GH: July 2024 Discussion Thread

[Liberty City]

And they just pulled a The Young and the Restless: Dominic Zamprogna was featured TWICE in the opening.

[John]

7.2.2024

HW: Patrick Mulcahey & Elizabeth Korte

BDW: Chris Van Etten

SW: Stacey Pulwer

DIR: Robert Markham

[John]

This episode is flipping amazing

[Vee]

I think a lot of stuff really worked. But it's impossible to know what most of his stories were going to be, beyond the early stuff with Citizen Drew Q which I've really liked a lot. I suspect a lot of what we got was also watered down even before the screen - the network simply does not have the stones it used to content-wise.

I've been rewatching OLTL's rape trial story from '93 in its entirety lately and it seriously holds up, but what struck me today was the subplot and backstory where Luna Moody reveals she was raped by the Klan, who burned down her New Age store in the South and killed her Black employee - the store being destroyed had been a minor backstory point for several years, I think, before this was elaborated. Would ABC/Disney let them be that explicit about who did it today? I'm not sure. Those Kevin scenes re: Marshall and systemic Black medical misdiagnosis was daring and transgressive enough.

I would like to hold out hope ABC won't be satisfied with status quo when Jonathan returns and we'll see another change. Who knows. I certainly never thought Frank would be forced to let ME go after toppling Mulcahey.

This is why I've always fúcking hated this cheap-ass opening. Get three Dantes and it's jackpot!

[Khan]

Except, as I think @Darn pointed out, it was bad optics to have Kevin "whitesplaining" the reason behind Marshall's misdiagnosis.

On the one hand, I do believe the networks and others have become very skittish about delving too deeply into certain topics.  But, on the other hand, I also believe viewers - and viewers from marginalized and under-represented groups, in particular - have acquired more skill in using the internet and social media as a means of protest, so that even if TPTB choose to shy away from something out of concern that it might challenge the conservative beliefs of white, Midwestern, Christian fundamentalists, they won't be able to shy away without reaping significant blowback.

[Vee]

I get the issue, but I think they did okay with that by letting Stella and co. take the reins after a certain point in the scenes. I think it does well to have a beloved character like Kevin dispense the info up front. It's a balancing act.

[Liberty City]

Mhmm, and I think they had Korte go in and re-edit his scripts. Would not surprise me. "Make it soap, then make it Disney-approved."

I'd happily take three Dante's, hahaha.

[Khan]

But probably an act that didn't need to be balanced if GH had MORE. BLACK. DOCTORS. on their show.  IJS.

[Vee]

Oh, big time. Starting with Thomas Hardy Jr.

[Liberty City]

YES! Tajh Bellow should've been Thomas "TJ" Hardy Jnr.

[Vee]

I have commented many times on how idiotic it is that they brought on a Black youth named "T.J." who was not Tommy Hardy. And wasted Tequan Richmond, who I loved. But oh well.

I have little time for T.J., but I would add more Black doctors among other characters. And probably bring back Maya Ward and her phantom sister.

[Liberty City]

Maya Ward is needed back and would also be a connection to the Q family, so we could ditch Andrew-Drew-Moore-Cain-Quartermaine.

[Vee]

Eh, I'm not prepared to dump Drew now until the writing really craters for him again. But we'll see! There's plenty of Qs and Wards to add though.

[Khan]

YES!!!

Listen, I've spent a lifetime watching shows - daytime, primetime and everywhere else - that offered little-to-no representation for POC, so I'm used to it.  Yes, I know how wrong it is for me to say as much "out loud," but IDC either way if a particular series or movie has no POC among its' cast members.  I don't need to see myself on a TV or movie screen to know whether H'wood sees me or others like me because, frankly, my dear, I don't care if H'wood EVER sees me.  I exist, I KNOW I exist, and that's enough for me.

Now, having said that, I also believe that if you're going to commit openly to diversity, equity and inclusion, then, for God's sake, COMMIT.  And that applies even to a hoary, old soap opera that's currently being run by someone whose idea of soul music is Jophielle Love.

Don't post some lip-service junk on IG about how committed you are to diversity while you're filming your most popular African-American actress from two counties away.  Bring back Tommy Hardy Jr.!  Bring back Maya and Angela* and all dem other Wards!  And bring on more Black doctors, too!  Rename the hospital the James Earl Jones-Cicely Tyson Medical Center, if that's what it takes to put them all front-and-center and in storylines that can't be lifted entirely out of episodes like a Lena Horne number in an MGM musical, with no effect on the rest of the canvas whatsoever. 

Whatever you do, GH, to make your show more reflective of everyday life in 2024, just do it right.

 

(*That's what I'm naming the phantom sister: Angela Ward.  In honor of the late, great Angela Bofill.)

Edited July 2, 2024 by Khan

[Liberty City]

She already had a name: Zoe Richardson.