, he had to sacrifice making his passion for cars his career path and go into IT. And yet, he doesn’t blame for it whatsoever. On the contrary, he’s my biggest cheerleader and always motivates me to work on my own creative passion, such as this blog.
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