Usually, I don’t respond to reader feedback since everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and mine are hardly the be-all end-all to begin with. Also, whenever I’ve tried to explain myself — for instance, the fact that I don’t dislike Bold & Beautiful’s Thomas — I only dig myself deeper into the hole. So generally it’s smarter for me to shut up and move on.
But I was really bummed to see reader Mark Harding’s tweet suggesting that my recent Soapbox had “[bleeped] on the representation part” of trading Young & Restless‘ Mariah and Tessa for Tessa and Daniel “because [I] perceive chemistry” between the latter two characters. If the impression that I gave was that I was [bleeping] on representation, then I really [bleeped] up. (Maybe I was too focused on chemistry.)
I loved “Teriah” when they were falling for one another. They threw the kinda sparks that make you put on sunglasses before tuning in. But more and more, their “storylines” became just “plot points” — and often ones that were played out off screen. Does anybody remember Aria’s adoption? No, ’cause we only heard about it, we never saw any of it.
More: Is Tessa going to wind up pregnant?
When “Teriah” did get screen time, it felt more and more like they had started competing with the last Noah for the Most Depressing Character Ever Award. (“Aria has a hearing problem!” “You were nice to Ian Ward!” “I have a deep, dark secret that I’d rather push you away than reveal!” “I’m gonna go kidnap Dominic now for ‘reasons’!”) So yeah, I lost interest.
That’s not on the actors; they play what they get — but if you ask me (and no one did), what they got didn’t serve them or their characters well. And the last thing I want is for Young & Restless’ only two LGBTQ+ characters to be remanded to the backburner again. They deserve better. We in the audience deserve better. That’s why I even advocated for Mariah to do the work she needs to in order to get her feet back underneath her — to stop being a Debbie Downer and really fight for Tessa. I’d watch the hell out of a Mariah/Tessa/Daniel triangle and count my blessings that it was a break from the CEO-of-the-week nonsense.
Or hell, let Mariah and Tessa stay apart awhile longer, let Mariah catch the eye of someone new — whatever happened to the intriguing Woman in Green from the Grand Phoenix? — and then let Tessa realize, “Oh. Maybe I was a little hasty in hammering the last nail into the coffin of my marriage.”
Anyway, the last thing I’d wish for is less representation. I want Fen back on the canvas and on the frontburner. (Am I forgetting someone, or has Young & Restless never had a gay male character in the spotlight?) I want General Hospital to address the impact of the horrific way trans people are being demonized through Terry (daytime’s only trans character, even though she’s never on anymore). I want Bold & Beautiful to remember that it promised us a gay couple and bring Remy back for Deke.
I want a lot of things, and maybe I’m greedy, but I want even more than better representation, I want our LGBTQ+ characters to have good, compelling story, too. (While we’re at it, I very much want Starfleet Academy to get un-cancelled; that’s a truly diverse canvas!) But until I find the right star to wish on, what I have in the meantime is opinions, whether popular or un-.
