#and the concept of rachel's character as this driven and ambitious person with big dreams who will stop at nothing to make them happen

[theghostofashton]

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#sometimes i wonder how things would've been different if mercedes had been the main character instead of rachel #and not even bc i'm not a fan of rachel i just feel like narratively considering both of their characters.....mercedes works much better #the concept they were going for w rachel fell apart after like s1 bc they started trying really hard to make the audience feel bad for her #she'd make a poor decision but it wasn't allowed to just exist as a poor decision the writers would do the most to make her seem justified #the narrative would always prioritize her and try to justify every single thing she did which created a lot of problems #and the concept of rachel's character as this driven and ambitious person with big dreams who will stop at nothing to make them happen #is such a compelling idea and would've worked so well if she wasn't the main character if she was doing things people were horrified by #but always in the name of self preservation and making her dreams come true she would do anything to make that happen #that's interesting and that has a lot of potential #mercedes was never like that mercedes at her core is someone who will be supportive and kind and warm to everyone #she's always believed success for her doesn't need to come at the cost of someone else #she's friends with most of the characters early on and she's very easy to root for #the writers honestly wouldn't have had to do much to convince people because her characterization supports being a main so well #the reason this gets me is bc w rachel it's like they wanted to have their cake and eat it too wanted her to be cutthroat and ambitious #but also humanize every single decision and lather on audience sympathy for everything #that....doesn't work w the concept of her character it's like they tried to have the best of both and they contradict each other #god just......this is one of those things that makes me so sad lol mercedes as a main character would've fixed so many problems #ik it was 2009 and the world would not have received it well but in a perfect world she would've been legendary #and i'm so sad it didn't happen