Black Character Portrayals in Soaps Today

[frequentsoapfan]

Lol on Y&R they had a token lawyer and token DA in the same year. I know the DA had a name but I can't remember it because the black baord I was on would call him Black Kojak.

And at one point it seemed like every secretary at Newman was black. You know pretending the show is diverse by hiring all minority extras.

[ChitHappens]

Lawd! ATWT's treatment of black males in a span of 18 months awakens a fury inside me you wouldn't believe. I called it quits when they decided that fine ass Lahman Rucker would be a rapist. I couldn't do it anymore.

[VirginiaHamilton]

Were there even more than two (Lamman Rucker and Peter Parros) on in the history of that show? I'm seriously asking...

I don't even think that I lasted as long as 18 months, as I hightailed it out of there when I realized that they were demonizing the Black man with the undeniable sexuality (the likes of which I hadn't seen Jessica share with anyone else during the time that I watched) in order to:

a. put the kibosh on any possibility of him yanking the spotlight from any of the white male leads down the line (since it looked to be an inevitable result if they'd decided to keep him around)

b. make sure that Jessica didn't enjoy a buzzworthy pairing like her white female counterparts did, hence making damn sure that she stuck to the sexless Ben (sorry, but Peter Parros has never done a thing for me) and fade into the background.

[ChitHappens]

ATWT, at one point, had at least 4 black males on the show at one time (Guinness chit right there). Each was heavily involved in a story (more Guinness chit), but one day they began dropping like flies.

Who they fired (3 handsome charismatic virile men) :

Real Andrews

Lahman Rucker

And the guy who played Doc (ex football player if I'm not mistaken). Margo was fantasizing about him and it was good! Don't think I ever knew his name, but the character was going to be in a triangle with Jessica and Margo ( two married women, who happen to be best friends, fighting over this guy - brilliant). The story was axed, and he was gone! I was livid!

Who they kept:

Pete Parros (Ben) - the guy with the presence of a coat rack.

This pretty much describes Daytime. Pete would never be any sort of threat, so he's a keeper, much like Kristoff St. John.

So when the coffin is finally shut on Daytime, why would I care?

[VirginiaHamilton]

1. So, wait a minute... You say that there was a Black male character? Who was the object of two married women's - one white/one Black - affections? A Black male character that these two ladies were going to come to blows over?

You sure that this wasn't in some alternate soapland that I am aware of?

2. Was Real Andrews' stint before or after GH?

3. Of course they kept Peter Parros - he posed no threat to the (pecking) order of the show in regards to male soap characters. He looked bland, which is a perfect way to blend into the background. No one had to worry that he'd snatch their women from them like Lamman Rucker could've if he wanted to, so that's why he got to stick around.

As for KSJ, I'll credit my Vicky for providing him with the spice that clouded my vision of his presence on the show because I truly did find him compelling back in the 90s.

[ChitHappens]

I chit you not!

RA's stint was after GH.

And poor VR had to carry KSJ as well as the wretched CK.

[DeeeDee]

Peter & Kristoff can be sexy AND threats to the pecking order which is why they were marginalized unless they were in paired with minority actresses.

[Quent]

Real Andrews never fit into the ATWT scene. Nobody's fault , really.

Marshall Travers being a rapist was really in the eye of the beholder, kind of like Paul Williams on Y&R. The "day after", he thought it was consensual, while Jessica clearly did not.

One of the most powerful black actresses on daytime was Tamara Tunie, but ATWT never really found the proper storyline for her. The Jessica/Duncan/Shannon s/l might have worked if the chemistry was equal, but Jessica/Duncan seemed more like brother and sister, while Duncan/Shannon had all the heat.

I don't know why ATWT abandoned their last black male character (Jade's father). He seemed to have potential, especially after working for James. (Being in James' storyline helped all caharacters, it seems....remember Marshall defending Barbara in court?).

I'm curious what everyone thought of Denise Maynard, the black character who had the meatiest storylines (with Lily/Holden, David Stenbeck and Andy Dixon)?

[DramatistDreamer]

Both Tucker and Roy Franklin got lost in the ATWT Vortex and it also pulled Heather Dalton in also. There seemed to be a series of dropped storylines and characters that was never explained. I was recently watching a lot of clips of As The World Turns from the 80s and I got engrossed in some plots but other storylines had me scratching my head.

I watched some of the Tucker/Heather scenes and besides being really confused by Tucker's hair (I just had to 'go there') I couldn't for the life of me figure out how he left Oakdale. Were there some missing You Tube clips or something? It seemed as if he disappeared.

Did anyone else find it strange that Heather, the singer turned law student leaves on the heels of the introduction of Jessica the lawyer? And they were both involved with Roy Franklin? Of course, Heather was engaged to be married to Roy but I don't remember what caused that relationship to split apart.

Are there any clips of when Victoria Rowell played Nella Franklin? I remember Kasi Lemmons and the actress who originally played the role in 85 (there are plenty of clips of the 1st actress) but I don't remember at all about Victoria Rowell playing this character.

In terms of who was a token on ATWT, I don't believe that Roy began as a token.

Interestingly enough, Roy, like Jessica, had a family whom we were introduced (although one could argue that they essentially had the same family and had the same issues-- the divide between the career-minded professionals (Roy, Jessica) and the fathers and siblings who disapprove of some of their choices either professional and/or personal). Roy's father disapproved of him being a cop because of the family's tragic history of losing a son/brother who was shot and killed by the police. Looking at it now, I was surprised that ATWT would even deal with a topic like the racial and familial implications of a police shooting of a young Black man in the mid 80s. For whatever reason, Roy and his family got lost in the Vortex that marginalized characters on soaps often disappear into. The same fate would eventually happen to Jessica's family. All of these actors played their roles for all they were worth but for reasons unknown to me, they were dropped.

During the 80s, ATWT had some of the most versatile actors in the daytime drama biz. With the exception of a few 'hair models' as Douglas Marland referred to them, much of that cast could hold their own on any Broadway stage (and many of them have gone onto or have been successful on B'way). Perhaps it was an embarrassment of riches for ATWT and they couldn't balance the show with all the talent they had so the writers/executives, instead of taking a risk (with the possibility of reaping huge rewards) decided to revert back to their 'comfort zone' of writing for Caucasian couples and families with a few exceptions. Marland's compelling storyline could make one forget that this was what happened but once he died, not only was it obvious that the show missed many opportunities to capitalize from all it's talent, the show was left without the caliber of writing that it had in the previous decade (even before Marland the show had had some great soapy storylines) and it was never able to recapture that for the remaining years of the show.

During the last 15 or so years of ATWT, the show went from lack luster to truly bad and as much as I loved ATWT in the 80s when I was growing up, I didn't even watch the last few months of the show and when it went off the air, I could only mourn what the show had previously been many years ago but could not muster one solid emotion for what it had morphed into (besided disgust).

[frequentsoapfan]

I was discussing with someone on another baord how online viewers are quick to name token minority actors as wooden even though there characters are basically furniture and not given much to do. Yet those same "wooden" actors are the ones who get work off the soaps with the "great" actors do not.

[ChitHappens]

Something else I tell yah. Several months ago, I had to go toe to toe with a few on another board because they felt Shawn Blakemore was wooden and added nothing to GH, yet ABC managed to make household names of Mr. Roboto Morgan, Mannequin McBain and Livestock Lavery. None with great acting skills but never suffered for airtime and always had an unlimited supply of ass. So one can only conclude that if you are going to be wooden and worthless, you have to be white. I'd like to also add Samantha Morgan to this list. KeMo can act. I'll give her that, but can we name a more worthless character? 9 years of nothing to GH. 9 years! How many black characters have been worthless but gifted with the kind of airtime she gets?

[frequentsoapfan]

I don't even think KeMo can act she's usually out of it during scenes. She stares boredly into space like she doesn't want to be there. She's the female Steve Burton and Michael Easton. Watching the three of them is like watchnig the same character.

Apparently only white actors are allowed to be wooden/dead eyed. Because the black and latinos who get nothing to work with like they do apparently supposed to make something out of nothing.

[VirginiaHamilton]

You can say that again @ Vicky having to carry Valley Girl Lily - yet another reason why I not only resent TIIC for firing the Real Lily to make room for that insipid actress, but hate the fact that they kowtowed to that brat by putting the kibosh on any chance of a VR return.

[VirginiaHamilton]

Not to mention that these very viewers are quick to justify white wooden actors' increased/dominant screen time. I hate to repeat myself (OK, not really), but AI as Maya Ward is a perfect example of being made out to be the worst actress ever in order to prop the waste of airtime that was the never-was pairing - something that wouldn't have been done if she were white.

[frequentsoapfan]

I read countless times that SB, AI, and Rebeka Montoya were all wooden. I'm pretty sure RM's character is gone from GH because when FV and RC came on she became cop #3. But it's funy reading comments trying to make it seem like the other work they get is nothing as if a soap opera contract is considered better to casting directors than various primetime spots.