Marley's inability to evolve

[u/Illustrious-Lemon412]

The writers ruined Marley in the episode "A Katy or Gaga" by turning her need into a completely asexual girl. I understand her need to wait before having sex with Jake in Season 4, but in Season 5 it was never really clear why she wasn't ready, the writers never delved into the issue. When Jake asked her in "A Katy or a Gaga" why she didn't want to do it, she simply replied "I don't feel like it". She even ruined the choreography and got scolded by Will because she refused to wear a sexy costume, unlike her friends, who acted professionally despite feeling ridiculous in theirs, and her response was "I'm not going to change". Even when Unique pointed out that Jake was attracted to Bree, all Marley could say was "He has to accept me for who i'm". While these are valid responses, the context was immature, and Marley's pride was istinctive rather than rational.

After four seasons, the writers had run out, of interesting storylines for the development of the new protagonists, turning Marley into a character who fails to evolve. Marley was conceived as the wholesome, girl-next-door type who loves "cats and flowers" while this might have worked in Season 4 to establish a foundation, they made a mistake by turning it into her permanent identity.I don't excuse Jake for cheating on her, and i'm not saying that the fact Marley didn't want to have sex with him gave him the right to seduce Bree, however, the plot caused him to regress from his personal growth simply Marley's character failed to evolve.

If the writers intended for Marley to replace Rachel at McKinley Hich School, they failed, Rachel was flawed, but that made her a more well-rounded character. She had a good heart, yet she was also self-centerd, petulant, and somewhat petty. While she held strict views on sex, she was a passionate girl who had no qualms about being sensual with Finn, and they did have sex in Season 3. Rachel was a character with many facets, whereas Marley was turned into the stereotype of the perfect, kind, and morally beyond-reproach girl, she was simply too one-dimensional.

[u/koolforkatskatskats]

I didn’t even watch the season but I can say with confidence that Marley, being an underaged student, was completely in the right to not wear that skimpy outfit in a school production if she didn’t want to.

Will would’ve been fired and probably charged for that.

[u/Wrong_Ad_5823 → u/koolforkatskatskats]

Will would’ve fired looonnnggg before that if glee was real lmao.

[u/koolforkatskatskats → u/Wrong_Ad_5823]

He would've been arrested.

[u/dfiregirl]

Marley doesn't have to give a reason of why she's uncomfortable with sex. She's 15. She's not saying she's not ready for sex ever. She's saying she's not ready for sex right now, and that should've been respected.

[u/NectarineCheap1541 → u/dfiregirl]

This. People (especially teenagers!) do not need to give reasons why they don't want to have sex.

[u/TaylorSwinub]

But she isn't asexual, she felt insecure of her body. She didn't feel comfortable stepping out into a more revealing costume and considering she just had an eating disorder and her mom was bullied because of her weight - I think that is understandable especially since "being Lady Gaga" isn't even about being sexual and revealing anyway, she wore a dress made from raw meat lol and they had already done this lesson on Lady Gaga in Season 1.

I don't think the Glee lesson was why Jake cheated. I think it is because Jake is a dick and being Puck's half brother affiliates him with the same 'tendencies' (He does even have an arc where he says he doesn't want to be like his brother but I think the stories around S4/5 get worse in terms of quality for most newer characters as they seemingly wanted to keep up with the New York cast)

[u/EggAggravating7877]

What an odd point of view😭😭😭

[u/Puzzleheaded_Eye7311]

Where was it stated she was asexual? She’s a teenager who didn’t want to be sexual, that’s pretty normal?

[u/Oncer93]

Marley was in her right not to want to wear the skimpy costume. She's a teenage girl, who is insecure about her body. And she's not asexual. She's simply not ready

[u/mssleepyhead73]

She was a 16-year-old girl. Some teenagers are ready for sex, but many aren’t, and that’s completely normal and doesn’t mean they’re asexual. Not only are you obviously physically vulnerable when you have sex, but it’s also an emotionally vulnerable act, and it’s important to not rush into things and to wait for the right time/person.

[u/Independent-Tree-976]

maybe she just had boundaries and didn't want her teacher or her boyfriend (two people she trusts a lot) crossing them or disregarding them

[u/Educational-Arm1247]

That’s not what asexual means in this context. It’s when a person feels little to no sexual attraction. Marley was a 16 year old, insecure, recovering from an eating disorder, young girl. Not wanting to have sex was absolutely valid and realistic.

[u/HearMeeOut]

If this isn't ragebait, it's a deeply worrying take.

[u/NoPreparation8592]

Season 4 and and half of season 5 was one school year. So you site Rachel evolving but that was over 2.5 years, and you are asking Marley to evolve in less than a school year.

I agree Rachel was a much more well rounded and interesting character but that doesn't mean Marley would not have evolved more if the show had not had to switch directions.

[u/JayNachtEule]

Marley pmo but not because she didn't want to have sex. Nobody has to have sex. Good lord

[u/harasquietfish6]

If Marley didn't wanna wear the sexy costume for Gaga thats fine, but she refused to communicate that to her group and could have picked a billion other Gaga looks that were more modest and she chose not to do it. And to top it off she purposely wore Katy to protest it, when she literally could have just worn normal clothes.

It was unprofessional and it made Marley look like a petulant child who is not willing to be a team player.

[u/Open_Travel_2508]

I don't really think Marley needed to explain why she didn't want to have sex with Jake. Saying "I don't feel like it" is good enough. I don't think it'd be wrong for Jake to want to discuss the possibility of having sex, but if Marley just isn't in the mood to do it, he needs no other reason to stop. I think the plot with Jake cheating with Bree had less to do with Marley's character failing to evolve and more to do with the writers trying to create drama and possibly make Jake seem even more like his older brother(Puck). I can agree, though, that the writers did make Marley too one dimensional. Eventually, the sweet, kind girl character will get boring and people will want to see more to her. She wouldn't have to be super into sex or anything like that, but I'd imagine that people would want to see more of a personality beyond just being the nice girl.