GH: November Discussion Thread

[Ann_SS]

Guza has got to be a creep in real life. It is the only explanation. No normal guy would think that this dialogue is seductive. Most women would run for the hills if a guy used those lines, same goes for the other GH men. There is nothing seductive about Sonny, Jason, Nikolas or Patrick.

I was thrilled that Maxie screwed Franco. I felt the dagger going straight into Spinelli's little heart. I have no hope that this ends Maxie and Spinelli, but I love that she has smashed him into little pieces.

Sam enabling Jason killing people was so pathetic. He is a black hole of suck.

[EricMontreal22]

OK I admit, I've given into the hype (well and I've been an off and on Franco fan since Freaks and Geeks and James Dean) and have been watching since Friday. Unless I get super busy I can see myself watching for all of Franco's run--he's not great but I like seeing him and the show seems easy enough to follow while I do my work at home or whatever.

As an AMC fan who has been very mixed about Pratt's era on the show though wow, anyone who claims AMC under him has been misogynistic hasn't watched GH in the last three days. I haven't watched GH regularly since the Labines era, and I've never been a big fan I admit--unlike the other ABC soaps or any soap excepting Days (which I've never gotten into) GH has just never really grabbed me even at its best. That said, are these last three days indicative of what GH has become? Cuz man I didn't know it was THIS mob obsessed--I knew it was heavy with violence and mobsters but this seems to make every storyline revolve around it. Is this just cuz it is the focus of Franco's story or is this par for course for the show?

As for misogyny, so the blonde who slept with Franco, and whose boyfriend already is my least liked character in all of current soapdom (the kid who is meant to talk like a dungeons and dragons fan or something) is meant to be a likeable character? She cheated on some guy she almost married (as obnoxious and unattractive as he may be) to sleep with Franco after he basically talked down to her and cajoled her into doing s, just... because? Franco is dreamy but he also was creepy, obnoxious and rude--am I missing something? This makes the way AMC has their women sleep around look in comparison completely realistic and feminist.

I LOVED Tracey Q on The City (and have tuned into GH when I see her, just for her) but I'm guessing the 2 minutes we got with her in the past three episodes are typical for her.

Does this show always take place at night? Production wise the sets look better and somehow worse than their NYC ABC soap counterparts--they look all a bit too gloomy and samey though the construction is better I think. I trust and hope AMC won't go all literally dark when it moves coasts.

[EricMontreal22]

Ugh so that's SPinelli? Is he meant to be likeable? He makes Petey on AMC look like a Sheakespearian hero in comparison (actually I likePetey in small doses--this guy I just can't stand)

And yeah that line left such a bad taste in my mouth--ugh. And it led to her sleeping with him?

Again comparing it to the mess that AMC is, where every bad action is enabled and explained away the Sam being ok with Jason killing people was beyond bizarre and poorly done. I couldn't believe they expected people to watch and go along with it.

"

And I liked Spinelli's interpretation of Franco's posed-body art. It was a little like the writers telling us what they're trying to do with the vilence on the show..."

Well I'm not buying it if they explain the actions away as justified...

[Faulkner]

I don't either, but this is such typical GH. I can be entertained and even moved by GH, but I can't stomach to watch for any sustained length of time because of this twisted, amoral bullsh!t. But Guza is so smarter-than-thou, thinking he's being clever, un-daytime, and oh-so-HBO by "challenging our ideas of what heroism is." This has really become a daytime-wide problem over the past decade, with Y&R even joining the fun, but GH takes it to a whole new sickening level.

[DRW50]

That's the thing with GH. They are so very, very proud of themselves for how "avant garde" they are. Never mind that this material has been DONE TO DEATH for many, many, many, many years, and has been done better. We can always find a way to gaze into our navels and find some sort of brilliant art in this detritus. There is no art. There's nothing special or meaningful. This is truly what they believe.

We get it. Women are whores. Cops are losers. Vets are psychos.

It's just a pathetic schoolboy delusion, someone who does not fit in trying their best to seem so very special.

At least the "we hate authority" movies in the '60s were usually honest in their bitterness.

[EricMontreal22]

The thing is you can't "challenge the ideas of what heroism is" 24/7 on a day to day soap lol I dunno, I'm not being very clear but it's the wrong kind of venue for that--I'm fine with maybe a couple of grey characters--in fact I welcome it but from what I've seen this is too much (I honestly thought people were exagerating about GH before...)

Love the Manics BTW

[quartermainefan]

I am really digging the Franco story. JF is a good actor and whatever it is he does he makes his character work as a realistic guy who is a total fake. Nothing he says is believable but then again it is clear he doesn't mean what he says. He does have an air of menace and that's where Kirsten Storms comes in. She is so tiny and plays the ditz so well, you sort of see she is always this close to being murdered. When Franco was wrapping the scarf around her neck it would have fit perfectly to tie it into a pretty bow and say "let me take you home" or to choke the life out of her for a photo. Since it could have gone either way and been believable, I think credit goes to JF mostly.

Maxie would cheat on her boyfriend, this is not out of character. She can be seduced and manipulated by the lure of a famous and handsome glamorous boyfriend, and she sabotage her own relationship sooner or later.

I sort of figured it out that this story is basically one huge episode of BATMAN and JF is playing The Riddler, Joker or a new villain "The Artist". Like the Bat-villains, he comes to town and commits crimes based around a single theme ( The Penguin used umbrelllas and birds but in this case JF has his photos and canvas of death), and leaves clues to try and outwit the hero. Jason is Batman, Spin is Robin (with his own Batcomputer) and Sam by default becomes Batgirl. They will be baffled by the villain until it is time to defeat him. It dawned on me watching Jason and Spin race home to check the laptop that this could have easily been Bruce and Dick racing to the Batcave and the Batcomputer. It's a simple formula, it works, and probably people should just view this as a throwback to old movie serials.

[Ann_SS]

Welcome to GH and its mob violence glory. Where the mob characters and their associates get 80% of the airtime and misogyny rules. Jason rationalizing killing people and men demeaning women is the same ole, same ole around these here parts. Sonny and Jason who are mobsters and murderers are the good guys.

The show doesn't always take place at night, but it has been quite dark the last few months. I thought it was because they adjusted the lighting for HD and I have a regular tv.

[JackPeyton]

maxie <3

james franco on gh <3

the franco char <3

maxie & franco <3

maxie cheating on spinelli <3

the rest of this show... ugh.

tho i do like liz/nik sexxx!

[Cat]

I wonder what TIIC are going to make of the reviews of non-regular-soap-watchers on Franco's stint? TPTB have pushed MobMobMob front-and-center (and Franco is in the eye of that storm) as a way of promoting the "best" that the show has to offer. Unfortunately, people out there are pissing themselves laughing at Steve Burton and Mo Benard's acting.

It underlines how deluded and schizophrenic Frons, JFP and Guza are. They promote their GH pets in the soap world so hard that they start believing the hype. And then the outside world intrudes and tells them "Actually, you really are just a tacky Sopranos knock-off without the intelligence or good bits." And so TIIC get down on themselves and treat their show (and the viewers) like worthless crap. Then Sweeps or somebody's Emmy reel comes along and these idiot blowhards announce that "This is the best acting since Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire"... And the cycle continues.

That old truism about Daytime viewers being like battered wives who can't leave their abusive partners seems pertinent here. At least for me. I can't get enough of The Franco right now even though Guza's misogynistic nonsense is aneurism-inducing. Sometimes I wonder if Guza purposely writes the characters like this just to toy with us. I remember in an interview a few years ago, he referred to Carly as a psychopath or sociopath. I had just assumed he thought Carly was the most Awesomest Awesome that ever lived. Perhaps Bob hates our "fearless heroes" just as much as we do.

[Cheap21]

just saw Mondays show and Maxie is such an idiot. Why the heck did she get in a car with some guy she didnt know and let him put blindfold her?

[JackPeyton]

because he dragged her out of the party.

he told her they were going to a bar or something.

she went because she needs him for an ad in the magazine. her job is on the line and she does whats needed.

she is also attracted to him. she didnt just let him blindfold her, she was against it. but then went with it.

[EricMontreal22]

LOL you haven't convinced me JP

[JackPeyton]

im not saying it wasnt stupid, it was.

but they did at least give a reason for it. weak reasons, but still reasons.

However if James Franco came up to me and wanted me to go somewhere with him he could blindfold me and... well... i wouldnt say no.

[Ann_SS]

I bet that Frons, JFP and Guza are orgasmic. They think that GH is the bestest soap ever. They believe that now that people know that GH is not about the hospital and that .revolves around the mob featuring Jason and Sonny that they will tune in. I love the critics ridiculing GH. It is great to hear the media say the things that the soap media is too afraid to say. It is also obvious that JF is mocking the crappy dialogue and bad actingin his scenes and I am loving that.

Doesn't matter why. I am glad that she did and that she had sex with Franco. Can't wait for Spinelli to find out. This has been the best thing to happen in GH in forever.