Oh god, xie, you don't even want to get started on this conversation. My theory, having watched the whole fucking thing. It was either: Internalized homophobia that was unintentionally amazingly offensive, blatant homophobia that was intentionally amazingly offensive, or a bizarre dream I had in which crazed fans wrote brutal revenge!fic and filmed it.

I hope it's the last, frankly, because at least that's personal and not political. But I suspect it's one or two. :(

Yeah, I wrote a letter to the writers/producers and also sent it to the GLAAD media report, which was my sobbing over the weekend, but for today I'm choosing to believe the third one, since there's nothing more I can do.

they killed him so they could save the life of a straight person who has been lying to everyone in his life about being sick. if the dumbass would have told a doctor about his condition earlier it could have all been avoided. but of course in the land of the soap operas it is oh so tragic that a gay couple has happiness over a straight douche bag.

the ending made me very very mad.

It was so, so horrendous, Xie. So, so, so D: D: D:

He was the soap opera equivalent of Brian Kinney, too.

I read about it a bit at AfterElton. I understand when a beloved character dies when a series ends and how we as fans get upset and angry -- they killed Xena in the series finale, too.

But beyond that, this seems politically really really wrong...

Absolutely. There was no reason to kill him whatsover - it made NO SENSE AT ALL.

I'm not saying no gay character on TV can ever die, but to kill off an iconic gay character just as the series ends really does seem like it's either ignorant beyond belief or offensive beyond belief. In fact, the writers being that ignorant would itself be offensive.

So sorry, Suz.

Yep! That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

Don't forget the part about Reid and his boyfriend
NEVER having sex, while the guy who is dying of
heart disease has sex with a woman who he has
only started dating. Because two healthy and adult
gay men love to wait for "the perfect moment" to
fuck, while straight people dive right in.

Right. That part really pissed me off!

Honey, I can't even tell you. I could live through Justin vanishing from underneath Brian 5525442254 times before I could even think of the pain of this ending once,

Yeah, it's pretty darned bad, Xie.

Anthony Langford at afterelton.com covers the soaps and a fella by the name of Snicks does live blogging during the epis with Luke and Reid. I'd really like to see them or anyone in the media write a piece on how the killing off of Reid looks to the viewer. Like others, I can't determine if it was homophobia by design or unintentional.

Like Suz said, Reid had similar qualities as Brian Kinney - proud, strong, vulnerable, smart, snarky, closed-off, warmhearted. The character deserved better than being a prop for a boring rushed-together straight couple.

Surprisingly, the same show that came up with this dreck, created a fantastic character and a wonderful love story. While straight characters get their bed scenes well before it makes sense, Luke and Reid were held off and instead of bed jumping, we were treated to a developing relationship between two fine characters. That's the plus side. On the negative side, the fans of this couple get a kick in the gut.

Oh yeah, and we never got a love scene for them. Might as well kill one of the guys off before that happens. Therefore, saving the phone lines from burning up with homophobic craziness.

*sighs*

I'll say this even as someone who hated the character of Reid (I find the comparison of him to Brian to be laughable and extremely disrespectful to the complex character Brian was). I wanted the original gay couple (Luke and Noah) to end up together. But ending the show with killing Reid off and leaving all the gay characters either dead (Reid) or miserable (Luke, Noah) while all the straight characters get their happy endings (including Chris who gets Reid's heart so he can live happily ever after with Katie and they can raise her baby together) has me absolutely sick with rage.

Don't get me started on the scene where Reid and Luke were making out (or ATWT's equivalent anyway) and about to have sex for the first time but stopped because one of them sat on a baby rattle (Reid lived with Katie and her son)! Oh no, must not let the gays have sex! A baby lives here! Won't someone think of the children?

And seriously, even out of this show, I expected a bit more today than what we got. The only character who actually seemed distressed that Reid was dying was Luke. The others were more concerned with the fact that Reid didn't get to bring back the heart he had gone to retrieve to save Chris. Absolutely disgusting.

What burns me the most is many people will say "the show wasn't homophobic! At least they had gay characters!" GRRRRRR!!!!!!

Edited 2010-09-07 09:41 pm (UTC)

Linking the letter I sent to CBS, soap mags, GLADD etc. It's Reid-centric, but I urge all of us, no matter what affiliation who are angry at the homophobia, intentional or not, to send their own like this. Because this is way bigger than who Luke should have ended up with
http://pghbekka.livejournal.com/32854.html#cutid1

Well, yes, didn't you know it's all about that? To show everyone how oh-so-gay-friendly you are? But, of course, when it comes to gay guys having a life, oh no! Can't have that. IMHO it's homophobia at his worst.

Btw ... I agree that Reid and Brian were not the same, but they shared smiliar qualities. And like Brian Reid came a long way and discovered that attaching himself to someone else was nothing to be afraid of. :)

Okay, maybe I'm incredibly naive, but as an unabashed soap fan I feel as though it is a possibility that they are simply trying to write a classic soap story here. Of course they are failing miserably, and I HATE this ending, but I'm not entirely sure it is a homophobic decision in nature. Once of the most celebrated soap storylines of all time is the B.J/Maxie hear transplant story on GH in the 90's. Little Maxie needed a heart, and her cousin BJ was in a bus crash etc, you get the idea. It was actually beautifully well done and the after effects played out for years. Of course as I said, ATWT is giving us an AWFUL ending. Not only is this an awful way to end the show, but it is a cop-out and copied as well! I wonder if the writers simply want Luke and Noah back together and also wanted to "go out with a bang"?

It also reminds me of an occurrence on Another World shortly before it went off the air, where they dedicated an entire hour to the stalking, strangulation, and murder of a PSYCHIC and much beloved character (Frankie). It was absurd, and disgusting. The outrage was enormous, but as with this, the damage was already done.

Or I could be completely off base and this is pure homophobia at work!

I respect that you are trying to see this from a broader angle and trying not to jump to conclusions, but have you watched any of the storylines on As the World Turns in the last year? It's an honest question, not trying to be snarky. The quality of the writing has been from simply mind-numbingly bad to agonizingly horrible. I can give them no benefit of the doubt.

Also, this story was not written to get Luke and Noah back together for the end because the do not reunite. Noah has professed his love for Luke but Luke was falling for Reid and now is mourning for him. So Noah leaves Oakdale and the only home, family, and friends he has ever known and moves by himself to LA. He and Luke both end the show completely heartbroken and miserable. This is not a happy ending for anyone -- except the straigth guy who gets Reid's heart and makes plans to marry Katie and live happily ever after and coach Little League, etc.

It may be unintentional homophobia but there's little doubt in my mind that it is homophobia nonetheless.

Edited 2010-09-07 10:11 pm (UTC)

Oh, don't say that. I'm clinging to the hope that this is the sort of revenge!fic that us sane fans hide in our communities.

A mentally unhinged Noah fan (rejected by all of the other Nuke/Noah fans) wrote this and tomorrow Luke and Noah are going to be bouncing around WOAK singing ding dong the dr's dead.

Cause that is a much preferable answer than anything else I've come up with

It's comforting to see a Luke and Noah fan showing their disdain for this dreck. I know some fans are quite thrilled with Reid's deaths. I'm not sure who those people are really fans of.

I feel so bad for Nuke fans as well. The promise of a soapy triangle never materialized. I feel TPTB played with both the Nuke and Lure fans. Thankfully, each group has some good memories to draw on. :)

"So Noah leaves Oakdale and the only home, family, and friends he has ever known and moves by himself to LA. He and Luke both end the show completely heartbroken and miserable. "

Oh, man! I didn't know that! Okay then. That does put a new spin on things. Oh, and I completely agree with you regarding the horrifyingly bad storylines of the past year. I guess since the entire genre has taken such a downward spiral in recent years I'm getting used to it. It all stinks no matter how you look at it.

Especially as the straight guy who gets the heart is an asshole of major proportions. One should not forget that!

Well, since same-sex couples have been perennially cheated out of a happy ending, and there is a lengthy history of gay characters dying in film, TV, and literature, I'd say that regardless of whether they meant this just to be a typical soapy ending or not, you can't examine that decision or intent outside of the greater context. So whether it's intentional or ignorant, it's still homophobic.

Great points, Xie. For me, since so many of my soap couples have been cheated out of happy endings for various idiotic story choices I guess I've been thinking about it in pure soap context, and have been utterly miserable over that. I've seen couples I've watched for many years end up alone, one having died some utterly pointless tragic death, so that's where my focus has been. But, the context you bring up does make me consider this whole other aspect that I just hadn't come to on my own.

I especially appreciate your point as to wether it is intentional or not, it is still homophobic.

I just wanted to let you know that I'm still thinking about your comments today, so thanks for making me truly think about this.

Wow, thank you for letting me know!

Really horrific ending indeed :(