'There are few examples of what a true star looks like, of what it takes to make it when others fail, but you can see it in Naya... the fire in her eyes, the conviction in her voice.'
It’s an odd thing, to listen to a song and realise that the person singing it is no longer with us, but their voice lives on.Like most queer people my age, I was a huge fan of Glee but as much as I tend to make fun of it nowadays, throughout the odd and highly-emotional events surrounding Naya’s passing, I’ve begun to realise just how much influence the show had over me; in my outlook, in my taste in music, in my writing.
This is, really, a testament to Naya and her unique presence and charisma. Santana was never meant to be a likeable character, but you felt herself drawn to her anyway. The first time I became aware of her magnetic presence was in the latter half of the first season, where the cast covered Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance, by then, the biggest song in the world.
My favourite of all this is the cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide, which is lead by guest-star Gwyneth Paltrow but features Naya on backing vocals. In the context of the show, the song comes up as a way for Santana to start to unpack her complicated feelings for Brittany, and Stevie Nicks’ poetic lyrics, referencing the changing of seasons and the inevitable passing of time, feel all the more potent today.
The speech is just over a minute long, and not one line is wasted from Naya, every word, syllable and insult is delivered perfectly. It can, at times, be read as not just Santana decimating Kurt as a character, but critiquing Glee as a whole. It’s an alarmingly prescient meta-commentary on the strength the show lost over the years, turning, as she says ‘from the very apex of the gay rights movement’ to ‘utterly, utterly intolerable.
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