On 5/25/2026 at 10:55 PM, Vee said:

That was unheard of for a woman at that time or even now at times on soaps. And she remained that prominent. It's something else

Coming back to this, but it is interesting that Monty’s GH had very few damsels in distress or women without some agency. Laura is the only major lead I think of being repeatedly victimized during Monty’s first run, and even she has her moments from the Left Handed Boy through her kidnapping by the Cassadines. Monica, Lucy, Heather, Bobbie, Tiffany, Jackie, Holly- these are all strong women allowed to have agency. Anna and Felicia end up being vital parts of the action storylines, Anna becoming the lead character in them for a period of time.

Women across all the soaps fared better back then, which is wild to think how regressive the storytelling became. But GH and DAYS had pretty much the same DNA in the 80’s to me, and the women on DAYS were mostly second to the men and deferred to them in the danger stories. Hope as a cop comes to mind- she’s no Anna or even Felicia for that matter. Kayla and Kimberly are also mostly victims driven by the men in their stories. Marlena fares a little better, but she also suffers from the little lady waiting at home hand wringing about the danger Roman is facing.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by titan1978

I think what helps Laura in the '80s as she has a wealth of history and a real character POV. From what I've seen Luke is extremely paternalistic with her during their early whirlwind romance which would be gross even without the rape angle, but which was unfortunately just a sign of the times and how they handled those gender roles. But what sets her apart and makes it still work for is that she still has a voice and viewpoint, and more importantly she still gets into a lot of her own trouble and makes a lot of her own choices. She also unavoidably gets under Luke's skin on a primal level, and pushes that advantage a number of times when they're at odds after the Left Handed Boy. You understand she is his Achilles heel that makes him not a superman, and that she knows it. And both Tony and Genie play that angle heavily, and it's something Tony repeatedly returned to how Laura was the key to Luke's existence for decades after. Until he stopped doing that.

4 hours ago, titan1978 said:

But GH and DAYS had pretty much the same DNA in the 80’s to me

I would assume that's partly down to both of them having PFS and Thom Racina at various times, unless I'm wrong?

Analyzing Racina's past work at OLTL in 2013 was a ride, in part because he was clearly shaping up to build some sort of intricate Ice Princess-style arc with the conspiracy left over from 2011 on the network, and which was of course unfinished.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Vee