Members DRW50 Posted February 9, 2011 Members Share Posted February 9, 2011 I don't think there will ever be anything openly gay on OLTL again. I think that Ron might have very well told a story about a gay teenager at this time a few years ago but that would not be allowed now. As for Todd's reaction to Jack being gay - he would shed a few tears of shame and curl up in the corner, as we were told that it's Blair's fault for being too protective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted February 9, 2011 Members Share Posted February 9, 2011 Better yet, they'd probably make Blair the intolerant one and have Todd rattle off swoon-worthy[/sarcasm] one-liners like, "So my kid's a stocking stuffer, big deal, he'll still kick yer ass. I said kick." ( ) 50 years from now when OLTL goes off the air, I'd be interested in reading RC's candid account of what this time was like for him, just what TPTB mandated (<--pun?) in terms of the writing of gay characters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vee Posted February 9, 2011 Members Share Posted February 9, 2011 I like the concept. We'll see how it works in practice. I do think they need to go hard at it in terms of the actual ramifications (suicide attempt, etc). And I think Austin Williams can handle it. His performance the other week - just on the edge of hysteria - was incredible and not something I thought he could do. It was hard to watch it was so real, and pitiful. What I would do down the road is still groom my pet idea and have Jack turn out to be bi and patch things up and be unlikely friends with Shane. Maybe they want the same girl, but maybe he also kind of wants Shane too but never has him and gets with someone else. That kind of fluidity is all too prevalent with kids today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan Chamberlain Posted February 10, 2011 Members Share Posted February 10, 2011 This storyline just bores the hell out of me. I mean, picking on Shane because he has asthma? Seriously Ron, Seriously. If this storyline was done right. Such as having Shane be bullied because he's gay, or because he doesn't do drugs or get all the chicks under the bleachers during half-time at the homecoming game. I could get it. I was bullied myself during school for hanging around with the artsy crowd instead of being a 'popular' kid. But, done like this. I have no empathy. I just think it's silly to bother Shane for something as trivial as having a breathing disorder. Also, the fact that this storyline is what pushed Carmen LaPorto out as Jack pisses me off too. So, still kinda bitter about that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted February 10, 2011 Members Share Posted February 10, 2011 They were probably waiting to get rid of LaPorto anyway - he only showed up a few times a year for stilted one-liners. I have seen kids torment other kids over anything so in some ways this works for me, but I think it looks kind of bad coming on the heels of the big push last year with the way Kish were dumped and trashed in the press, and it also reminds me of other bullying stories which were ludicrous, like Matthew, heir to a huge wealthy family and son of the police commissioner, being bullied. Now they're saying that Shane is being bullied because he's poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vee Posted February 10, 2011 Members Share Posted February 10, 2011 I was bullied in school at Shane's age - never to that extent, never to the point where I harmed myself or was in the kind of agony he appears to be facing, but on a regular basis - for a relatively minor handicap. It doesn't take much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scotty Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 I am cautiously optimistic that the writers will not screw this storyline up. I personally would like to seem them write it so that Shane experiments with self-injury....I think that would add depth to the storyline and make it more realistic. It is something I know a little about myself, and believe me, it can be scary... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members All My Shadows Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 I think the thing that leaves me feeling unimpressed about the whole thing is that something like this, the bullying and any type of effect the bullying will have on Shane, happens so gradually and over so much time. It's not the type a pre-packaged storyline where all you have to go is let it boil on the front burner for a month or two. If they let it build very slowly over a year or year and a half, then the big climax would be so effective. In most cases of teen suicides related to bullying, the bullying is rarely the only factor, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dragonflies Posted February 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 I don't see letting it go for over a year will have as much impact. People will lose interest in it in a few months if they did that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members All My Shadows Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 Which is why it would never work. The key would be to have the characters doing other things while this is going on. Not a year's worth of scenes where Jack is hurling these awful asthma-related slurs at Shane, but short scenes every now and then, then when it all blows up, viewers connect the dots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 But the show's already got one Cutter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Saving ATWT Posted February 15, 2011 Members Share Posted February 15, 2011 No, that would seriously suck. The kid is too cute to die. Also, Clint would have a victory party considering he never wanted Rex and thus, by default, Shane. Just thought of the Lamest Storyline Ever: Clint is paying mini-Manning to bully Shame to protect BE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ian Posted February 16, 2011 Members Share Posted February 16, 2011 Also, if Jack turned out to be gay we'd have to sit for a year and hear Blair screech: TAWD MAH BOYY AINT GAII Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dragonflies Posted February 16, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 16, 2011 OLTL Tackles Bullying — By Gabrielle Winkel More will be revealed in a few weeks, but the recent scenes of ONE LIFE TO LIVE's Shane being bullied on his computer are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the beginning of the groundbreaking story. — ABC OLTL has worked closely with Ross Ellis, founder and chief executive officer of Love Our Children USA and STOMP Out Bullying. Ellis recently spoke with Soap Opera Weekly about the tragic national trend. Ellis explains that bullying behavior is often learned at home. Children watch how their parents interact with other people. Rage at the delivery man is noted; so is slamming the phone on the cable company. "It's usually learned behavior, although not all the time," adds Ellis, "because sometimes, kids just need to feel empowered, or they're being picked on, or they see other kids are doing it, or they want to be liked — or whatever, but most of the time, it comes from home." The statistics are shocking. One that was particularly eye-opening: One out of four teens are bullied. Let's repeat that: one out of four! Some teens are both bully and bullied. It's a vicious cycle of mean. "Kids will pretty much bully for any reason," adds Ellis. "They need to understand how it is so painful to someone, and what it does. That doesn't mean they're going to stop, because it takes a whole lot of work. If you ask a kid, 'Why do you bully?' they may say, 'Well, it makes me feel stronger, smarter and better than the person I'm bullying,' or, 'I'm bullied at home,' or, 'I want to hang out with the right crowd. I see other guys doing it.'" For more on this story, pick up the March 1 issue of Weekly. http://www.soapopera...ckles_bullying/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.