DramatistDreamer

Because she's British. In a way, I understand it because I hate it when people mangle accents but I don't remember any hue and cry when she played Miss Celie on Broadway. Is it because Tubman was a historical character and not a fictional one? I think Erivo may have pushed back on the criticisms in an interview some time ago, which made her critics even more upset. I can't remember what she said but I do remember that, at the time, even I was like "she should've just said nothing". Honestly, she looks and sounds good in this trailer though.

While some may be quibbling about this being Oscar bait due to it fall release date, I really do believe that this was a passion project for director Kasi Lemmons (Nella Franklin #3, ATWT). Though the selection of Tony award winning actress Cynthia Erivo had been a controversial one but the trailer looks solid.

The thing to keep in mind is that, unlike Trump, 99% of the British public did not choose Johnson because they did not vote, therefore had no say. Johnson's appointment could actually force nationwide elections. Also, Scotland and Northern Ireland might get the final word in terms of whether there will be an actual United Kingdom after all of this. I know that because Johnson and Trump are of similar personalities who seemingly share the same low I.Q., it's easy to conflate one with the other but the situations are far from identical. In the U.S. we're obviously dealing with a slow-moving disaster. Reckoning for the U.K. may start after October 30th with the Brexit decision. Also, Johnson has been poisoning British politics since way before Trump made a run for office. He's been diminishing the European Union almost from the beginning of the EU. The seeds of anti-EU were planted a long time ago. I doubt that the likes of UKIP were looking to the U.S. for any type of blueprint. With organizations like Cambridge Analytic starting in the U.K., it was likely that it was the other way around (of course, the U.S. has its own history of poison politics) this time. Of course, at times, the two have been known to feed off each other, in some sort of craven right-wing synergy.

IMO, one reason why Molly and Jake had become so popular was because the show's standards had dropped and frankly, so did the viewers' standards. The late '90s was mostly a dull as dishwater period for the show, so when the HW introduced some storytelling that seemingly breathed some life into the show, desperate viewers held onto it with both hands, so eager were they to watch something of interest. Another aspect, I think, was the popularity of the actors and to some extent, their characters. AW had just been cancelled and disaffected viewers of that show were likely happy just to see one of their own on another P&G soap--there were viewers who watched both shows and no doubt, those were the happiest viewers. Also, I think some viewers were relieved to see Molly get her own man, and not taking somebody else's, LOL. When I try to watch ATWT in its last decade, I can barely watch. I can watch episodes from other decades and enjoy the show (sometimes immensely) but that period from the late 90s to the series end, I find myself FF through A LOT of material. There were also some very unfortunate casting choices during that period too- Craig, Paul, Dusty (sorry but McCouch was miscast), Adam (too many times), Casey had two good actors toward the end but some of the storylines were terrible, not to mention that ending...ugh! I won't even get into how badly the writing screwed up some very promising storylines (I've done it in the past). I knew the final years were bad but when you get some distance and you're watching the 1980s and early 90s on YouTube and you get to compare it to the late 90s/early 00s, you realize how big a drop off the quality truly was but forcefed on a steady diet of supercouples since the mid-1980s, viewers were probably super eager for a couple that hadn't been over-written with ridiculous storylines and with Molly and Jake viewers could almost start fresh with a new couple--they had no idea what was to follow.

Boris Johnson has been chosen by his party to stand as Prime Minister of Great Britain. Let the Tory resignations and defections commence!

There's an episode from 1993 where Harley and A.C. are named as Marina Coopers godparents. A.C. is pledging to be there for Marina as he would if she were his own child. I wasn't watching when they were a couple but are you telling me that Marina was with her godfather?!! Oh how disgusting! These soaps could really write some terrible material especially in their later years.

Puerto Ricans not just talking or tweeting about wanting to change their government, they are out on the streets making themselves seen and heard today!

Per usual, conservatives and the MAGA crowd are using this as a way to try to bolster Kavanaugh even more and accuse "the media" of sloppy reportage regarding well-established/famous men and sexual harassment allegations.

According to this Op-Ed piece that I am currently reading (every now and then I read one or two), the number of uninsured in the U.S. has risen by 7 million people under Trump. This doesn't surprise me at all but it's disheartening to see the numbers.

Turns out Iran's seizure of the British tanker was in retaliation for the British seizure of one of their tankers, which is why at least one U.S. official is trying to downplay the incident. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/irans-seizure-of-british-vessel-further-roils-gulf-region/ar-AAEA4y9

The Iranians were far from perfect (they had to be prodded and admonished) but IMO they held to the deal well enough under the previous administration but once this administration abandoned the deal they had no reason to stay. Actually the Iranians actually stayed in for about a year after Trump pulled out of the deal so they didn't abandon the deal immediately, they actually seemed as though they were hoping that the EU would come up with a solution but this year, it became obvious that the EU couldn't provide any answers. Also the added sanctions probably tweaked the Iranians just enough that they felt they had license to go completely HAM but they did not immediately abandon the agreement, shockingly they held on for about a year. That was surprising. I think the Iranian government was actually hoping that adhering to the agreement would end up bolstering their economy in trade as other companies were starting to do business in Iran and the government wasn't going to pass up the chance of making that $$$$ (a la China which had an agreement with their people who traded on human rights in exchange for greater prosperity). It was when the added sanctions came in and the U.S./EU businesses pulled out because they didn't want to violate those new sanctions. So I don't fully agree that it was certain that they wouldn't have adhered to the agreement-- they did so for a year after the U.S. abandoned it. It was when they started to lose hundreds of millions of dollars due to the tougher sanctions that they let the rest fall by the wayside. I just hope we are not seeing shades of 1979-1984 Iran. Detaining oil tankers is one thing (China also does this in the South China Sea, by the way) but taking hostages is a whole other bag that I hope we don't see.

^^That's what happens when the U.S. pulls out of an agreement, then levels sanctions. Iran had no incentive to follow rules of engagement when it's already been proved that agreements and rules can be broken so easily. The Europeans tried to keep the Non-Proliferation agreement together but with the U.S. dropping out then making demands, it became impossible. Iran is obviously acting out now. Hey maybe Kim Jong-Un will advise them on how to go rogue and make it work for them.

Has anyone tried to petition Procter & Gamble/PGP for permission to start/run an official As The World Turns Twitter page? Maybe a photo like this is already on the Daytime Emmy Twitter page but I feel like photos and video clips should be accessible in one dedicated space for the show. Also, as much as I appreciate the various YouTube channels, there should be a dedicated As The World Turns channel where the best quality clips (and perhaps episodes too) can be culled and placed there. I don't know who runs the As The World Turns-Topic channel but it looks disheveled, disorganized and piece-meal. I only mention this because if there were one dedicated, comprehensive channel, viewers/fans would flock there and we could truly see just how many views ATWT videos are getting-- who knows, it may get P&G's attention if they saw a good number of views per month. Not to bring back the show but to even sell/stream more classic ATWT because they'd see that there was actual interest. I guess that everyone (fans, actors, etc.) wants to operate their own separate YouTube channels though.

Trump began his entire professional career spewing crap, so I don't see him stopping that anytime too soon. Americans could end this with a very simple solution-- stop accepting his crap. Period. Stop letting his crap work in his favor. The GOP are still laboring to try to make Trump look "presidential" so expecting them to grow a conscience is a lost cause. The sad fact of the matter is that many Americans are just not into hearing the truth, so liars like Trump get by on that. Americans are very much uncomfortable with telling it 'like it is'. People like Trump can't operate in a vacuum, they are parasites that feed off of what is already there. The crap would be "cut" when Americans decide that they no longer want to ingest on a steady diet of it.

Those people must have been beyond desperate to even talk to him. I mean, desperate as...their lives and the lives of their people are dependent on him. It's even more telling that his clueless cabinet/staff thought that somehow this would be a great photo-op for him, this makes him look even worse, if that's even possible.

Disengaged and indifferent. This man exudes both qualities in abundance.

Dusty's piercing blue eyes were one of the aspects that kept young girl me tuned in. Someone needs to ask Martha if she has any classic episodes that she can upload to YouTube, preferably one that hasn't been uploaded before, a la Patricia Bruder.

The frustrating thing is that there have been blacks, women, South Asians, Jews and LGBTQ killed during this administration's time in the White House and some people have decided to crystallize it to only being about Congresswoman Omar. What is happening to her at Trump's command is horrible (as what he's been saying about Pressely, AOC and Tlaib) but let's not forget about the other people who have been imperiled and harassed (including many non-famous Muslims in the U.S.) and killed during the time that Trump has taken the oath of office. Also, people are just finding out that the U.S. does this to people?? Folks need to open a history book. I'm not trying to get graphic but this is the same country that used to lynch pregnant black women, cut their stomachs open and take pictures of the woman and discarded fetus with hordes of smiling white folks. Pro-life my as*!

When I posted this, I knew that there basically was no case to prosecute in MA. The American case is hopeless but there is still a pending case in the U.K.