Dear Karofsky: It Gets Better.
LOTSA VIDS/STUFF HERE GUYS!!! NOTE THERE ARE SPOILERS!!
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'High school, that's kind of your world and Karofsky's fear is for people to find out who he is,' he speculates to MTV News.
MTV Shows
McKinley High's resident bully Dave Karofsky is causing a whole lot of trouble on "Glee." Tuesday night's (November 23) episode was especially painful to watch, what with his creepy klepto move with Kurt's wedding-cake topper and that unbridled violence. It's enough to make us wonder: What the heck is going to happen to him?
Max Adler, the actor behind Karofsky, recently told MTV News he has some ideas about what might become of his character.
"He could join New Directions, he could be a glee-clubber," Adler offered. "Of course ... he will maybe think about suicide," he added. "Just because that's going on in the nation right now, but I don't know if they're going to touch on that and go that deep.
"I don't know if there is any redemption [for Karofsky]," Adler continued. "I don't know if he's ever going to come out. In high school, that's kind of your world and Karofsky's fear is for people to find out who he is."
The "Glee" star emphasized that as far as his character's arc is concerned, he really doesn't know what's in store but he's glad to be making an impact onscreen.
"I'm really just so thrilled to be able to play this part, and at this point in time in our nation and the world, even. I feel like I'm representing such a large group of people and it's a crucial time. I don't know where it's going to go. I want it to be a great message," Adler said. "I think I want him to have redemption and to eventually realize that people are tolerant and not prejudiced and there's no ignorance and that he can come out and feel safe. I think that would be a great message," he said hopefully. "But it depends where [creator] Ryan Murphy and all of them want to take him."
((SOURCE = HERE
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MTV Shows
Despite several warm fuzzy moments in tonight's episode of "Glee,"-Carol freakin' Burnett singing with Jane Lynch! The wedding march! "Furt!"-there were almost an equal number of seriously scary parts courtesy of one Dave Karofsky.
Now to be fair, actor Max Adler did warn me that this was going to be a major episode for his character. But I was not prepared for how violent he gets! Sheesh. I'm worried about what's next for him. But let's shrug that off for a moment and instead focus on a happy "Glee" place in which Karofsky sees the errors of his ways and gets to sing. What would be his go-to song?
"Karofsky's ballad? I come from a show choir background," Adler revealed to MTV News recently. "I've done singing, and my favorite style are the crooner types like the Dean Martin and Michael Bublé so something like the Bublé "Always on my Mind" or "Come Fly With Me"-something kind of cute or something like that would be a great song [for me]," he said.
Max, who is not at all like Karofsky in real life, also revealed that the "Glee" character he most relates to is one Finn Hudson.
"I've been an athlete pretty much my whole life. I was in soccer and baseball and basketball and football, I've done all that," Max said. "I was into student government, I was vice president of the senior class, I was pretty involved, but then I also was involved in show choir [wearing] these purple sequined vests, and in drama club, so I was kind of balancing both worlds," he said. "In student government planning the school stuff, and then after school was choir rehearsal and then there's football, so I really get where Finn is coming from as far as how people view you and your reputation."
((SOURCE = HERE))
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(posted by Josh)
As always with all my Kurtofsky writings, massive spoilers for tonight’s episode abound. Read at your own risk.
I have vowed never to write a coming out story. This is done for a number of reasons: One, 90% of them are boring and terribly written. Two, 90% of them are written as coping mechanisms- which is a good thing- but I never had to actually cope with coming out so I missed that “write” of passage. Three, my parents aren’t douchebags. Clergypersons with doctorate/masters degrees in Theology, maybe. Douchebags? Not so much. The fact is, though, that many LGBT persons DO have to deal with parents who are as anti-gay as the Pope, and that a lot of the coming out stories that emerge from these pairing of gay teen and gay-hating parent end in Thanksgiving Day falling outs that spawn therapy sessions and stories that are overwrought with emotion and underwrought with spellcheck.
My predictions going into tonight’s episode of Glee was that Karofsky’s story would unfold like a thousand teenage angst poems before it: Karofsky’s dad would show up, prove to watchers around the country that Karofsky is partially fucked up due to his father being an ignorant douchebag who hates gay people (and is probably racist and sexist to boot) who shouts too much and beats his children. It would have been easy after this to point at Karofsky and go “he’s a jerkwad because his father is a jerkwad.” Ryan Murphy fucked that all up, and I give him props for it-despite it making my job as a Kurtofsky shipper that much harder. He took the cliché and ignored it, choosing instead to paint Karofsky’s father as a mild-mannered old guy who is as confused about his son’s emotional turmoil as Karofsky is about his sexuality.
And, make no mistake, Karofsky is in emotional turmoil. Today’s episode included a terrifying-yet-sexually-charged staredown with Kurt where he desperately sought to assert his own masculinity to the only guy in the school who knows he’s gay. In Sue’s office, his father also pointed out that Karofsky’s grades have been dropping from As and Bs to significantly lower, and that he’s acting out and talking back. Karofsky is displaying many of the signs of a suicidal teenager right now. He’s acting out, he’s neglecting school, he’s getting violent. He’s attempting to either ignore or beat down his own homosexuality, and his abuse of Kurt is him getting violent because Kurt is the external symbol of a problem within him that he can’t push into lockers until it goes away. Karofsky literally hates himself, and Kurt was suffering because Karofsky had no other outlet for his self-loathing.
Here are some facts about LGBT Teen suicide, taken from The Trevor Project (1):
• In the United States, more than 34,000 people die by suicide each year . Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds, accounting for over 12% of deaths in this age group; only accidents and homicide occur more frequently.
• Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. Questioning youth who are less certain of their sexual orientation report even higher levels of substance abuse and depressed thoughts than their heterosexual or openly LGBT-identified peers
• More than 1/3 of LGB youth report having made a suicide attempt.
Karofsky’s plot seems to be heading in this direction. Kurt left school, so the focus on his character can’t be making fun of the gay kid anymore. Chances are that after his expulsion and Kurt’s leaving, Karofsky’s going to be tasting a lot of what Kurt has been going through the past two weeks from the New Direction kids. We’re likely to see scenes of him getting pushed into lockers and slushied in the face, with none of the support or coping capabilities Kurt had. If he gets knocked off his pedestal of “scariest guy in McKinnley High,” he’s going to have nothing left. Karofsky will be worthless, self-loathing, and knowing that he managed to drive off the one person that could possibly have made him feel better about himself.
I hope to God that Karofsky’s plot won’t go that far, and Glee‘s status as a comedic show (vs., say, Degrassi)makes a storyline that ends in suicide less likely. However, I’m fairly certain there’s no feasible way for Karofsky to overcome his self-hatred, redeem himself, and get the boy this season. That doesn’t mean I’m not hoping for it endgame, but for now I simply want Karofsky to grow into a teenager who accepts and loves himself. Any other form of love can wait.
I’m not quite sure I’m team Kurtofsky anymore. I’m not sure I ever have been team Kurtofsky, because Kurt honestly doesn’t factor into my opinions on this story line. I’m team Karofsky. I see a kid who is in pain, who hates himself, who has no idea how to cope with being the person his biology makes him, and all I want to do is jump into my TV and give the guy a hug and tell him “It Gets Better.”
1. http://www.thetrevorproject.org/suicide-resources/suicidal-signs
((SOURCE = HERE))
1-
'High school, that's kind of your world and Karofsky's fear is for people to find out who he is,' he speculates to MTV News.
MTV Shows
McKinley High's resident bully Dave Karofsky is causing a whole lot of trouble on "Glee." Tuesday night's (November 23) episode was especially painful to watch, what with his creepy klepto move with Kurt's wedding-cake topper and that unbridled violence. It's enough to make us wonder: What the heck is going to happen to him?
Max Adler, the actor behind Karofsky, recently told MTV News he has some ideas about what might become of his character.
"He could join New Directions, he could be a glee-clubber," Adler offered. "Of course ... he will maybe think about suicide," he added. "Just because that's going on in the nation right now, but I don't know if they're going to touch on that and go that deep.
"I don't know if there is any redemption [for Karofsky]," Adler continued. "I don't know if he's ever going to come out. In high school, that's kind of your world and Karofsky's fear is for people to find out who he is."
The "Glee" star emphasized that as far as his character's arc is concerned, he really doesn't know what's in store but he's glad to be making an impact onscreen.
"I'm really just so thrilled to be able to play this part, and at this point in time in our nation and the world, even. I feel like I'm representing such a large group of people and it's a crucial time. I don't know where it's going to go. I want it to be a great message," Adler said. "I think I want him to have redemption and to eventually realize that people are tolerant and not prejudiced and there's no ignorance and that he can come out and feel safe. I think that would be a great message," he said hopefully. "But it depends where [creator] Ryan Murphy and all of them want to take him."
((SOURCE = HERE
2-
MTV Shows
Despite several warm fuzzy moments in tonight's episode of "Glee,"-Carol freakin' Burnett singing with Jane Lynch! The wedding march! "Furt!"-there were almost an equal number of seriously scary parts courtesy of one Dave Karofsky.
Now to be fair, actor Max Adler did warn me that this was going to be a major episode for his character. But I was not prepared for how violent he gets! Sheesh. I'm worried about what's next for him. But let's shrug that off for a moment and instead focus on a happy "Glee" place in which Karofsky sees the errors of his ways and gets to sing. What would be his go-to song?
"Karofsky's ballad? I come from a show choir background," Adler revealed to MTV News recently. "I've done singing, and my favorite style are the crooner types like the Dean Martin and Michael Bublé so something like the Bublé "Always on my Mind" or "Come Fly With Me"-something kind of cute or something like that would be a great song [for me]," he said.
Max, who is not at all like Karofsky in real life, also revealed that the "Glee" character he most relates to is one Finn Hudson.
"I've been an athlete pretty much my whole life. I was in soccer and baseball and basketball and football, I've done all that," Max said. "I was into student government, I was vice president of the senior class, I was pretty involved, but then I also was involved in show choir [wearing] these purple sequined vests, and in drama club, so I was kind of balancing both worlds," he said. "In student government planning the school stuff, and then after school was choir rehearsal and then there's football, so I really get where Finn is coming from as far as how people view you and your reputation."
((SOURCE = HERE))
3-
(posted by Josh)
As always with all my Kurtofsky writings, massive spoilers for tonight’s episode abound. Read at your own risk.
I have vowed never to write a coming out story. This is done for a number of reasons: One, 90% of them are boring and terribly written. Two, 90% of them are written as coping mechanisms- which is a good thing- but I never had to actually cope with coming out so I missed that “write” of passage. Three, my parents aren’t douchebags. Clergypersons with doctorate/masters degrees in Theology, maybe. Douchebags? Not so much. The fact is, though, that many LGBT persons DO have to deal with parents who are as anti-gay as the Pope, and that a lot of the coming out stories that emerge from these pairing of gay teen and gay-hating parent end in Thanksgiving Day falling outs that spawn therapy sessions and stories that are overwrought with emotion and underwrought with spellcheck.
My predictions going into tonight’s episode of Glee was that Karofsky’s story would unfold like a thousand teenage angst poems before it: Karofsky’s dad would show up, prove to watchers around the country that Karofsky is partially fucked up due to his father being an ignorant douchebag who hates gay people (and is probably racist and sexist to boot) who shouts too much and beats his children. It would have been easy after this to point at Karofsky and go “he’s a jerkwad because his father is a jerkwad.” Ryan Murphy fucked that all up, and I give him props for it-despite it making my job as a Kurtofsky shipper that much harder. He took the cliché and ignored it, choosing instead to paint Karofsky’s father as a mild-mannered old guy who is as confused about his son’s emotional turmoil as Karofsky is about his sexuality.
And, make no mistake, Karofsky is in emotional turmoil. Today’s episode included a terrifying-yet-sexually-charged staredown with Kurt where he desperately sought to assert his own masculinity to the only guy in the school who knows he’s gay. In Sue’s office, his father also pointed out that Karofsky’s grades have been dropping from As and Bs to significantly lower, and that he’s acting out and talking back. Karofsky is displaying many of the signs of a suicidal teenager right now. He’s acting out, he’s neglecting school, he’s getting violent. He’s attempting to either ignore or beat down his own homosexuality, and his abuse of Kurt is him getting violent because Kurt is the external symbol of a problem within him that he can’t push into lockers until it goes away. Karofsky literally hates himself, and Kurt was suffering because Karofsky had no other outlet for his self-loathing.
Here are some facts about LGBT Teen suicide, taken from The Trevor Project (1):
• In the United States, more than 34,000 people die by suicide each year . Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds, accounting for over 12% of deaths in this age group; only accidents and homicide occur more frequently.
• Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. Questioning youth who are less certain of their sexual orientation report even higher levels of substance abuse and depressed thoughts than their heterosexual or openly LGBT-identified peers
• More than 1/3 of LGB youth report having made a suicide attempt.
Karofsky’s plot seems to be heading in this direction. Kurt left school, so the focus on his character can’t be making fun of the gay kid anymore. Chances are that after his expulsion and Kurt’s leaving, Karofsky’s going to be tasting a lot of what Kurt has been going through the past two weeks from the New Direction kids. We’re likely to see scenes of him getting pushed into lockers and slushied in the face, with none of the support or coping capabilities Kurt had. If he gets knocked off his pedestal of “scariest guy in McKinnley High,” he’s going to have nothing left. Karofsky will be worthless, self-loathing, and knowing that he managed to drive off the one person that could possibly have made him feel better about himself.
I hope to God that Karofsky’s plot won’t go that far, and Glee‘s status as a comedic show (vs., say, Degrassi)makes a storyline that ends in suicide less likely. However, I’m fairly certain there’s no feasible way for Karofsky to overcome his self-hatred, redeem himself, and get the boy this season. That doesn’t mean I’m not hoping for it endgame, but for now I simply want Karofsky to grow into a teenager who accepts and loves himself. Any other form of love can wait.
I’m not quite sure I’m team Kurtofsky anymore. I’m not sure I ever have been team Kurtofsky, because Kurt honestly doesn’t factor into my opinions on this story line. I’m team Karofsky. I see a kid who is in pain, who hates himself, who has no idea how to cope with being the person his biology makes him, and all I want to do is jump into my TV and give the guy a hug and tell him “It Gets Better.”
1. http://www.thetrevorproject.org/suicide-resources/suicidal-signs
((SOURCE = HERE))