During the last decade GH incorporated some important LGBTQ characters featuring Felix, Lucas, Brad, and Kristina in a number of stories under RC and Shelley Altman. The new writers have no desire writing for GH's queer characters. Felix is MIA. Brad is in jail. Kristina is hardly ever on. And Lucas is completely sidelined even in a story that he should have played a major role. GH you can do better.
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we did see felix recently in mike’s room, so there is that. but no actual story, just a prop.
as someone else mentioned, kristina is annoying so i don’t care about her.
i do miss terry, and gh can always accomadate doctors, bring her back please.
i miss lucas, if the character needs to be recast, i would accept that
im not sure tptb are taking a direct aim at the community, i think its more storyline driven that these characters are not on screen rn
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I don't know that I think it is a necessary attack, but this show has like 7 characters that steady get good writing and everyone else is left with scraps. Lucas is a doctor and a legacy character yet gets nothing. And I'm sorry but if the actor doesn't want to be on more they need to recast. He should be front burner or at least a side burner like Maxie and Lulu are.Shelly, Moderator
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I absolutely agree Sam_Philly_Girl, a recast for Lucas, but we don't know what his contract is so maybe they can't recast. I would love to see more Lucas especially in this custody battle and Brad being updated in jail by Julian or even Nelle in her stick it to you way. I so miss Felix and Terry. I would be fine with less Maxie, Lulu, Brooklyn and Chase or Brooklyn and Julian and more hospital scenes involving Felix and Terry.
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Maybe I am wrong but I always felt like writers weren't quite sure what to do with a gay character. Since the cast population is limited (although larger than some soaps) there is a limit to how many gay men or lesbions would be in Port Charles so a limit to how many romantic combinations there could be. Marriages on soaps don't last so the possibilities for these characters are small unless new characters are constantly brought in. Kristina was probably made fluid for this reason. Just a thought.
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As with everyone else in the fandom world of soaps, I feel that we see the same core characters in all of the storylines. This has been said so.many.times. I do not know the writers, what is going through their minds when they write. There seems to be so much turnover in regime of the show. (WHY?) MANY soap writers haven’t regarded history of storyline or character since the early 90’s. There will always be a unknown family member, old friends etc., lurking in the shadows. That is different. It is unnecessary for a new actor taking on an existing role, for their backstory to change for them to develop further.
The “reality” shows “thrive” on drama and scandal. Soaps are the great-grandparents of this. We need soaps to move forward to 2020 and give us diversity. Don’t give us a nibble and take it away. I was hoping something would develop for Dr. Terri when she was treating Oscar. She is smart, she is beautiful and a close friend to Elizabeth. She had tons of potential. Felix is a nurse! That in of itself is HUGE and not given a second though, then he is very charismatic and easy on the eyes. He was with Brad for 2 seconds and then sent to unknown, he doesn’t interact with anyone, not to be seen. These token characters look good in-theory, but their stories aren’t developed. It’s unrealistic for the real world or soapland.
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I love the LGBTQ characters that GH has, but I would also argue that 90% of the cast are almost never shown. The hospital staff even less so which with the exception of Kristina, all of the LGBTQ characters are apart of the hospital staff
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It isn't just these writers, though. The LGBTQ characters have been on the back burner for a long time. Brad and Lucas were only brought forward for the Wiley story. And even then, we saw a lot of Brad scheming but relatively little of Lucas. Felix is back on canvas, occasionally -- but it had been a really long time since we had seen him at all, even in the background.
I agree that it's very disappointing that we don't get to see Lucas coping with the aftermath of the Wiley reveal. I also would have liked to have seen more of Kristina coping after she got out of the cult.
I don't see why the writers don't use these two more. Lucas has tons of ties to characters onscreen, he is a doctor at GH, and wasn't he part of the same group as Maxie and Brook Lynn in high school?
As for Kristina, she's part of the Corinthos clan, she's a Davis woman, and she has the unique advantage of being able to be paired with either women or men.
One problem may be that the writers have more characters than they have time for.
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Originally posted by DOOLWill View PostDuring the last decade GH incorporated some important LGBTQ characters featuring Felix, Lucas, Brad, and Kristina in a number of stories under RC and Shelley Altman. The new writers have no desire writing for GH's queer characters. Felix is MIA. Brad is in jail. Kristina is hardly ever on. And Lucas is completely sidelined even in a story that he should have played a major role. GH you can do better.
As a male viewer since the mid 90's, I think their gay character and story lines are pretty much exactly where they should be, both from a realistic perspective (only a small minority of people fit into LGBTQ in reality...I think it's around 7%) and I'm pretty sure GH's core audience has always had a much more conservative bent, especially considering how old the show now is.
In light of the above...there is significant coverage of gay character/lifestyle/story/etc. The percentage is appropriate considering both the minority factor and the conservative audience factor. Note that there are also plenty of black characters and story lines, also in line with population percentages.
I personally think they do a great job in this regard, and I enjoy all of both the gay and black characters and stories as a middle aged straight white male.
My on-going complaint about GH is them not putting the plethora of hot ladies on the show in less clothing/swimsuits/etc. Port Charles is western NY, where I live, and our summers are hot and women wear short shorts and swimsuits and go to the beach. BUT: I recognize the mostly-female audience has no interest in that, so I, perhaps like you, don't have much right to complain.
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I agree with your comment. I know nothing about individual actors/ contracts/ and how the show revolves around a core group of characters....ahem. That said - the GH cast is huge. It is impossible to showcase everyone every week. The LGBTQ characters are present except for Dr. Terri, and Lucas. They are supporting players in the current storylines. They were featured front and center a year or two ago. This is the way of the soap with a cast this huge.
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I don't think this is about a deliberate policy of slighting LGBTetc characters, but the lack of investment in them. I absolutely disagree that there is enough diversity on this show when it comes to LGBTQ characters, but especially so black characters, not to mention everyone else.
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Why does it always have to be that the writers are doing it on purpose or singling LGBTQ out.
Soaps never did that and never will. They were the first to push it when it was taboo.
‘People are always want there to be a reason. It’s just the way the writing is playing out right now , and I have seen all of LGBTQ characters lately? Everyone take a breath .......
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My understanding is they get paid by how many episodes they are in which is worked out during contract negotiations. We saw Lucas and Brad more frequently before the Wiley reveal of Nelle and Michael as his parents. Maybe they used up a lot of their
episodes then so we aren’t seeing them as much. This is why we see a lot of certain characters and a lot less of others like Kristina and Molly. It’s due to contracts etc.
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The upcoming Story of Soaps special advertises the fact that prime time shows have followed the "to be continued" aspect of soaps. The binge factor started with soaps and now prime time has followed leaving cliff hangers and stories that aren't concluded on nearly every episode.
However, prime time has leaped far ahead in giving us more LGBTQ story lines and characters. Mixing families and sexual types is common place in most prime time shows now, comedies as well as dramas. I can't think of a show I watch that at some time hasn't included a queer character story line. I agree with OP - General Hospital has taken a backwards approach in the area of giving us good core quality LGBTQ stories. I could go political here given the times but I won't because this would be deleted. But the truth is staring us in the face.
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Originally posted by DOOLWill View PostDuring the last decade GH incorporated some important LGBTQ characters featuring Felix, Lucas, Brad, and Kristina in a number of stories under RC and Shelley Altman. The new writers have no desire writing for GH's queer characters. Felix is MIA. Brad is in jail. Kristina is hardly ever on. And Lucas is completely sidelined even in a story that he should have played a major role. GH you can do better.
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Originally posted by taramartin View PostMaybe I am wrong but I always felt like writers weren't quite sure what to do with a gay character. Since the cast population is limited (although larger than some soaps) there is a limit to how many gay men or lesbions would be in Port Charles so a limit to how many romantic combinations there could be. Marriages on soaps don't last so the possibilities for these characters are small unless new characters are constantly brought in. Kristina was probably made fluid for this reason. Just a thought.
The writers should not be struggling with "what to do with" gay characters.
They are characters, who happen to be gay, and their storylines should revolve around their families, friends, jobs, etc., just like the storylines do for straight characters.
Gay characters should not be defined by their sexual orientation any more that straight characters are defined by their sexual orientation.
Characters should, imo, be defined by their internal qualities (integrity, honesty, empathy, etc.) and their external behavior (how they treat people and live their lives).
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Think of the old ad, "Love in the Afternoon " - soap characters have careers and families but they are mostly about romantic relationships. The characters seldom have friends unless it is a lead in to a romance. Anyway, I guess we'd have to ask the writers to know for sure.
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Romantic relationships can certainly include relationships between same sex couples.
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