[ALL] "Raped for Redemption" storylines

On 11/21/2020 at 5:46 PM, Vee said:

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.

Agreed. I only saw Marty's original story on YouTube, but the character was a perfect marriage of actress and writer(s). Susan Haskell brought so much heart and gravitas to a role that on paper could easily have been a cliche. In the decades before #MeToo, it was nice to see sexual assault dealt with in a real and sympathetic way, and to see two survivors (Marty and her good friend, Luna) talk frankly about their experiences. Susan Haskell earned and deserved the Emmy she won in 1994.

Of course, the rapist later became "redeemed" and the "hero" of the show. Disgusting, but that's another rant for another day.