ATWT fans protest (Luke/Noah)

[SoapQueen89]

Unexpected Protest at a Soap

March 2, 2008, 12:00 AM EST

The love affair between two young men on the venerable CBS soap opera "As the World Turns" has triggered a protest campaign by angry viewers.

It's just not the sort of protest you'd expect.

Fans of the fictional romance between Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer are baffled about why the two characters haven't kissed on-screen since September, wondering whether it's a sign of squeamishness by CBS or show sponsors Procter & Gamble Co.

The fans have started a letter-writing campaign, posted an online petition and even have a Web site that counts the days, hours, minutes and seconds since Luke and Noah last locked lips.

"We totally support this show and applaud the show for doing this story line," said Roger Newcomb, a computer worker from New York's northern suburbs and the man behind the campaign. "We just don't understand why they have to be censored or treated differently."

"As the World Turns," which premiered in 1956, had the first gay male character in daytime drama in 1988. Last August was another milestone — believed to be the first time two gay men kissed on a soap — when Luke surprised Noah with the sign of affection.

They kissed again in September, at a time Noah was still coming to grips with being gay. But since officially becoming a couple, their lips have been sealed.

Fans first sensed the new attitude around Christmas, during a tender scene where the two men proclaimed their love for one another. It was clear they were about to kiss, but the camera instead panned up and focused on some mistletoe.

"I've been watching soaps for decades," Newcomb said, "and that doesn't happen."

Valentine's Day featured fantasy sequences involving several of the show's couples. All the stories ended in a kiss, except for Luke and Noah's. They hugged.

That's when the campaign started.

"There are some people who want to see sex between Luke and Noah," said 34-year-old Theresa Webber, who lives north of Boston. "I've been watching soaps long enough to know that they're a teenage couple, so it's not going to happen anyway. But for them to not kiss at all, it's a little extreme."

The soap is owned, produced and written by Procter & Gamble Productions Inc., a subsidiary of the consumer giant that makes Bounty, Crest, Pampers, Mr. Clean and Ivory soap. CBS executives consult on the series, but the creative direction is set by P&G.

There's no kissing ban, said Jeannie Tharrington, spokeswoman for Procter & Gamble Productions, although she wouldn't say what will happen in future shows. She explained the mistletoe shot as a "creative decision."

"It's always hard to please a diverse audience," Tharrington said, "and we have a diverse audience."

Webber recalls reading a handful of letters in soap opera publications after last summer's first kiss along the lines of "I don't care if Luke is gay, but I don't want to see it."

Barbara Bloom, CBS senior vice president for daytime, said there was a "minimal" negative reaction from viewers about the story line, although she couldn't define what that meant. There was apparently no organized campaign by conservative or parent advocacy groups that monitor television content.

"It's entirely new to me," said Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council. "I hadn't heard anything about it."

The American Family Association Web site has a "take-action alert" against Procter & Gamble, calling the company the "top pro-homosexual sponsor on television." The group bases its determination on the number of P&G products advertised on prime-time TV shows with gay or lesbian characters.

"As the World Turns" isn't even mentioned.

Webber and Newcomb said they've been more bothered by other things they have seen on the soap, like when a 14-year-old boy shot a man who was attacking his mother. One character is so desperate for a baby that she slept with her ex-brother-in-law, and was nearly caught having sex in an elevator. Another woman led her children and ex-husband into believing she had a brain tumor, just to get him back.

All are more offensive to her than two men kissing, Webber said.

"It's 2008," she said. "It's something that's real. If they were not going to follow through with it, they shouldn't have started it."

The story's popularity complicates matters. Some 140 scenes featuring the two actors, Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann, are posted online. The message board on Vanhansis.net gets posts from around the world. While competitors "One Life to Live" and "Days of Our Lives" have seen double-digit drops in viewership over the past year, "As the World Turns" is down only 2 percent.

The soap's producers seem to want it both ways, to get credit for having a gay couple but no backlash from long-term viewers for showing intimacy, said Carolyn Hinsey, editor of Soap Opera Weekly.

CBS' Bloom said she would like to see Luke and Noah's romance continue. "If that means there is a natural progression to the physical relationship, I would be in support of it," she said.

Tharrington laughed when asked about any behind-the-scenes debates over showing intimacy between the two men. "You wouldn't even believe," she said.

Producers are committed to telling the story of the romance, she said, adding she hoped the audience would recognize what "As the World Turns" is showing, instead of just what it isn't.

"We feel like we're doing so much right here," she said. "We're telling a story that no one else is doing. We're telling a story that has really engaged our audience."

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=303601&GT1=7703

[P.J.]

Okay, I'm just going to say it....IMO, the reporting of this protest has gone overboard. Acting as if Nuke was the only couple ever to have a kiss panned away from? GMAB.

I am more offended by portrayals of rape and murder on daytime than I am about the fact Luke and Noah aren't seen kissing. Or even the fact Katie is screwing Brad anywhere and everywhere.

[Ryan]

This is gonna get be flamed on the Nuke board but I don't care. There are more important things to protest than the lack of Luke & Noah kisses. Seriously......

[Y&RWorldTurner]

WORD

The whole show is a f-u-c-k-i-n-g mess, yet I don't see any widespread campaigns for any creative change at the show. People went into this Nuke thing with too many expectations. As I mentioned before, even before Jake Silbermann premiered on the show, some fans already had banners of him and Van proclaiming them the new "it couple" and stuff. Overall, the writing for them has been completely horrible and Noah's character development has been beyond deplorable. Yet, I don't see anyone complaining about that. All I see are people complaining that the two characters aren't sharing a kiss. GMAB! And I agree, there's so much more offensive material on the show than the two token gay characters not kissing. It infuriates me that some are willing to look pass crappy writing and execution for a damn kiss. Kissing isn't going to make a storyline any better if it already sucks.

Added to that, I've yet to see any real chemistry between Van and Jake, Jake is one of the most wooden and boring actors I've recently seen on daytime.

[P.J.]

^^^^what disappoints me more is that I floved the fact a HUGE cross-section of fans protested Scott Bryce's firing. To me, that spoke volumes about caring about the entire show and it's direction. Discussion about the double standard is important. But focusing on smacking on the lips kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it? Isn't it JUST as important that Noah and Luke express their affection, PERIOD? How would seeing Nuke go at it as often and as (allegedly) unattached as Katie and Brad be ANY better?

I admire the tenacity of Nuke's fans. I think they're right to push TIIC and calling them on their BS. TIIC are, after all, the ones who decided to start this firestorm by promising Nuke would "be like any other couple". But I can't help but think they're also guilty of focusing on the wrong message themselves.

[DeeeDee]

That's what psycho fans do. lol

[Ryan]

Big FREAKIN WORD P.J.

[SoapQueen89]

Yeah I agree with the rest of you, the focus should of been on their story and it being written as a good one rather than just the "kissing" part of their relationship. What is it they say - be careful what you wish for?

Campaigning can be a good thing but it can quickly turn around and you can end up getting the opposite of what you were originally fighting for.

Jen

[RogerNewcomb]

That's the whole point of the campaign. To point out how silly it is to cave into the AFA over a gay kiss when there is so much to be offended by on this show. The word "protest" was just a mistatement by the writer. Fans are writing in support of the storyline and getting the show tons of free publicity. This article alone appeared in more than one hundred newspapers today including the New York Times. I think for the most part this guy got it as well as the writer of the Boston Globe article. Finding out about the con call with the AFA was great reporting.

If Nuke were an African-American couple or a Hispanic couple and show show refused to show them kiss, people would be outraged. Gay people are people too. I have been interviewed by a few folks during this campaign and I have always stressed how I applaud the show for telling the story. I am just confused how Luke and Noah touching lips is more offensive to viewers than Parker shooting Sam, Emily hooking, Ali's porn career and especially anything Katie ever does.

The people who are protesting are the American Family Association, not Nuke fans. And their protests have worked. The sad thing is, they probably don't even watch the show.

[SoapQueen89]

And again, ruffling feathers over a storyline can be a good thing or it can backfire and a story be pulled altogether because of the heat applied to the network/writers/show.

Like I said .... be careful what you wish for, it can easily turn around and bite you in the ass.

Jen

[DeeeDee]

That comparison doesn't work. Race & Sexuality are two different things.

Indeed they are but the intimacy of their relationship shouldn't be tantamount to the rest of ATWT's problems especially given how much turmoil ATWT is currently in.

[JamesF]

I rarely catch anything of ATWT but I understand what the unsettlement is about. It's not a bunch of horny gay guys are salivating over the prospect of some PG rated fumbling. The fact is the couple are being treated as "other". No other couple on daytime whose relationship was their primary story would go for months with nothing but a cut away from a kiss. If the show wants to represent a gay couple, they should be treated the same way as any other couple on the show.

I understand that race and sexuality are separate but with regard to the comparative thing, it is easily comparable to the interracial romance of Duncan/Jessica. At the start, their story was predicated on the fact that their romance was not accepted by everyone in society just like Luke/Noah. The difference was (and correct me if I'm wrong) that they were able to show physical affection towards each other without the "artistic flourishes" of hanging mistletoe shots.

[dragonflies]

I agree with PJ, Y&RWorldTurner & Ryan

Personally I'd rather see the writing improve than worry about if so and so are getting to kiss or not. That is the least of the worries when it comes to ATWT IMO.

[RogerNewcomb]

Well, like I said, we are campaiging in support of something and promoting the show. It is the AFA who is protesting. So far, the protesters have gotten their way.

CBS is very much in support of the story. In every interview, Barbara Bloom has talked about the ratings spike after the Nuke storyline so whether fans want to give them any credit or not, CBS does.

[P.J.]

Roger, I respect you, but I don't believe for a moment that AFA's protests have changed the course of this story. Anyone could (and I and a lot of other people here did...) have called this from the minute the rumors of Luke's sexuality surfaced nearly two years ago.

And someone is going to have to explain to me how being down only 2% is a rise in the ratings, ostensibly attributed to Nuke. I believe that's called creative accounting.

ETA....

IA; Nuke are intimate. They discuss their feelings, they support one another. They rely on each other. If someone told me Willen only physically kissed once a month, I wouldn't be surprised. Yet I'm supposed to be up in arms because Nuke's kisses are panned away from.