OLTL: Discussion for the week July 7-11

[JackPeyton]

die starr die!!

[DeeeDee]

You won't be the only one.

[Scotty]

Hmmm....I'm just surprised you didn't blame it on the steroids.

[DeeeDee]

She's gonna slap Dorian so hard her teeth will rattle. lol

[detroitpiston]

I wish we could just one more Vicki and Dorian throw down. Their fights were one of the main reasons I'd watch OLTL when I was a kid LOL.

[rhinohide]

This is a really great post! I mean that most sincerely. I've bolded the parts that sparked me the most. And I loved your take on how they convince themselves of their superiority and why Todd brings out something in Marcie that those who see the best in her do not. Very interesting analysis and I understand everything you're saying and how you see that. You make it sound so incredibly compelling, it makes me kind of sad that these characters no longer evoke that sort of passion in me. I am just so tired of both of them individually, I can't enjoy the dynamic you are seeing, although I really do get what you're saying.

[rhinohide]

RC's writing is so deliberate I think you can expect more than one. The set up is definitely there.

[brimike]

I second that, Rhinohide... between this post, and JinxAvery's post last week about all three Lord siblings being involved in stories where they're trying desperately to be somebody they can never be (Viki in Paris, Todd with Marty, Tina in Mendorra), I'm seeing something in these threads I haven't seen on any soap board in YEARS - careful, consistent, psychological analysis. Not because we haven't wanted to go there... but because we never had a reason to.

I usually find posts like these over the last few weeks that really make my head spin - even if RC and his team haven't thought it through this deeply, the fact that fans are willing to go that distance for these characters now is wonderful, and says a whole lot. I hadn't considered that Marcie/Todd dichotomy, especially in reference to both characters feeling inferior and riddled with insecurities as teen-agers for different reasons, then taking two very differnet paths in life. And the fact that they both feel superior - WOW, I have a whole new appreciation for Todd/Marcie scenes right now.

Man, THESE are the discussions that every "high-end" soap fan should be having about EVERY soap. What I love about One Life is that it works on so many levels right now. If you're just in it for the "sleaze" and "scandal" it's got all of those majoe melodramatic soapy moments. But then if you're looking for a higher u7nderstanding, someone can throw you the Lord siblings' self-loathing, or Marcie/Todd needing to feel superior to someone because of their youths, and it's like you're watching a whole different show.

Brain is spinning. Nicely done, guys. I know I'm impressed by the posts here. :-)

[rhinohide]

I don't even like Viki and haven't for years. I've always preferred Dorian, and guess what? I can't wait for her smackdown. I am tapping my fingers in eager anticipation for whatever that will be. I love how RC has written the conflict between Dorian and Viki. They're no longer sniping at one another over petty jealousy and acting like silly cliquish teens. He's upped the ante between these two characters tremendously and driven the animus to epic proportions. Dorian has committed truly heinous criminal acts and fully deserves to be prosecuted and imprisoned, plus slapped and kicked and called bad names. But the beauty of RC's writing is that I have confidence that he's taken Dorian down this slippery slope for a reason and he has a way to redeem her in his back pocket. The only alternative is that he's writing her into a corner, but he is so deliberate and he has a purpose for EVERYTHING and as Toups pointed out he's writing years in advance. I have no idea what her redemption will be, but I remain convinced it's going to be earth shattering.

[Toups]

I know eh. What great insights and it just takes the already awesome storytelling to a whole new level - storylines with depth which we rarely now.

That was an awesome post, David Evan Smith!

[DeeeDee]

They're fun cause RC has reinvigorated Viki & are being written as equals again & he (and Robin) have done a very good job at making Dorian extremely nasty but not irredemable which will make her eventual comeuppance from everyone, especially Viki that much more fun.

[rhinohide]

It's really amazing how he's taken what is old (some call it recycling *cough*Jay*cough*) and made it nail biting drama.

[brimike]

It's me, the ol' Mike.

But DES puts my posts to shame, so by all means, I'd be honored if he took the credit.

[Toups]

Oopps...I forgot to quote DES' post......not that your post wasn't awesome too.

[DavidEvanSmith]

Thank you, and it really does amaze me. I do give a lot of the credit to Kathy Brier, because she doesn't NEED to play it so fearless around Todd, and I normally wouldn't expect her to, but she absolutely does, so it really makes me appreciate the actress more, because that's a choice that REALLY shapes her character. I will never forget the recent court battle when Todd lost Sam because of the car seat incident, and he threw a chair or something and was screaming curses and lunged into Marcie's face. The court was in an uproar, but Marcie was just sitting there, calmly, and smugly, smirking at Todd because he had once again proved what an animal he was and didn't deserve to raise a child. I wish someone could dig up a screen capture of that look on Marcie's face, it was FANTASTIC!

And thanks again! I often wonder if I'm giving the writers too much credit, if we are reading more into it than the writers have actually PUT in there, but their intent I guess doesn't really matter, it's what they're inspiring from us that matters. The fact we even WANT to go into these characters heads is the testament.

I was writing a "Parallel GH" fiction for a long while on a message board and it had a pretty good, consistent response, and my regular readers would constantly be giving me feedback about the characters and motivations and sometimes found a beauty to the story or a theme that I hadn't considered or intended, but that was eye-opening and so I started writing more into that.

That's why it kills me when I can tell someone I watch soaps and they have that laugh of a reaction about how shows are so bad and they REALLY haven't sat and watched a show for any length of time to have the appreciation that most of us have for it. And it's watching it over time and reading into the characters that allow us to appreciate it so well.

Good to be among others who like going to that psychological level with these characters!