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| Otalia - Guiding Light | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 29 2009, 06:54 PM (21,225 Views) | |
| abzug | Sep 10 2009, 04:03 PM Post #1006 |
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In love with a prisoner
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Today's ep put a big smile on my face, I have to admit. Totally predictable and formulaic, and Rafe's evolution isn't earned at all. BUT, the way that the community embraced Olivia and Natalia, actually moving them in together, it just made me really really happy. Olivia coming out to Jonathan, also very cool. First time the word "girlfriend" has been used, I believe. The coming-out-to-Emma scene was interesting. I mean, it's still not clear if she gets it, but I think the point we're supposed to take is that she will ultimately get it, and they're going to share the right amount of information for her maturity level, and thereby avoid the situation Ashley and Doris are in. OH! And softball! Always played by men at the farmhouse, and now a co-ed activity. Lovely. |
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| ekny | Sep 10 2009, 04:04 PM Post #1007 |
In love with a prisoner
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Yes. I am reminded of a line from Silence of the Lambs; something about how Starling was still too young to appreciate the fact that just because someone understands you doesn't mean they wish you well. In the case of my soap operatic skills: I think I understand this soap quite well--well enough to be able to predict some fairly obscure stuff with reasonable accuracy--not to mention my early (and accurate) criticism of the s/l's problematics. The form does not, however, favor me with similar regard. |
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| ekny | Sep 10 2009, 04:43 PM Post #1008 |
In love with a prisoner
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Ah. I see. I posted at same time as Abzug. Here I thought I was gonna go first and out-do myself in compensatory niceness. --Olivia & Doris in their parallel grey suit-jackets Daisy: [Doris] probably feels terrible [that Ashlee hasn't spoken to her]. Ash: I'll go clear that up right now. Rafe: Don't ask me. Truer words. I hope he's infantry. He's going to be one of those men whose eyebrows are 2" long in middle-age. The groovy!happy theme toone is back so... we're good. I will now say something that is going to surprise you: Rafe's 'apology'--coming in and offering to move boxes (for the wimpy girls)--is exactly right. That's how boys apologize. (Men say: I'm sorry. Never much more, but they do manage that.) His behavior is, once again, age- and gender-appropriate. N: I've always known what I wanted. O: No you haven't. N: I do now. Isn't that an interesting bit of non-revisioning revisioning. Like the last lines of this epside, it rubbed me all wrong, but I have my nicey-nicey-make-nicey soap-hat on. So whatevs. Y'all carry the ball from here. I didn't even say anything about Olivia getting to smooch some dude I've never seen before because he's her 'cousin' who's 'going to stir things up in [her] sleepy little town.' Which (imo) begs for a better response than Olivia blandly announcing she's moving in with her gf (and--Um. That's a *problem* with girlfriend as a descriptor, as much as an advantage...), but we've just spent the last 4 months stirring things up only to smooth them down, so--no stirring at the FoL. Nup. --It is, however, appropriate Rafe's box gets the comment: "Bathroom!" from Olivia. --Q: What does she mumble, after? --Q2: Is mumbling contagious? Ball in the backyard. Nat cooking for the troops. All very community-minded, I'm sure. Except Olivia's "oh yeah" in response to Doris's (inevitable) "Hey! I was captain of my high-school softball team" completely lacked snark: it was just hot. --The key male figures in this storyline now get to choose "sides". And I am not even going to get *near* mentioning Nat's charmingly uncomplimentary reply to Olivia's 'we did it, family, blahblah' --*we* did it? Well that's it, used up my Nice for the calendar year. I have to go lie down now with a damp cloth over my brow in a darkened room, I am simply exhausted. ----- ETA: I do find it fascinating that a scene I am sure most fans have watched more than once--the hospital pseudo-kiss--which was included in the opening sequence (for, I believe, the third time) is considered *so* significant as such that BPD has made a *separate download* of just the opening sequence available. For scene everyone's seen. Multiple times. This is just the opening credits. And it's a 35meg download. Desperate much? This suggests to me the rather craven need for seeing this couple 'validated' by the show is hardly on the wane. |
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| abzug | Sep 10 2009, 05:20 PM Post #1009 |
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In love with a prisoner
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The almost-kiss has been in the opening credits WAY more than three times. For a stretch they were using it once a week, when they wanted to show Liv & Nat using one sequence, rather than two. |
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| ekny | Sep 10 2009, 06:05 PM Post #1010 |
In love with a prisoner
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I just can't imagine what would motivate someone to download that, that's all. Then again, I don't know why I'm watching, except that it's over next week: I'm not having fun. There's no pleasure in this anymore, for me. Like: at all. I don't trust it, so I don't trust what it gives me. So I can't enjoy it. I don't feel like that's my fault, tb honest. I was more than generous to this show. But it is a shame. Pretty much sucks to be me. |
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| cagey | Sep 10 2009, 06:20 PM Post #1011 |
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G3 Curtain and Duvet!
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That would be Jonathan, who is indeed her cousin, someone she helped raise and was very close to and is a noted bad boy hellraiser. I've been rather enjoying him for the last few weeks. From the sound of things, having not watched yet - saving that for this evening - there's nothing left for you to sit through, ekny. Happy ending has been acheived. I believe next week is another hit parade of long lost characters. |
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| abzug | Sep 10 2009, 06:28 PM Post #1012 |
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In love with a prisoner
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The more I've been thinking about the episode, the more I'm feeling resentful about the hypocrisy. Here we had an episode which was all about family and community acceptance and embracing of the relationship. And yet! The writers or network or whoever did not think the real Guiding Light community, the viewers, would embrace the couple if the couple actually acted like a couple (eg kissed). And, therefore, if you consider the powers that be to be part of the 'community' then they're pretending to accept and embrace the couple with this ep's storyline, but in fact they're not, because they won't let them kiss. None of this is news, it's just that this episode really drove the point home, and made the show look ridiculous in its desire to have its cake and eat it too. |
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| abzug | Sep 10 2009, 07:16 PM Post #1013 |
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In love with a prisoner
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Just thought of a new read on this. If this story has always been a Children's Hour take-off, in that the child saw the truth before either of the adults, then Emma's whole how-is-this-any-different-from-how-it's-always-been? reaction isn't a sign that she doesn't get it. It's a sign that she got it all along. |
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| ekny | Sep 10 2009, 08:22 PM Post #1014 |
In love with a prisoner
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(ITA w/your other post, natch.) This is a constructive & very plausible reading, Abzug. Emma's character, although the least realistic eight-year-old I've ever seen, has always been consistently written (my take on that is: because it's MUCH harder to give children lines that directly lie to the audience than adults). So she's pretty much all about the present, as kids are: yay finally! so... can we have ice-cream now? Of course, the down-side of the Children's Hour reference which I have avoided mentioning til now (beyond that whole little part in the middle? with the suicide thingie?)--is that there never, quite, was any there, there--was there? Not for Audrey Hepburn's character. (My memory might be faulty, and I do not want to see it again.) But... in keeping with *this* show's agenda, one could argue (were one so inclined) that ultimately, it hews rather closely to the Children's Hour in spirit, if not form. (Further to: the play was about the evils of McCarthyism, and damage-by-gossip, innuendo. Does GL get that? You can't defend what you won't take out of the closet. The answer, seems to me, is yes and no: they'll defend a sexless romantic friendship with benefits implied. But no one gets to enjoy those benefits: not the characters, not the audience. So it's all stick, no carrot.) Finally, and not incidentally: the CH was bold for its time-period. It took something even scarier (or as scary) than the McCarthy trials and fought fire with fire. The fact that GL's ur-text is over 50 years old, dangerously dated, and that they don't even seem to understand its implications beyond a conference-room summary told us everything we needed to know: they got it to the extent they understand fear is the real Big Bad. But there's no payoff--no reward--for that insight beyond saying: everything's cool, relax, back to normal, at ease. Community's safe and sound. Which is arguably kinda problematic about Christianity, itself. The punishment/fear Hell-nexus-thing.) |
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| abzug | Sep 10 2009, 08:35 PM Post #1015 |
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In love with a prisoner
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I'd give them more credit than that. In The Children's Hour, the Shirley MacLaine character, who parallels Olivia, realizes she IS in love with her best friend (Audrey Hepburn), tells the best friend who doesn't return her feelings (marries her boyfriend instead), and then Shirley MacLaine commits suicide. In Guiding Light, they've "corrected" the problems with the source material in that: 1. Natalia DOES return Olivia's feelings 2. Natalia DOESN'T marry Frank 3. Olivia DOESN'T commit suicide Once the characters decide to have a relationship, the story departs from The Children's Hour entirely, because that possibility was never really a possibility in The Children's Hour. So Natalia's issues with religion, and her ambivalence about being with a woman, don't really have a parallel in The Children's Hour. Can I ask for some clarification on what you mean when you say that they've hewn to The Children's Hour in spirit? In that the relationship has in some way been closeted because it's been platonic in its portrayal? That the love that dare not speak its name can now speak its name, but not live its name in action (Thou Shalt Not Kiss!)? |
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| ekny | Sep 10 2009, 08:40 PM Post #1016 |
In love with a prisoner
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Risking us posting at same time again but: assumption of course is they're referencing the film (1961), not the play--1934. Which references real events from the turn of the century. |
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| solitasolano | Sep 10 2009, 09:18 PM Post #1017 |
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This is a preliminary draft post bec of time constraints. Pains me to not play along in real time.A couple of weeks ago there was a BPD/CCandfriends online chat with CC. I don’t have time to dig it out now, will tonight, but one of the most interesting questions asked and answered was about how much the young actress (JT) who plays Emma knows or is told, something like that, about the nature of Otalia. CC’s answer was short and to the point saying what JT knew, understood or was told was up to her parents… She wasn’t giving anything away. This caused me to contemplate how CC and JT interacted with the material. We can all agree they are great together in this s/l. What I feel is the s/l, script, material presented WAS age appropriate for both the character and young actress. Both the character and the actress GETS IT at their level. Don’t forget, Emma knew before they did. (Oh I just read abzug’s second post on this…thinking the same as I.) Oh boy, the KISS AND MORE illusions in this episode had no end I swear….the almost but famous non kiss in the opening credits; looking at lips;, kisses in the lyrics of the song playing at that same time at the end of packing; do I get my old room back…oh are they going to talk about Olivia’s room; Olivia directing boxes..that goes to Emma’s room, that goes in Natalia’s room….and Olivia’s room?? Etc. Feel free to add to the list, I will when I can look again. I can’t really comment on any analogy or comparison with The Children’s Hour because I admit I have never read the actual play and only seen the movie which has a lot changed from the play as I understand. I thought the play was mostly about “The Lie”. Whatever, I’m behind on a lot of my reading. Even though everyone showing up to help O/N move was supposed to be all feel good and the coupling embraced by the community, it just felt hokey to me. What a cop out the writers had for the anti-Rafe troops to have all that animosity wiped away with his got help those wimp girls comment followed by Olivia’s off camera throw away but genuinely delivered “thank you”. Question, why would Olivia be worried about Emma’s response to moving back to the farmhouse and Otalia being together. Hasn’t Emma been campaigning for that like forever, on both accounts. Apologies for the rambling post…first impressions to clips only. Feel good episode for me just like the last few, even with all the head trauma from yesterday. The Olivia-shows-up-at-the-sonogram-I-can’t-waste-anymore-time now definitely feels like the end of the story. Moving in was just clean up work. Lastly, co-ed softball. The farmhouse remains woman centric, yippee. Did you catch Olivia’s response to Doris when Doris piped up that she was captain of her college softball team. I bet you were. LOL. Carry on. Latter. |
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| ekny | Sep 10 2009, 09:39 PM Post #1018 |
In love with a prisoner
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I realize this is an accident of time-of-day, as much as anything, but... even trying to objective, it is well past ironic. Someone should make a color xerox and tape it to the doors of the CBS morons who canceled the show. I sincerely hope it gives them a painful, really rather acute twinge in their inguinal canals. |
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| abzug | Sep 10 2009, 10:12 PM Post #1019 |
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In love with a prisoner
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E, if that is on your YouTube home page, meaning you're logged into your YouTube account, then it's no accident they showed that Otalia video along with the others, because they know what you watch and what you subscribe to, so they figure that video would be of interest to you. |
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| ekny | Sep 10 2009, 10:46 PM Post #1020 |
In love with a prisoner
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I can't prove it but although I do have an account, I almost never log in because I don't use it except when someone tells me they've sent me an email. I have no home page that I'm aware of, no channels etc. But maybe I spaced & checked today; I log in & out of some sites so fast it's automatic, barely 15, 20 seconds, so I guess that's what I did. ...oh well.
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