Love Is Love (Daytime Edition)
Happy Birthday Mom! Sing-a-long if you know the words and send her all the positive vibes you can muster. She’s 62 years old today and I know her greatest wish is to be a grandmother already. Since that isn’t happening anytime soon, I hope my love and eternal gratitude for her continues to tide her over.
Speaking of my mom, she’s also the Holy Mother of no filter. She’s nice and firm but will let you know about yourself. Being the good daughter that I am, I’ve got to make my DNA proud and let daytime have more of my smoke. Today, in addition to blowing out candles, I’ve got to burn down the reluctance soap operas have to gay relationships.
Young and the Restless flirted with a romance between Mariah and Tessa. Those two kissed and I loved it! Mariah finally seemed destined to become a leading actress carrying her own story, Tessa finally found a pulse and Noah’s trajectory as a misused legacy scion was on the verge of being corrected; two siblings fighting over the same woman would’ve been must see. Blink and you missed it, the story was cut short because of viewer complaints. Middle America can stomach rapes, babies being killed, murder, adultery, endless lust and cheer on abuse but two women being intimate was the hard red line.
You should’ve seen the pearl clutching in my #YR group on Facebook over the Tessa/Mariah storyline pic.twitter.com/x9zhJnvuUE
— ERICA (@reeceecup) May 9, 2018
How do you know what God wants? The Bible was written by man, there is no doubt they inserted their beliefs in the Bible. Just worship God & mind your business. Love is love ma’am. https://t.co/JGAtFIoBvM
— Cher M. (@jamdownrocks) May 8, 2018
As an aside, Camryn Grimes earned that Emmy for those beautiful and well written scenes of Mariah confessing to Sharon that she kissed Tessa. Oh, what might’ve been if this arc had been allowed to simply continue.
Bold and Beautiful continues to collect GLAAD Awards for its breakthrough transgender story involving Maya even though the character lives in the Forrester basement. I remember gasping when Maya told her truth and in a bold move, Rick supported his love for who she is. A privileged white man said this was his woman and everyone else would have to deal. The show also expertly weaved in Julius’ objections, rooted in his role as the patriarchal Black father, to Maya but since then, story has been sparse. A trans woman living her best life in LA and dealing with the fallout should’ve driven stories for years. Instead, Maya is domesticated and only seen in the background as Hope and Steffy argue over who gets to ride Liam’s disco stick.
General Hospital allegedly features a relationship between Brad and Lucas, a legacy character. I wouldn’t be able to tell. I think they had a wedding. That’s much more than Kristina and Parker got.
Days of Our Lives stands as the sole exception to daytime’s blackout on gay romances. Will, Sonny and Paul are in the middle of a torrid triangle and I’m here for it! The sexuality of the characters so easily cedes to the substance of the story of a classic triangle. Another subset of the plot has been Vivian using Leo to distract Sonny.
Unfortunately, some of the comments were not as receptive to the story. Greg Rikaart responded to the disgruntled fan.
I’m sensitive to those who don’t support gay relationships due to religious reasons. My family is very conservative and Bible reared. I don’t believe all those who are against it are bigots and want to pelt others with stones. For others, all they want to do is judge and use the Bible as a weapon. My Bachelor’s degree is in journalism and not theology but I recall something about no sin being greater than the other. The same should apply to daytime and please stop insisting that gay relationships are being shoved down your throats. Characters are sleeping around each other all the time. Victor and Nikki have an open marriage on Y&R. If you can handle seniors being swingers, a loving same sex couple shouldn’t enrage you to the point you throw the remote at the TV.
If it is, that’s entirely a person’s choice but I sincerely wish daytime would stop prioritizing those threatening to stop watching. My informal survey tells me that there are many more who would tune if more diverse characters and stories were featured. The totality of the audience isn’t older and conservative. Personally, I’d love to see a LGBQT narrative tackled from the Black perspective. B&B waded into those waters with the Avants but I’m greedy and want more. I want so much more from daytime. I’m demanding it.
Outside of a girl crush on Rihanna, I’m not a member of the LGBTQ community. I’m an ally and I know that I don’t have the standing to speak with more authority or nuance on this subject. What I do know is that representation matters. I like to see those who look like me showcased and not have it be a token throwaway. Days should not be the only show on daytime committed to same-sex stories.
I just want to be entertained and love stories are my sweet spot. Wesley and Lionel’s relationship on Dear White People captivated me the most. That in like stage and all its awkwardness got to me. My heart has beat faster around guys that I’m into and words just escape me. This was actually my own real life experience last month. I got buzzed and told him I was sorry that I couldn’t act on my feelings without the liquor. And then he said I didn’t need it. AHHHH! But anyways, that’s the kind of rush I get watching two people who are into each come together. With the amount of nonsense that is on the airwaves, love in the afternoon surely can’t be the worst offense.
