Formative Performances: Naya Rivera in “Glee”

[Women’s History Month, Day 11]

Fuckin’ Glee, man. It’s such a dumb show, so filled with preachy speeches, ridiculous storylines, and repetitive musical performances, but when it shows gay people loving each other, it gets it so, so right, because then the talented cast members can elevate the stupid writing and let the emotions shine through. One of those cast members is the triple threat known as Naya Rivera.

I watched the following performance with my hand over my heart, my mouth halfway open. Up until this episode, I was convinced that Santana was a character who barely had a human emotion to spare. She hated everyone except Brittany. With this performance, where she is positively aching with love for her best friend – unable to hide it, yet so scared to show it that she throws Gwyneth Paltrow between them as a barrier – my heart went out to her and never left.

There are numerous problems with the writing of Santana’s storyline. (Numerous. That can’t be emphasized enough.) But Rivera’s performance elevates it and brings to life a type of character I haven’t seen often: a teen gay woman of color, informed by her sexuality but not defined by it. The writing would have us believe that Santana is mean because she’s lashing out, angry at the world for not letting her be comfortable in her own skin, but Rivera gives an extra layer to Santana’s character not present in the writing. She shows us a girl who isn’t comfortable expressing any genuine emotion except anger. She shows what internalized homophobia can do to a person and how navigating love – especially gay love – is so difficult for teenagers to handle. She’s great, and I hope she has an excellent career once Glee is over.