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Episode Discussion II: The TFGH


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Culture Check: How can we discuss a character's or actor's appearance without objectifying them? How can we express likes or dislikes and still respect an individual's humanity or be mindful that a character represents a person someone else might relate to or identify with?

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Okay, so I was huge GH fan in the 90s and early 2000s but I haven't seen an ep in at least 15 years.  I just got Hulu, decided to check out Monday's ep and choked on my pretzels when Carly started ranting about Agent John Cates.  They really brought Jagger back? A quick google skimmed a few articles so I know he's been around since Feb and I guess is the bad guy to Sonny's good guy mafia?  the GH wiki has few details but mentioned he and Sonny had a chat.  Are there detailed recaps available somewhere?  I really want to know how that went given I doubt Jagger's very justifiable grudge against Sonny went away.  Has Jagger interacted with Scott at all?  Or do I need to call him John, now. 

Speaking of Scott, what happened to him?  He's wearing sunglasses indoors, more hair gel then a 90s teen every did and he's talking funny.

I also watched AMC back in the day so nice to see Cameron Mathison and Eva LaRue.  This storyline is confusing.  Natalia is a horrible bigot, full stop.  Is she getting off the hook just because Sonny wants to bang her?

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you know. i just remember when Bianca was hiding her sexuality, and struggling to come out, and was outed so publicly. Those who were overtly homophobic was taken to task, those who didn't really didn't understand was spoken to in a firm but respectful tone, and those who didn't treat Bianca with respect including her mother was rightly pushed to the side until they got on the train or they walked home so to speak. 

That was in 2000. how is it 24 years later [god. Old] you have two people who were ON THE SHOW AT THE TIME so you could just ask them how it was handled etc, if you are really like you know - not sure - or just use common sense. 

again - I was under the impression that Natalia was acting like Erica. head massively in the sand. refusing to see what was in front of her that her daughter was gay. (and it was inspired by Cher who had written about the same thing). And while she didn't understand, or get it at first - and showed the struggle of her child being gay - I think it showed wonderfully that it's not super easy to be "Mom, I'm gay."  "Oh Okay honey! where should we go to have dinner?". it takes time to wrap your head around something like that, and then you accept it, and treat them like normal. Which Erica did). 

this is blatant homophobia (from what i've seen), shades of Greenlee mocking LesBianca, and the show going "Oh this is okay, because Sonny likes her." like. come on show. 

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On 7/3/2024 at 3:12 PM, YaddaYadda said:

 Everyone is more angry at the person who leaked the recording, pushing Alexis so far as to call Ava a homophobe, while Natalia is sitting there having a civil conversation with Sonny and is more about her daughter's career being destroyed than her daughter's feelings.

I understand why Alexis is aiming her anger at Ava. Natalia's general bigotry is awful and what she said on the recording is awful. However, Alexis, Sonny and others were already at least somewhat aware of Natalia's bigotry - it wasn't a shock. Natalia is one person who's not very famous as a manager at this point and her words were said in a private conversation, so the opinion was contained. Then Ava shares this recording to get revenge and that action "sensationalizes" the hate. The Invader may not be a well-respected paper, but it's still a media outlet that anyone can access and will do so if they are a fan of up-and-coming star Allie/Blaze and the headline draws them in. If I'm a reader, I think that the Invader condones bigotry and so does whomever shared the recording.  The publication of the story and the recording spreads the hate and seems to legitimize Natalia's bigoted opinion(s).

The closest comparison I can think of is when a long-term famous American commented about personal entitled sexual behavior toward women and that recorded comment aired on TV for millions to hear, but the person was still elected to political office in the United States. Both men and women voted for this person. There are people in this world for whom a bigoted statement by either a famous person or someone attached to a bigoted person, "legitimizes" their own bigotry and even encourages it.  

I also think it's pretty clear that Natalia doesn't care about her daughter's feelings; she sees her daughter much more as a business/brand than an actual person.

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1 hour ago, Bringonthedrama said:

Then Ava shares this recording to get revenge and that action "sensationalizes" the hate. The Invader may not be a well-respected paper, but it's still a media outlet that anyone can access and will do so if they are a fan of up-and-coming star Allie/Blaze and the headline draws them in. If I'm a reader, I think that the Invader condones bigotry and so does whomever shared the recording.  The publication of the story and the recording spreads the hate and seems to legitimize Natalia's bigoted opinion(s).

The closest comparison I can think of is when a long-term famous American commented about personal entitled sexual behavior toward women and that recorded comment aired on TV for millions to hear, but the person was still elected to political office in the United States. Both men and women voted for this person. There are people in this world for whom a bigoted statement by either a famous person or someone attached to a bigoted person, "legitimizes" their own bigotry and even encourages it.  

I have to say, I was going to disagree with the first paragraph I quoted, because you can publicize something not to legitimize it, but to expose it. I've always been a firm believer in shining a light on who people are, so they can't get away with pretending anything else, and you know who you're dealing with. 

But, then your next paragraph is also right. Having the awful things people say be publicized can make other awful people feel validated, and like it's now OK for them to be awful. 

At the same time, though, those people are showing who they are when they embrace what they see as an opportunity to be awful. So, I think that while I do agree that publicizing someone's awful opinion can make it OK for others to express it, I still disagree that it is therefore wrong to publicize it. Better to know who you're dealing with, whether it's a reality star, a politician, an actor, a musician, your uncle, or your next door neighbor. It's hurtful to hear it, but at the same time, I think we all need to know who we're dealing with. 

One of the things the show is getting wrong here is that, now that this is out there, everyone's priority should be comforting Blaze and Kristina. Because that is what you do when someone's hatred goes public and hurts people. But, other than a few instances, it's been all about finding who to point the finger at for it getting out and then people covering their business interests without even giving Blaze two seconds to process this and come out with her own statement about it all. Even Maxie and the rest of the Deception crew, while feeling bad for Blaze, are focused on immediately wanting to sideline her for the brand instead of talking to her to see what she wanted to do. Does she want to make a public statement now, explaining her journey and how she now understands that the pressure her mother put on her was not out of love and concern, but hate?  Because if she wants to do something like that, the brand should support her, help her arrange the interview and then put out a statement supporting her as she comes to terms with her mother's behavior. 

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@KerleyQ you make valid points. However, this show is produced by the same people who took over a WEEK to publicly defend Taby on social media after she was repeatedly harassed with racist comments. So I’d hardly expect them to be on the right side of this issue. 🤬

the only thing I’ll say re Deception is they have a responsibility first and foremost to their shareholders. They ARE and should be sympathetic to Blaze and support her. But right now, the article has caused financial distress for the company and their primary focus has to be to right the ship and keep losses to a minimum. No one is firing Blaze. They merely suggested she take a step back to let the frenzy die down and then pick up again in the fall. If anyone should be getting serious pushback here it’s the music label for dropping her. I’ve no doubt there have been far bigger scandals than this involving artists and they probably weren’t dropped. This whole thing just makes no sense. But then, what on this show does? 🙄

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51 minutes ago, Sake614 said:

the only thing I’ll say re Deception is they have a responsibility first and foremost to their shareholders. They ARE and should be sympathetic to Blaze and support her. But right now, the article has caused financial distress for the company and their primary focus has to be to right the ship and keep losses to a minimum.

For me, it's just how fast that seems to have happened. It seems like this all happened in less than 24 hours. Also, the whole "it's self-loathing to be in the closet" narrative is pretty offensive, too. So the idea that they'd already be in financial distress within a day, over a model being in the closet is kind of absurd and offensive. Especially since it's not like Blaze has been out there giving interviews about all the men she dates or anything like that. She's just kept her personal life quiet. It's like her label and Deception saw some internet trolls spouting crap and panicked. 

Of course, like you said, I'm expecting too much of GH if I expect them to get this right. 

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Unless she's made a brand of unrequited love between a man and a woman, I can't imagine Blaze's fans would have a problem with her being gay.  And considering that everyone who comes out has at least a moment of trepidation about their family's response, I can't imagine that Natalia being homophobic would do anything but make Blaze more of a sympathetic figure. 

The Deception dilemma, on the other hand, is interesting to me.  Are they concerned about losing homophobic clients?  Clients intolerant of the spokesmodel's privacy?  Or are they truly intending to be protective of Blaze by keeping her out of the public eye until she's more settled emotionally?  I wish they'd just gone ahead with their advertising campaign as it was. They either have a quality product, or they don't.  And Blaze is still beautiful.

 

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13 minutes ago, JMO said:

Unless she's made a brand of unrequited love between a man and a woman, I can't imagine Blaze's fans would have a problem with her being gay.  And considering that everyone who comes out has at least a moment of trepidation about their family's response, I can't imagine that Natalia being homophobic would do anything but make Blaze more of a sympathetic figure. 

The Deception dilemma, on the other hand, is interesting to me.  Are they concerned about losing homophobic clients?  Clients intolerant of the spokesmodel's privacy?  Or are they truly intending to be protective of Blaze by keeping her out of the public eye until she's more settled emotionally?  I wish they'd just gone ahead with their advertising campaign as it was. They either have a quality product, or they don't.  And Blaze is still beautiful.

 

The Deception folks said before they have a lot of clients who are LGBTQ+ who may be upset with Blaze for hiding in the closet and I believe having a very homophobic mother. So I think they wanted Blaze to lay low and recover emotionally until the scandal blew over and allow them to put out a message in support of love and acceptance in the 2 page ad in the about to be released Crimson issue, just without Blaze front and center for the moment

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(edited)
6 hours ago, KerleyQ said:

I have to say, I was going to disagree with the first paragraph I quoted, because you can publicize something not to legitimize it, but to expose it. I've always been a firm believer in shining a light on who people are, so they can't get away with pretending anything else, and you know who you're dealing with. 

 I still disagree that it is therefore wrong to publicize it. Better to know who you're dealing with, whether it's a reality star, a politician, an actor, a musician, your uncle, or your next door neighbor. It's hurtful to hear it, but at the same time, I think we all need to know who we're dealing with. 

One of the things the show is getting wrong here is that, now that this is out there, everyone's priority should be comforting Blaze and Kristina. Because that is what you do when someone's hatred goes public and hurts people. But, other than a few instances, it's been all about finding who to point the finger at 

I don't think we actually disagree, lol. You absolutely can cover/publicize something to expose it; that is the point of investigative journalism. There are high-profile media outlets known for this and I commend them for it. However, that's not why the Invader published it. Alexis had literally just quit working there and knew this writer personally. She knew - and he bragged to Nina - that it was click-bait.

We'll see how this plays out, but in real life I think Alexis would be worried about/scared that her pregnant daughter now could be a target for hate crimes, either because she's a bisexual woman acting as a surrogate or because Blaze's fans think she has "corrupted" Blaze away from being a straight woman. Kristina is not a famous person (aside from people knowing of her because she has a Mob boss father) and her pregnancy for her sister and her sister's partner is absolutely none of Natalia's business, let alone the bigots of the world. It makes total sense to me that Alexis is livid that her daughter is collateral damage in Natalia's desire to control her own daughter's sexuality and career. Alexis was there for Kristina but she also wants justice. I don't believe that Sonny actually cares about Kristina's feelings; he didn't when Keifer beat the hell out of LA's Kristina. He's all about what was done to "my daughter" aka possession. He wants unconditional love and loyalty from his children while simultaneously putting his own agenda first (rushing to confront "Ethan the abuser" for his own ego rather than staying at his traumatized daughter's bedside or hanging out with the bigot he's attracted to and deciding how to deal with Ava rather than seeking out the same daughter to comfort her.)

The closest that Kristina has had to real friends on the show have been her brother's now ex, Sasha, who did stop by, and her brother's now wife, Willow. I assume Molly and TJ will be angry. I don't know that Michael or Sam have enough character to comfort Kristina.  Blaze's only sort of friend is Chase because they used to sing together but he has his hands full with Violet. Maxie, BLQ etc. are all business associates so it's their job to protect and promote Deception. They work for Deception, not Blaze. In a world with Instagram and immediate judgements all over social media, they can't afford to give Blaze time to process and decide to react. They That's up to her personal Blaze music publicist. 

Edited by Bringonthedrama
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22 hours ago, greycoupon said:

I also watched AMC back in the day so nice to see Cameron Mathison and Eva LaRue.  This storyline is confusing.  Natalia is a horrible bigot, full stop.  Is she getting off the hook just because Sonny wants to bang her?

She's also getting off the hook because if Ava does something bad to a bad person, that makes the bad person good.

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(edited)
23 hours ago, KerleyQ said:

One of the things the show is getting wrong here is that, now that this is out there, everyone's priority should be comforting Blaze and Kristina.

Not even Kristina's own big sister seems to care about comforting her. I will give Sam a tiny bit of credit though that she blamed the reporter, not Ava, for hurting Blaze and Kristina. 

WHYYYY is the kid actor who plays Maxie's son in the opening headshots??? He's the only child who is included.

BARF that Olivia and Sasha are so gaga over Drew being so handsome on TV and the comment that Canadians will want to come to the States for him.  The conversation between Sasha and Nina was poorly written because a) Sasha thinking Drew is some super hottie seems to come out of nowhere and b) both the Nina-Sonny and Sasha-Brando marriages lasted just months. Nina talks like they were both married decades. 

I will say, it's great to see a bunch of veteran/OG cast members acting together: characters Ned, Tracy, Laura, Felicia and Mac in the same room made me smile. I loved the Laura/Mac hug but then Mac rightly got upset that Laura appears to be advocating for Heather Webber. I also loved Tracy's conversation with the Senator about poor ill Monica, and the late Edward. She even got to mention Alan today. JE is such a gem!

I had to roll my eyes that Willow and Jordan seem to both be hot for Drew while Sam could not be more unenthusiastic about Drew running for Congress and how he's handled it all. Btw Sam, acting like your ex-husbands not prioritizing Danny and Scout is your cross to bear as the good/stable parent is utter B.S.

I have to say, I liked Mac's WTF face at Cody blurting out the truth and Sasha's disgusted/horrified face at seeing Drew and Willow making out ... right after she and Nina talked about Nina's on-going fling with Drew. So nice of the show to make Willow a serial cheater, on the 4th of July. Hey Michael, karma's a bitch while you're busy giving Nina the stink eye and Curtis sees it! 

After all the fuss about BLQ, Chase and Violet moving in with the Qs, they're not in this episode of the party at the Q mansion and no mention of them?!

Edited by Bringonthedrama
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So two of the preachiest, self-righteous characters engaging in skanky behavior just as Drewfus announces his political run. What a big fat moron. The only thing that makes me sad about this is that Michael is going to be a victim in this. 

Leisl who? You'd think that Drew was the one who donated the bone marrow.

Let's move on from this Heather story, show. I like Alley Mills a lot, but let's just drop this nonsense.

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It's been in the air since the writing change in March if not earlier - there's always been a vibe IMO (Willow kind of gave Uncle Jason the same eyes too). It's gotten more and more clear in the text since. I'm just shocked they didn't stop it. Modern GH has an incredible allergy to actual soapy drama among the designated 'good' characters so I will not be shocked if they swiftly walk it all back.

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3 minutes ago, YaddaYadda said:

The only thing that makes me sad about this is that Michael is going to be a victim in this. 

Same. This is my biggest objection to this story. Michael is a turd at the best of times. He doesn't need more reasons to get on his high horse, warranted or not.

What was Scout's last name? Cain?

1 minute ago, Daisy said:

I'm just trying to figure out how this is going to be Nina's fault. 

Willow is her daughter. Cheating runs in the family.

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7 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

 He doesn't need more reasons to get on his high horse, warranted or no

Willow is her daughter. Cheating runs in the family.

It's not warranted/it's karma because Willow cheated on her husband Chase with Michael. Michael was supposedly Chase's good friend at the time.

Nina was separated from but still married to Sonny when she and Drew started having sex. Now Willow is kissing her husband Michael's Uncle Drew behind Michael's back. So technically, both mother and daughter have cheated on their husbands with Drew.

5 minutes ago, threebluestars said:

Willow can officially dismount the high horse for a change lol.

She has no right to be on any high horse, as a serial cheating wife. 

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29 minutes ago, YaddaYadda said:

I don't see this going super far since Sasha already caught them. But I'm looking forward to see Willow on the receiving end of Carly's righteous anger. Here. Have a taste of that medicine. You know Carly will throw both Nina and Nelle in her face.

Willow is going to find out really quickly how worthless Carly's "love" is when it comes to anyone not from her loins or whom she wants between her loins. 

also also. 
I really want Michael to catch those two, and then Chase just strolling by going. "it's how you get them is how you lose them! see ya!"

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I love that they actually went there with Drew and Willow but I wish Nina wasn’t involved because she seemed to be softening towards Drew even though he still treated her like crap. I think she’ll be hurt when the truth comes out.

I find Willow to be smug and judgmental though so I’m looking forward to the Benson’s going after her. You know Carly will be quick to say how she’s not really Wiley’s mother after acting like she was a second daughter and it will be refreshing to watch it them go after someone I hate for once. I don’t know what that means for Willow though. She doesn’t really have anyone outside of Michael, his family, and Nina and this manages to offend all of them. It pretty much leaves Sasha who is hardly an anchored character herself. Like she gave up her career to be a Q family housewife and everything. 

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okay i am seeing potato clips on youtube. but it looks like she kisses him first. oh sookie sookie now! 

1 minute ago, ffwbe said:

I find Willow to be smug and judgmental though so I’m looking forward to the Benson’s going after her

honestly.  i see this going 1 of 2 ways. 
this is what it takes to have Nina and Willow finally be mother and daughter (with Willow truly being apologetic and bending over backwards). because I do feel Nina would instantly forgive Willow. (like Nina & Drew weren't like in love? it was just sexy fun times right?). and IDEALLY it gets Willow the healing she needs for being so ..Stepford Wife-y Cultish person. 


which i will accept. (and Lisel will be in the mix so that would be fun).

if that doesn't happen.

i totally take door #2 and enjoy the Wrath of Carly and Joss that's heading Willow's way.

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I literally laughed out loud when Cody blurted out he was Mac's son. Looking forward to the next part of that scene.

Honestly though, Willow and Drew were oddly unsettling.  No one was freezing or drunk or angry. So, no excuses and even soapier because of it. (Mother-daughter triangles aren't  my favorite trope but we have to take what we can get.) But I'm just so bummed for Nina. I had hoped that the fling with Drew would be liberating; a bit of fun and then move on. Next up now appears to be a double helping of humiliation - no thanks.  

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Was the line about handsome Canadian politicians in there because Cameron Matheson is Canadian?

3 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

LOL at Portia's "I treated Heather with the utmost professionalism." Keep telling yourself that, lady.

She is a true Carly.

3 hours ago, ffwbe said:

I love that they actually went there with Drew and Willow but I wish Nina wasn’t involved because she seemed to be softening towards Drew even though he still treated her like crap. I think she’ll be hurt when the truth comes out.

When is the Nina humiliation tour going to end? Because this is getting way too old. With Willow and Drew getting together, and Drew basically cheating on Nina even though it was supposed to be an enemies with benefits thing, the only friends she has left in Port Charles are Sasha, Valentin and Maxie occasionally.

On the other hand, if I were married to Michael, I'd be thinking of cheating on him too.

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For the luv of all things Jesus can GH stop using beloved legacy Maxie's child to prop the useless abomination that is fuckin Cody! God damn every time that baby is on every other word out of his mouth is Cody this Cody that it's ridiculous. You would think that was his kid or something. Maxie can't even spend time with her baby or bond with him or shit cause the only time James is on screen is to prop Cody, be with him at the stables, or the Qs & to talk about how there are too many girls there at the house.

His only function is to talk to Cody and be a talk to him. He doesn't talk about his own mamma like that or his daddy which yes I know he doesn't know him or have any memories of cause he unfortunately died before he was born. That baby comes from prime stock he isn't Violet he's not a throw away stop wasting him on Cody. He got a whole big family in PC. GH is like a sledgehammer we get it you think Cody is the beeknees he's not stfu already

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Wuh?! Dayum! That was sort of ..abrupt. AND the Cody reveal in the same episode?! What is this a soap or something?! 😁 Maybe they are they trying to clear their plate for JJ. 

Laura is pissing me off with the way she stories the Heather situation: "they are looking into it"  "it turns out...." "it's for the courts to decide". YOU are driving this lady, so take ownership. 

Drew and Willow do have more chemistry than Mikey and Willow. But then, she would have more chemistry with a potato than with Mikey. In the moron department, they are about equal. 

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25 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Drew and Willow do have more chemistry than Mikey and Willow. But then, she would have more chemistry with a potato than with Mikey. In the moron department, they are about equal. 

I think she has more chem with him too but their dynamic is so weird. She sorta thought of Drew as a father figure/uncle and seems to worship him. She asked him to walk her down the aisle ffs. Drew and Michael are pretty much the same character as well, just 20 something years apart. 

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This is an unusually interesting love quadrangle potentially going on -- especially given that the odds of Nina not being SUPER weird about it are minuscule. 

It's very interesting that the show has let itself have such a point of view, ideologically. For one thing, all of the pointed dialogue with the Deception crisis and dealing with the bigots. 

Also, usually when a character runs for office, they're just a generic non-party hero or villain. But Drew's opponent is clearly coded as an MTG type of person. And they even gave some love to Justin Trudeau in this episode!   

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Will Mac and Cody be a new Invader headline? James wanting Cody to be his brother to prop "Cody is Mac's son" storyline reminds me of when the show used then-child Kristina to prop the "Sam is Alexis's daughter" storyline by having Kristina wish that Sam was her sister.  In this case it seems like James really wants a dad/male role model younger than Grandpa and his sister Georgie's dad, Spinelli, is not sufficient (shocker). Of course, James will be thrilled to find out Cody is related to Mac.

Btw, for those of you who were watching when JJY joined the show, what was Mac talking about regarding a long-ago promise? Did he mean a promise to Tony, or to Frisco?

There's no drama to be gained from Willow/ Drew unless they want more of each other and both Nina and Michael find out.  I personally think Chase deserves the satisfaction of knowing that Willow cheated on Michael with his own uncle and Michael found out or caught them. 

I also hope that Dante talking with Sam about how they are raising the three kids is an anvil regarding both Lucky and Lulu since Laura asked Rocco a few months ago if he had given up hope on his mom getting better. Most recently in Elizabeth's home, Aiden hears about her break up with Finn and is sad, saying he thought Finn and Violet would move in with them in the future. That IMO is an anvil for Aiden to want his real dad around in the near future.

 

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4 hours ago, Tenshinhan said:

It could be fun if Drew continues to go back and forth between mother and daughter, with neither the wiser.  I also hope it becomes a big political scandal during the campaign.

I am sure that was the plan under Mulcahey before he quit, a la his own time at Guiding Light with politician Ross Marler and mother/daughter Holly and Blake. Now I won't be surprised if they dump it all ASAP.

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29 minutes ago, Bringonthedrama said:

In this case it seems like James really wants a dad/male role model younger than Grandpa and his sister Georgie's dad, Spinelli, is not sufficient (shocker).

This was exactly what I have been thinking. James wants a father figure. His real father is dead, and he's clearly smart enough to look at Spinelli and think "that ain't it." I know he has Mac, and Mac is the best, but he's grandpa. From James's point of view, Cody is the younger (not grandpa aged) cool guy who has a cool job. And he's been paying attention to him. 

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Culture Check: How can we discuss a character's or actor's appearance without objectifying them? How can we express likes or dislikes and still respect an individual's humanity or be mindful that a character represents a person someone else might relate to or identify with?

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