maybe it is Will that gets raped that would be a interesting story..maybe its Alan and he's come back for revenge by getting with Sami's son.

If that happens, then Hoagie's been reading my blog. LOL!

Wow. Days is one of the hottest soaps. Its my #1. and if they did do that i think id turn off Days forever. Or at least for a few years. Yes it happens in real life .. but dont put it on a soap. The ratings would go down. I think with Hogan its suposed to be happy stuff now. And who does he plan for the rapes?

Um, I don't really know what to say about this.... except that Shawn was raped like twelve times by Jan inside of the cage so he does not need anymore trauma like that.

Will would be interesting... however if it is with Alan, that would be interesting to see but nothing new since I read Alan/Will stuff almost everyday on KR's blog, lol.

Overall I don't know to like this or not like this... it seems interesting but not really very intriguing to me...

I am not opposed to it if done right which it would be with Hogan. It could actually be good to reflect things that are happening in real life. I guess it depends on who it is. Will seems like the best choice because of Sami but they would need to recast. I don't think it should be someone like Shawn or Philip but I am willing to watch this unfold.

I also don't think that is why Farah, Jason, and Kyle left. It is well known that Jason wanted to leave a year ago but only stayed to play out Shimi. Farah said when she signed her contract that she would only stay until 2008 at most and Kyle was not happpy for awhile so that part of this is ludicrous.

I think the whole rumor is ridiculous and nothing to it. Hogan doesn't need that sort of shock value which is controversial and likely to tune viewers out than bring in viewers, this one viewer would not turn the TV on for that.

As stated by PR above, Kyle, Farah and Jason had made their plans to leave and had nothing to do with this rumor. In fact, I've read that Farah could stay even if the tune is right.

Wow. Days is one of the hottest soaps. Its my #1. and if they did do that i think id turn off Days forever. Or at least for a few years. Yes it happens in real life .. but dont put it on a soap. The ratings would go down. I think with Hogan its suposed to be happy stuff now. And who does he plan for the rapes?

Why does everything have to be happy? Not everything is happy in real life and I thought that is what people want soaps, specifically Days, to reflect? I do think the couples deserve happiness but this has nothing to do with the couples unless they are the parent or family of the victim. I know fans want escapism but this is a drama and if everything was happy there would be no drama. This is a serious issue and could turn out to be a phenomenal story. This is the kind of risks Days should and needs to take at times. It needs some mainstream buzz to garner some attention to raise ratings. It's not shock and awe but there needs to be more buzz to get Days going outside of soap fans and with general viewers. This is not a JER risk. This is actually being done to further characters along and I have every confidence Hogan and co will display it in a very respectful light. Under JER, I would turn this down right off the bat but this is not his story. Days usually does pretty bad with stuff like this but under Hogan this could work. I am willing to try. It's controversial but it's something I think that is worthy of attention and that should be played at some point.

I don't think this will kill ratings. Maybe some fans will tune out but not the ones that matter to HH and demos. I don't see that happening. I am not sure this will be played out right now but I do think it could be at some point once Hogan is entrenched and has Days where he wants it.

I had heard that too. I have discussed this on my board with some other fans too. Some have that opinion of the story that Ben escaped being raped too. I know that some remember it like I did that even though it was not shown that you know what happened. I guess thinking now years later, it was best to leave it like that and not discuss it much.

This is what Jon said about it on danfling's soap opera message board:

Ben was dating sweet Betsy Crawford, and Meg (surprisingly) wholeheartedly approved of the union. Usually in these cases the nasty mother loathes her son's girlfriend, but Meg thought that Bets would be a good influence on Ben, and he needed it. Ben had been married to the acid-tongued Arlene and kept it secret. He ended up marrying Betsy to get his hands on Meg's millions. Eventually, the scheme came out, and he and Arlene were charged with bigamy and fraud. Bets was preggers with Ben's child by this point, and he decided to plead guilty to his crimes and forego a trial because of all the pain it would cause. While Arlene got off with probation, Ben was sentenced to about three years in prison.

Now this was the point where Chris Reeve didn't renew his contract with the soap. When Ben was sentenced, he was ordered to leave immediately for prison, which is the last we saw of Christopher Reeve. Ben was completely out of the story for about six months. After Betsy had her baby, she was going to call and tell Ben, but the phone lines were down or something, and other times characters received letters from him, but Ben wasn't shown on camera.

While Ben was gone, Betsy started getting close with Jamie Rollins. Di had found God and ran off to be a missionary in Africa or someplace. There was a scene where Betsy lamented to Jamie that Ben had only seen little Suzanne in pictures. The camera closed in on a photograph she was holding of the child, and when it pulled back out, the same photo was in the hand of a man lying on a cot in a prison cell. Then announcer Ken Roberts said in voiceover, "The part of Ben Harper is now being played by Chandler Hill Harben." This was in November 1976.

Instantly, we saw that Ben was being verbally and physically abused by a couple of roughneck inmates. The leader was Duke, and he had it in for Ben because he was a "pretty boy" in for bigamy instead of a hard crime. Ben took the abuse without reporting it, but the violence escalated. This was all very subtle. The script never said anything about the possibility of Ben taking it up the bum, but Duke kept muttering coy comments about how he was "gonna teach Pretty Boy the ropes". It was obvious that they were planning a sexual assault. This really only lasted a few weeks. It ended with them grabbing Ben. He fought back, but couldn't hold up against the two of them. He was forced to the ground at knife point, with Duke on top of him, as the scene faded out. Meanwhile a fire had broken out, and there was smoke and alarms going off. One of the guards who had been kind to Ben collapsed while freeing the prisoners. The next thing we saw was Ben rescuing him, and then Ben pulled Duke to safety. Because of Ben's heroism, the warden petitioned to get him an early release, though if I remember correctly, he was up for parole after only a year anyway.

There are much more worthwhile stories to be told. Even original ones that would actually be impressive and exciting and enlightening. Leave the ugly stuff to documentaries.

Soaps are supposed to reflect on real life. I'm not saying people like it, but no one has a problem when women are raped by men. When that happens, the writer is telling a "good story". There are men out there who have been violated by other men. I think DAYS would cross a milestone if they persued this storyline. And if told right (with Hogan at the helms, it will be), this could be a landmark in Daytime history that people will be talking about for years to come. GO AHEAD HOGAN!

I think it's silly to talk about this as in depth as we're talking about it until we get some type of confirmation. This is a contraversial issue, and it seems silly to discuss it in detail if it's not going to happen.

I don't think it's silly at all. It's a controversial topic that COULD happen on a soap one day. We are only expressing our opinions right now.

Im not oppossed to this story at all. With Hogan at least we are somewhat assured it would be done correctly and not for the wrong reasons.

As a viewer, I am open to almost anything Hogan wants to write!

However, DAYS DOES need to be careful, REALLY careful with something like this!

There are much more worthwhile stories to be told. Even original ones that would actually be impressive and exciting and enlightening. Leave the ugly stuff to documentaries.

It may be ugly, but it's reality. And frankly, reality would be nice to see on soaps.

why not just a gay storyline?

I've been following all of this and just wanted to make one other comment. Someone (don't remember who now) made the comment that Alan would never rape Will because Alan was not gay. Then the last comment about why not a gay storyline - just made me want to make a comment from when I studied rape as part of my Social Work and Psychology classes in college.

For a show to do a male/male rape story effectively and right they need to remember that male on male rape is hardly about sexual attraction. In prison it is more of a need that has to be met, and more about power in most instances. Most of the guys in prison just use it for a sexual outlet, but still find it disgusting for the most part. Also it gives them a sense of power over another individual and establishes them as a leader in a male dominated society. It is also a way to shame another male or an enemy.

Outside of prison it is still much the same way. It is hardly ever about sexual attraction. It is more about power and humiliation. So Alan would not have to be gay to rape Will. At the same time many in the straight community have the idea that if a guy can do that, he has to be gay. But male/male rape is almost always the same as male/female rape and only about domination and power.

I think a male/male rape storyline should be told - if told and written effectively. But it would not be an ongoing story except for the lead up, and the after affects watching the outcome of it all.

A gay storyline should be told too. We need a good one. I think the Luke one on ATWT is proceeding okay. I have some complaints but I think for a teenage coming out story it is being told okay. I would like to see an adult one handled nicely complete with a love affair and all.