"When is a Rape Not a Rape" by Carolyn Hinsey

[Vee]

No, Marty was brain-damaged and crippled and Victor lied to her about who he was and who they were. He raped her. It's one of the worst stories I ever saw in twenty years (I say 'one of' because we still have Jessica's DID to contend with).

The character of Victor Jr. is somewhat rehabilitated by the revelation of who he truly is and that he was a pawn of his mother all those years, and he is certainly more viable because of that; it has changed my feelings on him to a point. I can certainly stomach the character far more now than when I thought he was Todd post-rapemance. But that doesn't change the fact that whether he was in his right mind or not (and clearly, in hindsight, he was not), he raped her and he will have to live that down. For me that's a slightly better takeaway than "jolly, edgy hero Todd re-rapes crippled lady, shrugs it off" as was the standard line from the show until 2011. The way they ignored the issue until then was absolutely disgusting.

E.J. raped Sami, Todd raped Marty, Victor raped Marty, we can go on and on. It's not a question of that many nuances.

[marceline]

Just to be fair, it's the title of Hinsey's article. Because I had the same reaction when I saw it and was prepared to break my foot off in Cassadine's ass.

[cassadine1991]

I'd never do a thread like this in a million years but it is the title of the article, guess I should include that it's an article

[dragonflies]

I agree with Marceline and a few others, it's rape, the show acknowledged it as such.

Victor Jr raped Marty too, even RealTodd was appalled by that.

Also Robert Ford raped Jessica, cause she wasn't in her right mind to give consent, and thought she was 17 and in high school

I can't take CH seriously, cause she's the idiot who said, after Jax on GH was raped, that men can't be raped, ugh

[Gray Bunny]

Remember when GL's Ben Warren coaxed Blake Marler into having sex? I remember there was a long, long discussion on the AOL message boards (aw, remember those?) on whether it was rape because she was under duress. I can't quite remember what the situation was at the time, or if Blake was partially paralyzed already. I just remember him on top of her on the floor, convincing her that this is what she wanted. It wasn't sexy, it was kinda creepy.

[robbwolff]

The amount of rapes on Santa Barbara was sickening. There were others who had been raped: Summer, Andrea, BJ, Gina plus all the Carnation Killer victims.

[cuzIsaySo]

Wasnt Jane sexually molested (Caroline Lockridge's daughter) which is why she had a split personality?

[quartermainefan]

If with Sami it was rape and it was Kate the one near death and EJ proposed the same deal, what would it be if Sami had said no, a mere deal gone bad?

[cassadine1991]

They were raped too?

[Max]

I will never understand how rapists Luke Spencer, Roger Thorpe, and Todd Manning ever became fan favorites among soap viewers, even with the "multi-layered" writing that later gave these characters shades of gray.

[NothinButAttitude]

Two words: Michael Zaslow. His acting made people care for Roger. Plus, I do think that writing made people care for Roger. Especially under Curlee. We saw his faults and his regrets on a regular day basis. I've said this before and I'll say it again, Roger and Holly are the ONLY 'rapemance' I'll ship for because the writers (mainly Curlee) knew how to handle the situation/their history along with the actors performances. I couldn't hate Roger because IMO, he is one of the most complex characters in soap history. Even though you hated what he did, he was the underdog--an underdog that truly wanted acceptance, love, and respect that his foil, Ed Bauer, received.

Jack is another ex-rapist I care for because the writers constantly reminded the character and audience of his past wrongdoings and we saw the character struggle for years about their past. He, like Roger, acknowledged his demons and struggled and aspired to do better--to prove the townspeople wrong even though he had a few flops along the way.

I don't feel like you got that constant struggle of past demons with Luke or Todd, hence why I didn't care for them all that much. From the footage I've seen, I feel like their crimes were swept under the rug quickly. They were rehashed for sweeps or an arc but you didn't get that struggle you did from Jack or Roger.

[titan1978]

Even though Monty struck ratings gold with Luke and Laura, she never had another major rape storyline during her time on the show. She never backed down from her changing it to a seduction, but she never did it again. In the 1980's GH was the only show I watched that didn't have a rape storyline playing out all the time.

[titan1978]

Nobody tried to make Roger Thorpe the town hero. Unlike Luke. And Jack on Days. And Todd on OLTL.

I don't think Holly should have ever been with Roger again though.

[robbwolff]

I'm pretty sure the Carnation Killer victims were raped and then murdered. Online synopses confirm that.

[NothinButAttitude]

Don't make me cut you.