"Otalia" fan Trish beautifully told head writer Jill Lorie Hurst and the panel at the GUIDING LIGHT event at the Paley Center on Wednesday night about the impact of the storyline on her life. Hurst credited Ellen Wheeler and both women spoke about the story as did four time Emmy winner Kim Zimmer.
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It was a lovely night at the Paley Center and with the people from Guiding Light. It was so nice to hear how the wonderful story of Olivia and Natali, Otalia, came to be & how much they believe in it. We were thrilled to be able to thank them and let them know how much it has meant to us.... to have someone represent us as loving decent family oriented individuals. Well done EW & JLH & GL. You will be sorely missed.
ReplyDeleteI wish Wheeler & Hurst had the guts to come over to Television Without Pity'd forum to see what the unvarnished truth/opinions look like. The fact that they've written a love story to make sure there's no kissing between the women is insulting. I wish someone on one of the soap blogs would take on THAT story.
ReplyDeleteFor once I would like for EW to admit that the show got cancelled because of bad writing!! Viewers got disgusted by the destruction of great characters, left and never came back. That's what is killing ALL soaps.
ReplyDeleteTanzania, I understand your frustration.
ReplyDeleteFor me personally, I am trying to look at the big picture. Until a few months ago, I honestly felt this was the best written story on soaps in years, not just GL.
The decision to make Natalia pregnant is completely perplexing and I didn't believe it was happening until I actually saw it on my screen. It just seemed impossible that this wonderful story would have that twist.
How things end will go a long way in determining my overall feelings. But I do feel a year or two from now when we look back, the beauty of the first year of this story will be remembered very fondly and is one of the best same-sex love stories I have seen written.
As a gay man, I am always torn between being grateful for shows that have the balls to even try to tell a story versus feeling like I'm being manipulated by shows using a gay story as a gimmick. I do feel the intentions were good here.
In terms of criticism, we have been pretty critical on our weekly podcast about the pregnancy twist, not sure if you are listening.
I'm really hoping for a happy ending and I think at that point and in the future we can all look at the good and bad as a whole and hopefully some progress has been made that will pave the way for future story lines on other shows.
I truly appreciate your comments Roger. I agree with you 100%. Sure, there have been more physical and graphic depictions of lesbian love on television. I for one would take the chaste Otalia s/l over these ratings inspired lesbian kisses any day of the week!
ReplyDeleteVery well said Roger. Very well said.
ReplyDeleteProgress should always be made but one has to also realize that progress was made here not just for the telling of same-sex stories but also in the way the story was told
Otalia brought back (for the most part) the slow burn. Something missing in daytime for a long time. Something I predict has also helped drive daytime viewers away from their TVs.
I am glad I got to witness this story unfold. It moved me in many ways.
Was it perfect - no but then nothing in life ever is because for every fan out there thousands of different outcomes would have pleased different people.
As was stated so well on that clip by that fan I too came to the show for Otalia (after giving up on daytime thanks to AMC) but stuck around for that entire Springfield landscape.
And Bravo for them for doing something different for daytime tv. Yes lesbians have been on before but the build up to this coupling and the focus on the family was brand new.
Sad to see this show go.
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ReplyDeleteOtalia has been such a horrible disappointment, I don't see how EW can stand there and talk about it like it's a great accomplishment. It was a beautiful story as long as Olivia and Natalia were still just friends. Since sexuality entered the picture, the basic message has been that same-sex love makes you miserable and you never get to kiss or have sex. It's like The Children's Hour updated...to the 1980s. Hello 2009. And the pregnancy is just the insulting icing on the cake.
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