I am all for a good catfight on soaps when two STRONG, beautiful women go at it and tear into each other. If someone steals my baby and makes me think she is dead, I'm going to cut someone. I also know if I go to an event and someone is wearing the exact same outfit I'm wearing, I'm out for blood! Think of the entertaining fights that ensued between Paulina and Vicky on ANOTHER WORLD and the legendary battle between Vanessa and Nola on GUIDING LIGHT.
However, on Thursday's episode of ONE LIFE TO LIVE, Blair and Téa physically attacked each other all for the "love" of Todd Manning. I don't believe for one second that these two strong, independent, beautiful women would still be affected by Todd. Todd is a vicious, sociopathic rapist. He treats both women with contempt and they keep coming back for more. Who is the target audience for the show? Has a focus group been conducted and it was found out that women 18-49 love to fight each other to see who gets to have sex first with an unrepentant rapist? As a long term viewer, it's insulting to watch Kassie DePaiva and Florencia Lozano have to act out these fight scenes.
If the characters of Blair and Téa are to be salvaged, both need to move in new directions. Blair and John may not have set the world on fire but it was an example of Blair realizing how toxic Todd was and that she could have something different. Téa is an intelligent, cunning, lawyer. There isn't anyone other than Todd for her?
As for Todd, clearly his new love interest is meant to be Stacy Morasco. That is one "woman" who is perfect for him! An added bonus is that Trevor St. John can offer some acting "help" to Ms. Hunt.
What do you think ONE LIFE TO LIVE fans? Is the Téa-Todd-Blair triangle entertaining to you? Is Todd the man of your dreams and worth fighting for? Sound off!
Mikey, I didn't know you could be so catty!!! Meow!
ReplyDeleteSomewhere Kitty approves :)
ReplyDeleteTodd always works best as a tortured loner. Todd & Blair worked best as tortured loners together. Blair seems to take a step forward as a grown up and then two steps backward. Perhaps Michael Lowery as the new Ross will give Tea something else to do. It's rumored that Matt Walton's character will be revealed to be his brother somewhere down the line. Maybe these guys will mix it up a bit for those lovely ladies. An aside: it was great the way Starr stood up to her father in a very independent woman way.
ReplyDeleteWell now that we officially know that Kitty is a "he" and not a "she" since MJ called him "Mr. Kitty", there goes your shot of adding another wife to your harim.
ReplyDeleteMeta: I'm amazed at how the WLS voices are starting to distinguish themselves.
ReplyDeleteRoger is the man who knows everything, past, present, international. He brings a balanced and optimistic hand, pulling in a more general knowledge of media trends to put daytime in context.
Michael has this deep love of the genre, as testified by his ability to grab any obscure youtube from any decade...but he is quite capable of being the incisive "let's cut through the crap" reviewer.
Finally, Damon. I'm a "True Blood" fan, and I'm starting to think he can "glamor" his interview subjects and make them tell him anything. I think we may just have gotten new and classic quotes from Harding Lemay.
I don't know but I'm ready to create a fansite dedicated to the Tea and Blair pairing (ducks as stones get thrown at her) what they have some serious chemistry, who needs Todd?
ReplyDeleteKatie, if Tea and Blair are showing the first signs of sexual tension I can accept that lol I refuse to do couple names, so I will let you come up with one :)
ReplyDeleteloved, Loved, LOVED this Spotlight! Thank you, Michael, for putting into words what I, and probably many other viewers, was thinking. Even though I think Todd and Tea have very palpable chemistry, Tea and Blair deserve so much better than Todd. And they definitely should NOT be fighting over him.
ReplyDeleteAnd even sweeter? Suggesting the pairing of Todd Manning and Stacy Morasco. Brilliant. I cannot think of two characters in daytime more suited for each other.
Happy Friday!
I agree, Michael. Chemistry can overcome a lot - bad writing, questionable motives - but at some point it becomes too much. The actors all work well together so I figure the show just wants to create conflicts which allow them to share scenes. But the story needs to make sense and the characters needs to eventually grow and not always go backwards.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark H!
ReplyDeleteMikey - great post! To see two intelligent grown woman fight over a sociopath is pretty sad. I think they showed remarkable restraint by not having Marty jump in to the fray.
Great post. Two women fighting over sexing it up with a rapist is repugnant in every way.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. Marlena Delacroix has been saying this for years. No catfights.
ReplyDelete(well ok maybe that one from Generaitions because it was the SHIT. but no more.)
It's not the catfights I mind so much. Truly, it's entertaining for me to watch. What makes me ill is when they end up fighting over a man. And in this case, a truly vile creature. It just takes two strong characters, Blair and Tea, and spits on them.
ReplyDeleteMichael you are my hero!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU!!!
ReplyDeleteI have been shocked by how all of last year's outrage at Todd has evaporated. The only women who still offers any semblance of reasonable sanity about Todd are Dorian and Marty.
How can Tea, Blair, and even Star stand to be in the same roome with this scum bag? Wasn't Tea the one who tried to help Blair keep her children away from Todd?
This is just awful. Showing two women going back into a relationship with a man who has physically an mentally abused them does a disservice to all viewers.
How is this not a tacit endorsement that women who are abused should forgive and return to abusive domestic partners?
OLTL is one of the best written shows on TV except for this horrid storyline.
Of course, TV seems to have a warm place for rapists. Magically, they are forgiven or their crimes romanticized!
On Today's Y&R Deacon Sharpe extored sex from Amber Moore. What? Huh? How is this remotely not like virtual rape?
On Days, Sami's reserve place love interest is the man who also forced her to have sex.
But the sad thing is that there are many women who find these men attractive. Think about the number of women who blamed Rhiana for Chris Brown beating her.
OLTL was tied for #1 last week in the ratings for teen girls.
ReplyDeleteRoger,
ReplyDeleteOLTL is well written with the exception of the Todd and Stacey storylines.
OLTL has done a good job of handling its teen storylines. There are 3 teen storylines:
Starr/Cole
Langston/Markko
Destiny/Matthew
Each of these storylines can be broken down further. Most of these storylines are thoughtful and respectful.
I just don't think that the Stacey and Todd storylines are examples for teengirls or others.
(P.S. Gotta love the irony that OLTL was seen as the first ABC soap on the chopping block.
I tip my hat at OLTL for also being the most diverse soap on ABC. How many other soaps have 4 black/biracial women? Three on camera Latino characters. Two gay males. Two black men.
GH? Two women of color who never have their own storylines or significant presence in their own. Poor Epiphany and Dr. Lee!
There is some rampant misogyny on OLTL, the men act in horrendous ways and they're still heroes.
ReplyDeleteWe know about Todd but whay about John? He constantly gets a pass. Although I have no desire for another Blair and Todd redo (preferring her with John) in some ways it's understandable she can't get Todd out from under her skin (ex baggage and all that) but Tea? For all her fight she always ends up back with him and with very little fight, I might add.
I didn't mind the catfight, it's a Soap after all and those fights are appropriately soapy but over Todd? Thank God, they didn't throw is Marty, SH has a sinkhole effect on her scene partners with the exception of HBS and sometimes TSJ.