Racism and racial representation on soaps

[ChitHappens]

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

• YR kept Staff after she assaulted VR
• YR tried to keep MM after he assaulted HK
• But it's too late for VR/Dru?  Yeah ok.  

 

Loren Lott was basically told they are writing for the characters who matter, which is why she had to go.  

At the height of Dru's popularity, VR brought an energy YR had never seen.  Many of the white leads and TIIC had a problem with that.  When you think of YR, a black face should not be the first thing to come to mind.  

[janea4old]

 

Thank you! that's what I wanted to say but couldn't find the words for.  There was definitely that layer in what Devon was saying.

[KMan101]

 

Yet for me she has always been the face that comes to mind. 

 

I mean, look at Amanda Sinclair. How boring can you get? Don't tell me that isn't being done on purpose because it is. You could literally remove her next week and fan outcry would not be nearly as bad (well it would for different reasons now, but you know what I'm trying to say)

[ChitHappens]

 

They are making sure lighting does not strike twice with MM!

[KMan101]

 

Yep. Exactly. It's so maddening and SO BLATANTLY OBVIOUS.

[Faulkner]

I was also trying to think of frontburner Black villains on soaps who lasted more than a few months and didn’t merely exist just to make a white/Latino character look good before being disposed of (à la Taylor on AMC or Keri on OLTL). Would Liz on Passions and Virginia on SuBe count? (Edit: forgot Lexie’s turn to the dark side on DAYS.) It’s crazy that, in all their years on the show, neither Dru nor Olivia on Y&R ever really had a Sheila/Phyllis/Isabella-type character to go up against. (I know Dru tangled with Phyllis but that was long after Ms. Summers had become a heroine.) Carmen was the closest Dru ever had, and that character was not particularly well-crafted, to say the least.

Edited June 25, 2020 by Faulkner

[Gray Bunny]

 

If we can't have #JusticeforJasonBrooks  (ya know, if he's, like, not interested in returning), how about a GL supercouple to DAYS with Chamberlin as Jennifer and Grant Aleksander as a Peter Blake recast?  They could FINALLY utilize this character again! 

[Faulkner]

Hey, I can’t get the perverse yet poetic justice of MR replaced with a WOC (when the other way around has been so commonplace), BC/GA would be awesome.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

This is exactly the sense that I got about that matter. Talking about cutting off your nose to spite your face! 

Honestly Y&R has some some beautiful Black women characters, going back to the 1980s and has, for the most part, wasted every single one. VR/Dru is the one character who actually got some story written for her, with TLW/Olivia a distant second. I guess, Y&R really feared that these ladies would dim a White character's "spotlight".

 

 

I'm still livid about what ATWT did to LR/Marshall Travers.  As many times as they brought back James Stenbeck or 'reformed' John Dixon (I'd mention Craig Montgomery too but they ultimately ruined him in the show's last decade), they didn't have to go full rapist with Marshall. Such a gorgeous man LR is, and such a sexy pairing he had with TT before it all went downhill into the abyss.

I really need a skilled podcast host who will keep it 100% to do a Zoom or Google Chat with Tamara and Laman to ask them about their true feelings on that whole storyline.  I suspect they'd have much to say.  If I had the proper equipment, I'd contact them myself!

[Gray Bunny]

Side note: With all the civil unrest in the last few weeks, any peep from Kristian Alfonso? Just wonderin'... 

[ChitHappens]

 

She aint stupid!

[titan1978]

After the GL reunion, I would happily add to the voices of Beth as a recast Jennifer. Or Kimberly Simms.  Both still look great, although Beth at least has an understanding of working under the current production process.  Even DAYS today would probably be better than the last year of GL.

 

I know Sony and Y&R will not rehire Victoria Rowell, at least not until some execs are gone.  Which is awful for her

and for the viewers.  Latham may not have written good material for her, but she certainly knew the value of keeping Dru front and center.

 

And much like Ellen Holly- she deserves every opportunity to speak about how important those stories were for the show and the audience and the performers.  If that means fans and TPTB have to confront their racism by not believing, ignoring, or wishing it away so be it.

 

[BetterForgotten]

Is she still selling cheap jewelry on QVC?

Edited June 25, 2020 by BetterForgotten

[Gray Bunny]

 

Ooh you just reminded me... Krista Tesreau ages like fine wine! Add her to the wishlist

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[Soapsuds]

Lisa Rinna sells her clothing. I'd love to see Terri Conn with her on air selling her stuff and her idiot husband, Austin Peck, wondering who Lisa Rinna is.

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At least Rinna can go back to Days. I can't say that about awful Conn.

 

@titan1978 Kim would make a great Jennifer recast. At least she wouldn't look like Irene Ryan.