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Moar Jungian meta spam! (for Glee 4x04 with spec for 4x07)
I started writing a brief crash course on Jungian individuation and archetypes, because I thought this bit of meta may need some greater context to not sound half-baked. But I've set it aside because I'm not sure how good a teacher I am, and I don't wish to be too presumptuous, so I will preface this meta with saying that if anyone wants me to explain this stuff a little better, I can give it a shot.
In the meantime, moar Jungian meta for Glee, with one further disclaimer: I do this for fun. This is stuff that comes more from self-study than rigorous academic study, so I invite people who are more skilled and educated in these things to correct, refine, or expand upon my thoughts.
Oh, and FWIW, I'm ignoring gendered stuff between Aminus vs. Anima and who gets which because Jung was stupid about gender. Glee does too many subtle and complex things with gender for that binary distinction to make sense to me anyway.
Kurt and Blaine have at varying points been Animus to one another (nutshell: the Animus is your personal guide to your own individuation process; he/she takes you safely through your subconscious so you can demolish your Persona, see past your Ego, and integrate your Shadow to become your Self). Blaine guides Kurt through his journey at Dalton, from his metaphorical death to rebirth, and when Kurt gets stuck in Limbo/The Lima Bean, Blaine provides the final impetus for Kurt to fly to Elysium/NYC.
Similarly, Kurt guides Blaine from the deconstruction of his Persona in SLS out of the Otherworld of Dalton (fairyland cum underworld).
The journey doesn't always take, sometimes we get stuck and have to go back and reiterate the journey. One of the hazards in the journey is to overidentify with your Animus, to mistake him/her for your Self and goal. It's also worth mentioning that your Animus is not necessarily the same image at all points. It matures as you do. The ultimate, highest incarnation of the Animus is (symbolically/archetypally) Hermes, with whom I have identified Kurt very strongly in the past.
The thing is, Blaine isn't ready for Hermes. He's still returning to play with his Persona, still tangling himself up with his Ego, still fighting to integrate his Shadow. But here's Kurt, this powerful Animus figure Blaine is enthralled by to a degree that leads to an unhealthy co-dependence in their relationship. Blaine is overidentifying with Kurt, revolving his life around Kurt instead of his own Self. So Blaine has to go back to the start. Kurt is gone, and as I mentioned earlier, evolving past being anyone's Animus. Kurt is in the final stage of Individuation and becoming powerful in his own right.
So Blaine is lost in the woods and he needs a new guide to help him through. Animus is not always a friendly face, it can be adversarial and unsettling (as I understand it). Given Blaine's problems with impulse control, hiding (passing?), and sexual misconduct, his absent father, and all that crap poor Blaine has to wade through, the Animus he needs is something more basic and primal than Hermes. So, if Hunter, as the leader of The Warblers, is going to be the one leading the hunt to get Blaine back (and I am encouraged to hear the spoilers about the Warblers staging a [presumably night time] raid to steal ND's Nationals trophy: The Wild Hunt rides at night) he may be a combination of The Horned God (as I've written back a few posts) and Odin (an occasional association with Kurt, there, too), both are Animus archetypes once more. More basic, more needed by Blaine for his psychic growth.
Funnily enough, (here comes the crack) since all this stuff with Blaine and Kurt may be coming to a head around the Christmas episode, Santa Claus and his reindeer are evolved from The Wild Hunt as led by Odin riding his eight legged horse (this isn't the fairy version, btw, The Wild Hunt is repeated across cultures in different variations), so I am keen to see what may happen in the Christmas episode.
Watch out for any dog symbols. There are always dogs in The Wild Hunt. Or maybe Hunter is too cool for a dog, hence the cat? IDEK.
And that's my overthinking for this morning. Getting this stuff out helps me process the emotional fallout from the episode.
In the meantime, moar Jungian meta for Glee, with one further disclaimer: I do this for fun. This is stuff that comes more from self-study than rigorous academic study, so I invite people who are more skilled and educated in these things to correct, refine, or expand upon my thoughts.
Oh, and FWIW, I'm ignoring gendered stuff between Aminus vs. Anima and who gets which because Jung was stupid about gender. Glee does too many subtle and complex things with gender for that binary distinction to make sense to me anyway.
Kurt and Blaine have at varying points been Animus to one another (nutshell: the Animus is your personal guide to your own individuation process; he/she takes you safely through your subconscious so you can demolish your Persona, see past your Ego, and integrate your Shadow to become your Self). Blaine guides Kurt through his journey at Dalton, from his metaphorical death to rebirth, and when Kurt gets stuck in Limbo/The Lima Bean, Blaine provides the final impetus for Kurt to fly to Elysium/NYC.
Similarly, Kurt guides Blaine from the deconstruction of his Persona in SLS out of the Otherworld of Dalton (fairyland cum underworld).
The journey doesn't always take, sometimes we get stuck and have to go back and reiterate the journey. One of the hazards in the journey is to overidentify with your Animus, to mistake him/her for your Self and goal. It's also worth mentioning that your Animus is not necessarily the same image at all points. It matures as you do. The ultimate, highest incarnation of the Animus is (symbolically/archetypally) Hermes, with whom I have identified Kurt very strongly in the past.
The thing is, Blaine isn't ready for Hermes. He's still returning to play with his Persona, still tangling himself up with his Ego, still fighting to integrate his Shadow. But here's Kurt, this powerful Animus figure Blaine is enthralled by to a degree that leads to an unhealthy co-dependence in their relationship. Blaine is overidentifying with Kurt, revolving his life around Kurt instead of his own Self. So Blaine has to go back to the start. Kurt is gone, and as I mentioned earlier, evolving past being anyone's Animus. Kurt is in the final stage of Individuation and becoming powerful in his own right.
So Blaine is lost in the woods and he needs a new guide to help him through. Animus is not always a friendly face, it can be adversarial and unsettling (as I understand it). Given Blaine's problems with impulse control, hiding (passing?), and sexual misconduct, his absent father, and all that crap poor Blaine has to wade through, the Animus he needs is something more basic and primal than Hermes. So, if Hunter, as the leader of The Warblers, is going to be the one leading the hunt to get Blaine back (and I am encouraged to hear the spoilers about the Warblers staging a [presumably night time] raid to steal ND's Nationals trophy: The Wild Hunt rides at night) he may be a combination of The Horned God (as I've written back a few posts) and Odin (an occasional association with Kurt, there, too), both are Animus archetypes once more. More basic, more needed by Blaine for his psychic growth.
Funnily enough, (here comes the crack) since all this stuff with Blaine and Kurt may be coming to a head around the Christmas episode, Santa Claus and his reindeer are evolved from The Wild Hunt as led by Odin riding his eight legged horse (this isn't the fairy version, btw, The Wild Hunt is repeated across cultures in different variations), so I am keen to see what may happen in the Christmas episode.
Watch out for any dog symbols. There are always dogs in The Wild Hunt. Or maybe Hunter is too cool for a dog, hence the cat? IDEK.
And that's my overthinking for this morning. Getting this stuff out helps me process the emotional fallout from the episode.
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<3!
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Blaine goes back to dalton? Catastrophe = change?
FWIW, you explain things really clearly in these posts and I think, if you have the time and want to put together a crash course, it would be totally appreciated.
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He also needs to metaphorically behead, stab through the heart, or drown Sebastian, so I'm glad to hear Grant is returning. (Or, alternatively, actually become friends with him in a way that is not threatening, but this seems unlikely? IDK, I'm still a little uncertain here. Sebastian is Shadow so must be defeated or integrated.)
I'll see what I can manage in terms of a more general overview of Jungian stuff. It might take a day or two. And thank you, I'm glad my thoughts have some clarity! :)