[ALL] "Raped for Redemption" storylines

[te.]

Basically I wanted to start this thread about when writers get out of ideas to make unlikeable female characters likeable, so they have them raped in an effort to endear them to the public (and it usually happens during sweeps!).

These type of storylines are always great, so I thought we'd better make a list.

 

Aaaand go!

[ReddFoxx]

Marty Saybrooke (OLTL) comes to mind. She was somewhat of villain for telling that lie on Andrew Carpenter. This sort of storyline always makes me uncomfortable because rape shouldn't be used as a plot device in such a manner.

 

On edit, another storyline that was somewhat like this was with Brooke on B&B. Stephanie's character was damaged by her part in practically sending Andy after Brooke.

Edited November 21, 2020 by ReddFoxx

[Khan]

I lost count of how many "bad" girls on AMC were raped in order to redeem or "punish" them.

[titan1978]

It’s another example of gross storytelling involving rape on soap operas.

 

Even in a well told story, like Liz on GH (who also fits although she was a mild version of what the topic is about), where the violence and trauma are explicit but the storytelling is not geared towards titillation at all, it’s still a terrible trope that I hate to see used to “redeem” characters.

 

Marty absolutely was subjected to this, however, they at least used it as part of the overall story in a way that reflects true life for survivors with her background and means.

[Mitch]

Boring Lucy Cooper played by the grating Sonia Something or other, was raped by Brent to make her..what more sympathetic, more likeable?  What a weird and tasteless plot device.

[soapfan770]

Thank you, she was the first person I thought of when I saw this thread.

 

Then you have cases like Emily on ATWT where she was raped by Diego in a a possible attempt to redeem her(and to make Diego look more evil) but it backfired as Emily lost her sanity I’d say pretty much for the rest of the show’s run.

[titan1978]

I remember reading that scene was also very graphic for daytime standards.

[soapfan770]

It really was, she was raped in her office and later Diego came to her house to taunt her while she was naked. Their torrid affair was pretty sexualized to begin before as their had been working together as schemers beforehand.

[DRW50]

 

Marty is complicated for me because when I watch the clips leading up to her rape, she is not especially evil or in need of "redemption." We see her vulnerability and kinder moments with characters like Jessica. Unfortunately, the character becomes so very bland after her rape that I wonder if I am being too generous and they did see her as bad and deserving of rape. 

[Vee]

I don't think Marty was ever bland, not in her original tenure - I came in not very long before the rape, and she fascinated me for her entire run from then on. Susan always had such fire and often anger to her performances, which IMO is what makes many heroines work even if the writing pushes them to heights.

 

Malone and Gottlieb clearly loved Marty, but the rape/redemption trope was in play long before them. I think they saw it as a means to an end to redo The Accused, but I don't think they felt Marty needed to be brought low; nonetheless, on some level she was. She is an example of that trope like any other, though the story was great. But even after bringing her low they then spent the next several years making her the central heroine and axis of good in Llanview. It was Susan's performances that made her stay real and not forced or cheap to me.

Edited November 21, 2020 by Vee

[Bill Bauer]

 

I remember I was surprised at how violent it was with Emily being thrown around and the actress was pregnant at the time.

[Jonathan]

Gloria Marsh on All My Children.  Was I the only one who liked Gloria?  I thought Teresa Blake did a fab job playing her.  She really came into her own as an actress when they paired her with David Canary.  I have always been curious as to whatever became of Teresa Blake.

 

Kit Fisher aka the Montgomery sister.  She was a McTavish creation and we all know how much McTavish like to use the "rape for redemption" plot device.

[DRW50]

 

I was very fond of Gloria - I only started watching in 1995 so I may have missed her more controversial material. By the time I began she barely had much to do, until her last 5-6 months on the show. Blake was a very interesting actress, soft and tough at the same time. I really liked Gloria's exit from the show too. 

 

Kit's story was a disaster. I think it's one of the few times even McTavish admitted she made a mistake (due to backstory of Kit falsely accusing Tad of rape).

Edited November 22, 2020 by DRW50

[Jonathan]

 

Oh you missed out on all the bad stuff Gloria did.  When she first came to Pine Valley, she became BFF's with Dixie.  Unbeknownst to Dixie, Gloria was sleeping with Dixie's fiance, Craig Lawson.  Gloria was a whore, fo shizzle.

[dragonflies]

People say Bianca was to "punish" her for being gay