OLTL: Discussion for the week January 11

[DRW50]

Just look at the Buddhist story as his penance.

[Cheap21]

Another missed oppurtunity

Today's show was incredibly boring. Only thing that saved it was Ford's hot body

[Vee]

Greg/Rachel aren't going to get DD any real stories, and that's because of TT and Chairgate. I applaud OLTL for having a AA couple and I think that's important; while interracial love stories are so important as well, it's hard to find any soap outside of Angie/Jesse or Y&R's heyday that really invested in an all-black couple. I do think Sky and Rachel have more possibilities. I think if Greg and Rachel was going to get a real shot they would have to recast after Chairgate made Greg a laughing stock, and that's a shame because I really liked TT today throwing shade at Sky (and Sky and Gigi's reactions).

I loved Gigi saying "Stacy's in trouble? Must be Thursday." It's that kind of dry wit FF has that still makes me like the character.

I love the new hospital canvas with Greg, Kyle, Sky. Now all they have to do is use it.

Blair and Elijah were still hot. I like that other people got to have consensual sex in Todd's Rapehaus.

I'd heard JT is family and it does show, but I also totally buy him as being in love with Langston and desiring her. He's a wonderful kid onscreen and off, and they've done such a nice job with Markko that I never mind that he is tertiary; I even am interested in his family.

[All My Shadows]

Mhm.

A perfect episode of OLTL for me right now would consist of Viki/Charlie/Nat/Jess/Brody, Langston/Markko/Cole/Starr (yes, even Starr!), Cris/Layla/Kyle/Oliver, and Clint/Kim/Bo/Nora, with a dose of Roxy and Ford. It's unfortunate that Dorian is involved in two shitty storylines right now.

[SFK]

I don't want to look at David's penance, or his Buddhi for that matter. wocka wocka wocka

I know folks enjoy the eye candy, but I just really don't like a character like Ford being pushed on us for that reason and that reason alone.

[DeeeDee]

Sky/Rachel aren't going to get DD any real stories.

At best she'll be a secondary player to Gex/Sky & a bed warmer/placeholder for Sky.

I don't.

There's no way Rachel would be written as anything but a second choice to Gigi or any other white female character.

Would a white character with Rachel's history be thrown at a 20 something newbie as a possible long term pairing?

For example there was no way TPTB were going to treat Marty/Wes or Blair/Chad as anything more than flings.

Or TPTB could actually just invest in Terrell & G/R & give him time to improve.

TPTB keep trying their best to ruin Blair but Kassie won't have it.

She made Blair/Ross work & she's doing it again with Blair/Elijah.

The best thing about JT is how he stays in the moment unlike BB who deadpans almost everything.

JT does a great job at making Markko earnest & down to earth without being sappy.

[DeeeDee]

Yes!

I HATE Nat being shoved back at John.

I would MUCH rather Nat/Jess/Brody team up against Mitch with Jess being the strong twin for once & Brody really bonding with Nat.

[Vee]

I disagree.

Let's ask Emily Stewart. Or any number of white women on AMC or GH in the last ten years.

But the problem is, the larger audience doesn't care about any of that. All they do is load up the YouTube clip of Chairgate and laugh their asses off. They're not going to care about the Greg Evans Re-Dignity Tour. In the meantime what happens to Rachel, who's far more important to the canvas? At least Sky is popular with the audience and Sky and Rachel have always had some buzz.

If it was just a matter of doing what was right versus what was popular or expedient, I'd say give TT time to improve, give them another story, and then, down the road toy with Sky. But this is ABC Daytime. If a black character does not hit the first two or three times they are done and under Frons, that's the kind of danger zone Rachel will end up in if she sticks with Greg forever. It's hard to say but I also think it's true.

[DeeeDee]

Rachel is a character with a TON of history that should be regularly interacting with her peers Kevin, Todd, Marty, Blair, Kelly, etc.

Instead for the past few months she's been stuck propping Tea, TNT & in an afterthought romance with Greg.

Now she's on the verge of a romance with a new character played by a talented actor that is heavily involved as a possible spoiler with a TPTB supported supercouple.

But ATWT, AMC & GH are different animals than RC's OLTL.

Goutman clearly doesn't care about ATWT & the less said about trainwrecks AMC & especially GH the better.

The larger audience NEVER cares about minority relationships & how are they when they get considerably less airtime & investment from TPTB?

If Jesse/Angie or Neil/Dru or Ed/Carla existed now they would be afterthoughts too.

And it's not like Terrell's white peers don't have their youtube moments of bad acting.

JPL himself is a highlight reel of what NOT to do as an actor & viewers regularly mock his theatrics yet there isn't a chance in the world TPTB are going to use that as a reason to marginalize the character or recast JPL with a "more talented" actor.

Rachel the character deserves better than being shoved into another afterthought romance with a white actor just to give her some buzz especially one that undercuts a potential minority relationship & emasculates another male minority character which is the last thing Daytime needs.

If making Rachel popular were important to TPTB they would invest in HER instead of pushing her at a flavor of the month character in hopes his popularity rubs off.

But the reality is that Rachel was brought back with a lot of fanfare yet TPTB didn't & don't care enough to honor the history or Daphne's skills as an actress beyond a handful of scenes.

TPTB don't see Rachel as an important character they see her as a Black character just the way they would a new minority actress & are treating her as such.

[Vee]

Yes, an actor who is going to lose that fight, which will leave his character primed for Rachel. I agree that Rachel should not be stuck shackled to Tea and Greg, but what's the problem with the latter part of the equation?

Y&R's audience sure cared about all the Winters and Barbers once upon a time. And everyone adored Angie and Jesse.

Unfortunately, at this point I don't think TT needs any help emasculating his character. He did it himself. And anything with Sky would IMO not be anywhere near the afterthought Greg is.

Rachel is popular with longtime fans already. They don't need to sell her. They just need to give her a man who the audience is interested in. It is interested in Sky; it laughs at Greg. If she was "just another black girl" they wouldn't have given her the material she's already had; she is in danger of becoming that, however, by sticking with Greg indefinitely.

It is an ugly Sophie's Choice and not something I enjoy discussing like this but it is also a reality at ABC Daytime. I want black romances to succeed, but Greg and Rachel will not. Not with Terrell Tilford, not after what happened, and ABC will not give him time and neither will the audience. If Rachel is going to continue with any strength she has to move to a position of strength; that could be Sky, it could be a recast Greg, it could be another man of color, but it can't be this. And is that unfair to Tilford, maybe, but it is a fact of life at ABC. The only question is are you willing to try and buck that horse if it loses Daphnee Duplaix. I'm not.

[Cheap21]

Rachel has ALWAYS been a boring character. I just never found her appealing or interesting. I was hoping they would take her in a new direction with the recast but I feel Daphnee was miscast as Rachel. She is better suited for a role that is more feisty as I see her more of a soap vixen look. Rachel is just too tame and lame for her talents. They probably should have cast another black actress as Rachel and had her come on as an advesary for her

[DRW50]

They don't really have feisty women on ABC soaps now. If they do, they're one-note shrews, or the life is beaten out of them soon enough.

Rachel is a woman who wants to be in control but whose demons can sometimes drag her down. She was also brought on as a contrast to highly emotional, out of control Nora, which I thought worked well with Ellen Bethea, and with DD, when they bother to put them in scenes together.

When they tried to make Rachel more hot or feisty or whatever, with Mari Morrow, I thought it was a mess.

[Vee]

I think DD is a good mix of feisty and very together. And I think they played her history the right way without demeaning her or damaging that integrity Rachel always had.

[DeeeDee]

Which makes Rachel an afterthought.

Would TPTB have allowed Marty to fall in love with Wes if John didn't want her?

No.

So why is it acceptable for Rachel?

TPTB have worked hard to establish Sky would sacrifice almost anything to be with Gigi & if TPTB weren't so stuck with TPTB mandated endgame couples maybe Sky/Gigi would have a shot but of course when he gets rejected Rachel will be needed as a placeholder until another White ingenue is created for Sky.

And times have changed.

The Barber-Winters & J/A existed at a time when writers invested in minority pairings beyond tokenism.

Jessica/Marshall, Jessica/Ben, Ben/Denise, Isaac/Bonnie, Derek/Bonnie, Justus/Dara, Taggart/Dara, Jamal/Imani, Reggie/Dani, Jessica/Doc Reese, Whitney/Chad, Neil/Karen, Frankie/Randi, Cassandra/Dre, Ben/Lien, etc are proof of that.

And JPL's pursed lips, tight shirts, skinny jeans & spirit fingers are a rousing ratification of masculinity?

Not to mention Easton's unwashed, impassive glowering or TSJ's prissy "Is this scene over yet" above it all disillusionment.

One that just happens to be White.

The fact that she "needs" a White actor to rescue her & be popular isn't a ringing endorsement to Rachel, Daphne or any minority actress & very offensive.

It's not a Sophie's Choice.

It's what TPTB & a good amount of the audience is comfortable with so action to change the status quo is neither entertained or pursued.

Terrence Howard or Forest Whitaker could be playing Greg & it wouldn't make a difference.

There will ALWAYS be excuses why minority pairings fail & why it's ok THAT they fail.

When it was Evangeline it was because she was a limited actress & the character was a Mary Sue, now it's because Terrell, Shenell & Shaun can't act.

What will it be when Daphne fails?

Maybe?

The blatant double standard that it's acceptable that White actors like TSJ, Easton & JPL are rewarded with constant frontburner status, unlimited romantic pairings & unconditional fan support while minority actors are emasculated, marginalized and/or shown the door for NOT being 100% ON at all times offensive & trying to justify it is inexcusable.

I'd MUCH rather Daphnee leave than be treated as a neo-Khalil in exchange for scant airtime.

[Cheap21]

Daphnee would make a great Taylor Roxbury Canon recast on AMC, who returns to PV and schemes her way through Frankie's marriage and steals him away from Randi