Monday, 29 December 2014

Blackbird

I was randomly listening to the Glee cover of 'Blackbird' earlier today and I remembered the episode when it was featured, or thereabouts when Klaine had their first kiss which caused much controversy but also made so many fans ecstatic.

I remember watching the episode and being almost indifferent to it. I wouldn't call myself a Klaine fan, but I'm not against them. I watched Glee for the music covers more than anything so whatever couplings arose never really interested me (except for Jarley and Finchel at the end).

When I was listening to the song for the first time in ages I thought of something which I've read and seen many times but seemed forever true. What kind of world gets up in arms about seeing two people who love each other showing affection but just accepts violence and warfare as a part of life?

That seems more than a little messed up.

I get that sometimes PDA is too much. Personally I loathe seeing couples all over each other, especially on Valentine's Day, that just ain't necessary and is kind of sickening when it's right in front of you.

As I wrote in an earlier post, I'm not entirely sure how someone's personal life or sexuality is anybody else's business but theirs, yet people who it doesn't concern seem to get all self-righteous about it as if they're making it their problem unnecessarily, more often than not because they have nothing better to do with themselves or their time. Don't get me wrong, it's great to be passionate about something, but if it hurts someone else and has no benefit to humankind, maybe you should rethink your life choices.

I've always believed that you can't help who you love and as Darren Criss once said, "you fall in love with the person, not the gender".

In her acceptance speech for the 'Ally for Equality' Award at the Human Rights Campaign, Pink said some pretty profound things, the most profound was her comment about how much time, energy and effort governments are putting into stopping two people from loving each other and their priorities in doing so. I dare you to watch it, it's amazing!

If I'm being completely honest, witnessing a same-sex couple kissing isn't very appealing to me, and there's absolutely no reason why it should be. Whenever I see a couple on TV or in a movie kissing, a small part of me does feel a bit off or squeamish, which I attribute to my religious upbringing and society's attitude.

Being a fairly big Buffy fan and seeing the Tara/Willow storyline play out, I recall mum's reaction when they kissed for the first time. She couldn't have made it more obvious if she tried that she didn't approve of what they were doing. Dad and I just took it for what it was and kept watching the show.

While again I don't really ship them either, I did and still do think they did a fantastic job with the storyline and characters. One of the things which Willow said has stuck with me since watching it a few years ago. She was detailing how she fell in love with Tara and saying she never expected it to happen but they just had an incredibly strong connection which turned into love and undoubtedly made it one of the show's strongest couplings.

It made a lot of sense to me and I'm sure it makes sense to people who've felt it and unexpectedly found themselves in love with someone regardless of their gender.

I've had a similar kind of connection with one of my best friends. We clicked instantly and for the time which we were a biggest part of each other's lives for, we were inseparable. We used to joke that we were straight lesbians and often wondered how our families would react if we ever did announce that we were a couple although we weren't attracted to each other in that way and never tried to experiment for fear it would ruin the incredibly strong bond we had.

In the episodes where Tara gets shot and Willow tries to destroy the world, the most heartbreaking scene I found was when Willow using her magic to bring the old chapel up from the ground and Xander jumps in front of her and manages to stop her by telling her that he loves her and knows how badly she's hurting.

Every time I watch that scene I'm brought to tears. Not just because I can understand how Willow feels when I think of someone that I love that dearly being killed, I'd be inclined to join her team and destroy everything in an effort not to feel the immense pain of loss. It's heartbreaking to watch a loved one's heart break in front of your eyes and not know what to do to help them. It's almost more heartbreaking to know that there are couples who have that kind of love for each other and people want to tear it apart because they don't accept, agree or believe in it when it's not theirs to believe in to start with.

At the end of the day love is love. It's not our choice to decide who someone does, will or should love. It doesn't work that way.

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