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Y&R July 2019 Discussion Thread


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Remember when Pratt insinuated that black characters going on maternity leave (i.e. MM) were busting the budget? It's this racist, sexist mentality that is going to be the undoing of the daytime soap.

 

At this point you could not pay me to watch this show.  I don't spend money supporting a business establishment where I don't feel respected and I won't spend time supporting a television show where I don't feel respected. I decided that about a year ago and only broke that vow to see (online) the Neil Winters (R.I.P. KSJ) final story line. 

 

Mediocre Mal and hopeless Griffith is one thing but why are Steve Kent and Angelica McDaniel even still there?  Do they not promote all this foolishness?  Are they not at the helm of an ever sinking ship (of fools)?  

Seriously, why is Steve Kent still there when he has failed at his job so often?

 

 

Because someone with common sense and eyes to see actually noticed that box office and ratings tend to be much higher for products with diverse casts (studies have shown this).  It's profitable, it's successful...it makes money.  Obviously something daytime soap producers know nothing about. 

 

Maybe Kent and Moonves were birds of a feather who flocked together but Kent is long past his expiration date at this point. He should've been out yesterday. 

Edited by DramatistDreamer
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Don't tell me that y'all believe that bogus story about not being able to come up with stories.  I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell ya if you believe that one.  

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People should really listen to that podcast interview that KSJ did a few years ago.  He talks about Y&R's history of colorism.  It's really worth a listen.  

 

Josh is part of the problem but he's only one part of the triad of alienation.  Even when Mal was on, Ana Hamilton did not have one love interest.  Not. A. Single. One.  Even Mariah had her bland relationship with Kevin...hell, they brought her on lovelorn from Tyler, before they paired her with bland Tessa. 

 

Why did Ana, a gorgeous 20-something character never even go on a date her whole damn time on this awful show?? If it's anything other than her color, shade/tone, let me know...

I'll wait...

 

 

 

 

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I think that the way she was treated had a lot to do with colorism. Josh never wrote her to be considered desirable to anybody and I believe that colorism had a lot to do with that. The way he wrote her was insulting, which caused me to call him out for that many times.

 

And though, I don't care much for Mal, but I do believe he at least at one point considered to pair Ana/Fen. Loren even said she thought they were headed in that direction with those two. Fen was the one that Ana spent most of her time when she first came on the show, (and also with Devon). Ana/Fen flirted and Ana was written to act a little jealous over Fen/Summer. I think that Mal was considering it, but it got scratched on his way out the door. And then when Josh took over, it wasn't even considered at all. Or any love interest for Ana for that matter. Josh wrote Ana worse than Mal did. Under Mal she was written as more mature & not treated as much like filler. Mal did give her more of a storyline but I think that whatever he planned to do with her/Fen and her secret was scratched, when it was clear he was leaving.

 

Josh regressed the character by having her act and be treated more like her teenager when she started agreeing with everything Tessa/Mariah wanted & was berated by Devon for it. I think that as a whole Josh is writing the younger set much worse than Mal did. I think that was one of the few things that Mal did right, was the way he wrote the younger set (the exceptions being Summer/Tessa).

 

Edited by xtr
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On a soap opera where love and romance are supposedly all the rage, it's ridiculous that a young character like that never went on one date her entire time on the show.  How long was what's her name Rosales on the show before she got a romance?  Has there been a recent character on as long as Ana, in her age bracket who did not go on one single date the time she's been on...on a soap?

 

Y'all can give Mal a pass but I won't.  Almost doesn't count.  He had time to send her and substitute Fenmore on a date but never did. Not even a bad date.  

 

IMO, neither Mal nor Josh ever cared about Ana.  Based on what I've seen and read.  Any writer who is invested in a character doesn't write for him or her in this manner.  But let's see how long they keep her in the opening credits...for optics. 

Y&R and how they write (or don't) for certain characters is what happens when you lack diversity in your writing room.  

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I wasn't a big fan of Mal's writing, but I watch this show daily and I watched all of Ana's storyline with Mal and Josh. And I do believe that Mal wrote her much better than Josh did. She had more of storyline, and a potential love interest. I think that the Mal was setting it up for something romantic to happen with Ana/Fen, but it was dropped when it became clear he was out the door. She was developing a nice friendship with Fen, which I think could have turned into romance. Josh didn't give her anything like that and he had enough time to finish what Mal started, but he dropped it. I believe that if Mal had stayed Ana may gotten with Fen or at least gotten a love interest. And that is enough for me to give him some credit for that. Nobody else has to do that, but I will.

 

Mal's writing of the younger set was one of the few things he actually did well (minus Summer/Tessa) Ana had more of a purpose and a potential love interest. Kyle was interesting, even Lola had promise in the very beginning underneath Mal. Though he started to ruin her and Josh came in and wrote her worse. Once upon a time Lola was likeable, but then pursegate happened & then her character has been sinking every since. Josh managed to tank her even more than Mal did.

 

Mal also featured the Winters family more than Josh has. Now granted a lot of people are upset because he killed of Hilary (which is understandable) but he still wrote more for the family.

 

I'm not a big fan of his, but I will give him some credit for things, including the way he wrote Ana.

 

 

Edited by xtr
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If there was ever a time to raise hell re: Loren Lott and the black canvas in general, it's now. You'll never have a better opportunity than the wake of Kristoff's death. But it needs to be a hashtag and needs to get attn beyond just the usual soap press.

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In retrospect, these racist assholes couldn't wait to wrap up Kristoff's death fast enough so that they could move on and focus on played out white characters, while further diminishing the black cast. 

 

They probably think potentially bringing Mishael back will be a solve for this, but the issue is much deeper than trading one black actress for another (they think all black characters are interchangeable). 

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I’ll admit, this one has annoyed me. Not just because they’ve trashed a character with potential and ties to the canvas, but they’ve got rid of a good actress, who happens to be beautiful... and dark skinned. 

 

That last bit is what resonates with me the most, as a darker skinned black man with a black, talented and beautiful girlfriend, who has been under-appreciated in a way her lighter skinned colleagues and friends have not.

 

I don’t often discuss my personal situation here but colourism/colorism is a bug bear of mine, as much as racism is.

 

And this seems to be what has happened with Loren Lott. 

Edited by LondonScribe
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And what's even worse is that they got a nice boost in ratings, when the episodes surrounding Neil's death aired. I also believe they got a bump in ratings around the time that  Hilary was killed off and the Winters family was featured more during that storyline. Those scenes where Devon was confronting Lily at the penthouse (and there was conflict between them) was good scenes, and that type of drama helped the ratings. Yet they continue to all but ignore the black family and characters on the show and it's unfortunate.

 

Ana who a lot of people cared for is now gone. If they had kept her around and given her a love interest, that could have helped things. A lot of people wanted to see her with Fen and I think they would have had developed large fanbase if they had gotten together. Or they could have put her with someone else and that still could have clicked with viewers.

 

Nate has barely been shown, and it's finally starting to be shown a little more. He's a handsome man and decent actor and up until recently was largely being ignored. Elena is underdeveloped and needs more of a backstory. I believe they should give her a father.  Devon is written for somewhat, but hasn't been shown a lot either. Neil is gone, Lily makes rare appearances and the twins are gone.  They really do need to do much better by their black cast and viewers.

 

 

Edited by xtr
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Sorry to say that even during the time of William Bell, colorism/colourism existed.  Kristoff St. John said as much a few years ago during a podcast interview.  

But it's beyond sad that the last time you had darker-skinned women get any real love were in the 80s (Stephanie E. Williams' Amy) and the 90s (Tonya Lee Williams' Olivia).  This show has been regressing for at least a decade. 

 

In my grad writing courses, we were told that only what shows up on screen or on stage truly exists.  The rest is just subtext for the actors to work with.  The viewers aren't supposed to have to guess what a writer's intentions are, particularly on as unsubtle a medium as television.  If Ana and Fen didn't happen onscreen, they didn't exist as a couple.  I don't think enough viewers really read enough industry books to realize that people don't always admit to the nature of their true intentions.  I'm reading a book right now from a famous screenwriter (well, as famous as any screenwriter could get anyway) and within the first 10 pages of the book, he says that people in the industry often lie and some even convince themselves that they are lying for an honest reason-- he calls it a form of roshomon.

 

I think taking some of these execs and showrunners' words at face value is a mistake.  Many can be quite disingenuous as to their true intentions and what they really feel in their heart and soul. 

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