All black characters have the same fate.

Exactly.

It's not so much her character's personality that I don't like, it's more her function. Kind of like how I felt about Aiden on AMC, "Hm, why are you still here? Well aren't you lucky..." And that's no fault of the actor, it's just frustration with the character born out of a larger frustration with TPTB who inexplicably waste yet hold onto certain characters, while easily ridding themselves of others. Like, why can't Layla do all of the crazy fun stuff that Kim got to do? I know she's a different character and all, but they could use her better. And with the Fish thing, to me it felt like she was just a tool in that storyline, like they pulled her down from off the shelf and used her to move along Fish's story without focusing enough on her side of that particular situation. And maybe that's what a good supporting player is for, I don't know. I'll admit that I'm a little racially sensitive to the whole situation, I might as well just put that out there, I felt like her race was used to drive home the point of tolerance and acceptance. I'm digressing, but all in all, I would enjoy Layla a lot more if they gave her meatier material AND if she had more family around. Maybe it'll be good if she's paired with Greg then, perhaps we'll at least get some great tension-filled sit down dinner scenes with the Evanses and the Williamses, Janet Hubert can come back and everything.

Yep.

That would involve writing something interesting for a black character.

WITCHCRAFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WITCHCRAFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

+1

So does this mean Rex/Gigi/Brody? I hope not.

Layla - David? Why not? He's almost never around. The writers wouldn't have to write for Layla any more than they do now. She could pop up whenever he returns to town.

Edited March 1, 201015 yr by NorrthCafe

Leia, I like you but I have to call you on this. IMO there is no "elite" or "modern soap fan" and that suggests a dangerous divide which I don't agree with. The unspoken implication in there, intentional or not, is "those old soap fans just shun fun characters like Layla because they're sticks in the mud obsessed with lineage and core families." It's condescending and it's not so. The fact is soaps have always been elevating minor or supporting players, many of them "gossips" or "talk-tos" like Layla or outright antagonists, for at least thirty years, and fans have been loving it. It started with characters like Wanda Webb or Phoebe Tyler or Marco Dane (a pimp!) or Bobbie Spencer (initially just a mischief-maker in Port Charles) and Luke, and it's grown from there; anybody can be put on contract, anybody can go anywhere story-wise regardless of things like socioeconomic background or their function on the canvas (be it as a gossip or a heroine) or their personality. Brenda Barrett was once just Julia's bratty sister making trouble for Jagger. Rachel Davis went from town schemer disrupting the Tony/Pat supercouple to the queen of Bay City; Reva was Billy's nagging vixen wife, a thorn in Vanessa's side, before she owned Guiding Light.

Nor do you have to be grayhaired and crocheting, watching soaps for forty years to prefer Rachel's presence to Layla. I personally like them both a lot but value Rachel more; however, I have only been watching OLTL regularly since the early '90s and I am in my 20s. By most network standards and given my gender (male, a demo ABC continues to strive for) I would likely be considered a "modern fan," yet your definition seems to label me something that sounds suspiciously like an elitist because I prefer Rachel to Layla? I think not. Whether people want to see more of either Rachel or Layla, I'm not going to fit them into a tiny box that says one fan is ready for the future and one is not, because that's just not so. I'm all for daytime branching out and taking risks and upsetting the apple cart, as long as the writing and the characters (and the shows) are there. And characters like Layla have been around forever, and many of them have blown up into larger roles just as she has; like Sumpter, they did it because of popularity and audience interest, which in her case grew from her stellar work last summer. OLTL (or any soap) is perfectly capable of seeing its way through to a future which accommodates both a newer character like Layla and an older one like Rachel, and both are "modern"; the only problem is that ABC does not know how to accommodate two black women of the same age group on the same show.

I hate to say it, but are the black characters really necessary? The show revolves around the Lords, Cramers, and Buchanans. It is impossible to take a character like Layla and make her on par with Dorian, or even Marty. Layla, Greg, Destiny, etc. aren't connected to the core characters and families we love. Better to lose all the black characters than one Robin Strasser or Erika Slezak. And please don't accuse me of being racist because I'm not.

I hate to say it, but are the black characters really necessary? The show revolves around the Lords, Cramers, and Buchanans. It is impossible to take a character like Layla and make her on par with Dorian, or even Marty. Layla, Greg, Destiny, etc. aren't connected to the core characters and families we love. Better to lose all the black characters than one Robin Strasser or Erika Slezak. And please don't accuse me of being racist because I'm not.

I think it's good to have diversity but the only thing I agree with kind of is that they're not really tied to anyone, which makes them scream "token black person" (like Epiphany on GH), which is almost worse than having them on the show at all. What's weird is they got rid of Rachel and she had the MOST ties and potential. Baffling.

I hate to say it, but are the black characters really necessary?

Why don't we ask Agnes Nixon?

OLTL (or any soap) is perfectly capable of seeing its way through to a future which accommodates both a newer character like Layla and an older one like Rachel, and both are "modern";

They never will.

Daytime uses minorities as tokens for meaningless diversity accolades & as props to move stories for their White peers.

the only problem is that ABC does not know how to accommodate two black women of the same age group on the same show.

It's not that they don't know.

It's that they don't CARE.

Layla, Greg, Destiny, etc. aren't connected to the core characters and families we love.

Neither is Fish yet he's about the center of the entire show.

It's not that they don't know.

It's that they don't CARE.

You're right, ABC doesn't care. But that's why both statements were part of the same sentence. There's nothing holding soaps back from accommodating these characters other than the network philosophy.

And no, Oliver is not the center of the show and this is a toxic argument I am not going to even begin to have.

Edited March 1, 201015 yr by Vee

Neither is Fish yet he's about the center of the entire show.

That's a little extreme.

You're right, ABC doesn't care.

Neither does CBS, so you're not alone.

And no, Oliver is not the center of the show and this is a toxic argument I am not going to even begin to have.

How is it toxic?

ESPECIALLY since it wasn't a negative statement.

Their point was that Layla, Greg, etc weren't viable because they weren't connected to core families.

Which isn't true since Fish isn't either yet he's heavily involved in most stories.

Edited March 1, 201015 yr by DeeeDee

That's a little extreme.

How so?

He works with Bo, John & Brody, he's in a relationship with Kyle, he's Sierra's father & he lives with Cris/Layla/Ford.

You don't get much more interconnected than that.

How is it toxic?

ESPECIALLY since it wasn't a negative statement.

Their point was that Layla, Greg, etc weren't viable because they weren't connected to core families.

Which isn't true since Fish isn't either yet he's heavily involved in most stories.

I didn't say Layla, Greg, etc. weren't viable, and I don't agree with the other poster that they aren't. As for using Fish to rebut that, fair enough. But I don't blame Fish for how ABC treats its black characters, and I would not want to rob Peter to pay Paul.

I didn't say Layla, Greg, etc. weren't viable, and I don't agree with the other poster that they aren't.

I KNOW YOU DIDN'T & THAT YOU DON'T.

But I don't blame Fish for how ABC treats its black characters

I'm not either.

What I'm saying & always have is that it shouldn't be an either or choice.

Edited March 1, 201015 yr by DeeeDee