GH: Great article about the rape storyline

[Cheap21]

http://serialdrama.typepad.com/serial_dram...owrunner-s.html

GH Showrunner Speaks Out on Controversial Storyline

Los Angeles, CA -- Sources reported strange noises coming from offices at General Hospital several times this week. But fears of foul play were put to rest when executive producer Jill Farren Phelps clarified that the sounds were merely the show's writing team scraping the bottom of the barrel.

"Bob Guza and his fellow writers have definitely sunk pretty low before -- you have to when you've made the mafia the moral core of your show -- but this week they really stretched and I'm proud to say I think we really did reach the bottom. We found ourselves in a bit of a predicament, because after the character of Jax was beaten, threatened, and coerced into having sex with a lunatic character that we had little reason to bring onto the canvas other than to perpetuate all kinds of disturbing crimes against one of our few remaining non-mob leading men, the fallout from that story threatened not to center around Carly, Sonny, or Jason. So we put our minds to it and figured out that the best approach would be to make Jax being a sexual assault victim be all about Carly, and blame him for having been brutalized. It was an inspired choice, if I do say so myself. And as a woman, I'm especially proud to have been at the helm of ABC Daytime's flagship soap during this time, overseeing such groundbreaking storytelling.

But it wasn't easy; we really had to work to get things just right. First, we had Carly start referring to the assault as infidelity, and comparing it to when her ex actually did cheat on her. Bob and his team wrote some great dialogue, like "My husband slept with another woman. Something I came to expect from Sonny. Not from Jax." There's really a lot of layers to this brilliant writing. Among other things, this way we killed two birds with one stone because we not only made clear that Carly is the victim here, we also put Sonny -- who is a professional criminal and orders people killed as part of his "job," and who cheated on Carly -- on the same moral plane with Jax, a legitimate businessman, who still bore the marks of being repeatedly assaulted, including bruises that look like he got hit in the face with a 50-pound sandbag while wearing a steel Lone Ranger mask.

And, because a focus group in 1997 concluded that Steve Burton is really good-looking, we don't go a day without a few Jason scenes. So we had Carly confide in Jason about her victimization. She told Jason that Jax, by "sleeping with" Irina, "failed [her]," and Jason agreed. Bob also wanted to lighten things up a bit by throwing a little humor in, so he had Jason and Carly giggle at the idea that Jax could have been forced into having sex with Irina.

That really amplified the hilarious nature of Jax's violation -- oops, I mean of Jax's violation of his and Carly's relationship, because Jax wasn't violated, of course. And then we had Jason -- who kills other human beings for profit and impregnated a married woman and then lied about it for months to his fiancée -- chastise Jax for his moral lapse: "You slept around on her!" We're really pleased that the story has so many layers and that so many of our core characters have been able to get involved with the fallout from Jax's betrayal of Carly.

Making Carly seem like even more of a self-obsessed, shrill, entitled harpy than ever was a top priority for us, so I'm thrilled with our success on that front as well. Our well-tested theory about what the mostly female audience of soaps wants includes that women love watching one-dimensionally awful characters become the centerpieces of their favorite shows, especially if those characters are women. Viewers particularly like it when we appear to be having a contest to see which character we can run into the ground faster. Currently, it's a battle among Liz, Sam, and Carly, but I'm confident with this story we'll put Carly ahead for good. Worst is best! That's a motto that has been working out really well for us over the last decade or so.

One of the best things about this whole storyline is that it was conceived of as a redemption arc for Jerry, Jax's brother. We needed to redeem him after we brought him back as a blond English sociopath, so we had him rescue Jax . . . by shooting the love of his life in the back and then rather gleefully dumping her body into the open ocean after stuffing her corpse into a body bag. Since Irina was bad and therefore deserved to be killed, there's no moral ambiguity necessary for the Jerry character. It was really moving stuff. I couldn't be prouder of Bob and his team. Well, if they had incorporated a tarp in some way, maybe I could be, but I'm happy with the results nonetheless. We're confident that Jerry is now a hero in the eyes of the audience, and if we can just find a way for him to routinely interact with Sonny and Jason, I think he can replace at least three characters on the canvas -- probably a doctor, a nurse, and a cop.

We've been focusing on getting the word out about Bob and his crew's fantastic work these past few weeks: marketing this story alongside others that involve actual infidelity in a promo called "Ultimate Betrayal" that we've been running ad nauseum on SoapNet, and sending an email to our whole list explaining how Carly was wronged. We think the juxtaposition of Jax's situation with cases in which married or committed people had sex outside their relationships purely by choice will really make this story hit home.

We were putting the final touches on those scripts and the ad campaign this week, which is what caused those sounds that apparently created some concern. We're all fine, though -- fantastically self-satisfied and some might say deliriously happy, in fact. So we appreciate everyone's interest and hope they'll tune in during sweeps, when we'll try to create a new bottom to scrape, by exploring how domestic violence can be hilarious and sexy, and why people are really way too reactionary about forcing toddlers to walk barefoot on hot coals."

[R Sinclair]

That pretty much sums it up.

[maconrich]

Sadly it does sum it up. Mind you I don't mind the mob characters, but I think soaps would be smart to steer clear of any rape storyline period. They don't do them well and just stir up a hornets nest.

[Ryan]

JFP is a miserable [!@#$%^&*]..........

[Toups]

That was fantastic and well written. I loved all the jokes/sarcasm. LMAO

JFP and Guza are a perfect match. No wonder they've been able to get along so long. Much different from Guza and Wendy Riche who couldn't get along.

We miss you, Wendy! Please come back and save this show.

[ANDREA LOATHES REILLY]

SIMPLY MARVELOUS!

Wonderful, and I am so glad to see it in black and white.

Luza is a large sack of [!@#$%^&*]!

ANDREA

[stenbeck212]

I've been able to put Jax's rape into perspective. What else would you expect from the show that had the most watched soap wedding in history, despite the fact that the groom raped the bride?

[Tishy]

Oh. My. God.

I hate Carly more than ever

[RuAsRuAnAu]

Well, many people (especially women) think it's a bad thing when a female character gets raped. In case they didn't realize, rape is a FACT OF LIFE. Why not explore rape in all its complexities? Is it wrong for someone to want certain fictional characters to be raped?

Is it true that Frons took away a lot or a considerable amount of JFP's EP powers in 2005? For the record: I don't hate JFP & I don't pray for her death.

Weren't there ""reports" in 2005 that Guza & JFP were feuding over the direction in which to take GH with Frons being the main source of instigation?

One person never & never will "save" a TV series. It's a collaborative effort. Do you want LML & her husband to write the stories, breakdowns, and scripts for all Y&R eps?

Well, Carly's reasoning was that b/c Jax went off to "save" Jerry despite her objections, it was his fault that he ended up in the situation he was in (ie being held captive & forced to have sex with Irina) Does Jax bare some sort of "responsibilty" for being raped? Does anyone think Irina is really dead? I have this funny feeling that she's not.

[EricMontreal22]

WOw like most of current GH I completely missed this story---it sounds even more over the top than I expected...

[RuAsRuAnAu]

How often do you watch GH? How long have you been viewing GH?

[EricMontreal22]

I watch GH probably a full epsidoe every 2 months As a teen I did watch whenever I was home during the Labine era and I keep on top of the stories and know its history but it's probably my least fave soap for some reason, currently on the air (and even during the Labine area it wasn't a show I taped like AMC, my fave, OLTL and Loving/City)

[dragonflies]

I bet CH would just love this article......

Sad but true about GH, and people say the show is GOOD?

[RuAsRuAnAu]

You taped Loving AND The City but not Labine/Riche's GH? Yes, Loving was a good show, not great, but The City? Loving should have ended in 1995, not 1997. I guess diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

Which show do you think has been "good" for the past 12 months, AMC Zendall Fan? Is GH unwatchable? Is it the only one? How would you improve any show that is not considered to be "good"? I'd like to know what you think about these questions, if you have the time, of course.