But
for all its outlandish twists and turns, Passions has
yet to seriously tackle a lesbian storyline--until now. Beginning
in late August or early September, one of Passions
long-running characters will be revealed to be gay, or at least
bisexual.
The woman in question is 22-year-old Simone (now played by Cathy
Janeen Doe, who stepped into the role in July of 2004), the
daughter of athletic coach TC (Rodney Van Johnson), and Dr.
Eve Russell (Tracey Ross), and the sister of prominent character
Whitney (Brook Kerr).
Although
Simone has previously only dated men, sources close to the show
tell AfterEllen.com that she will become involved in a relationship
with a new female character, Rae, in an upcoming episode. Simone
thinks it's true love and excitedly comes out to her disapproving
parents, only to discover to her dismay that Rae just wants
to keep it casual.
What
happens after that is still anyone's guess.
Daytime
television hasn't had the best history with gay and
lesbian characters. ABC's All My
Children introduced the first lesbian on daytime in
1983, when Donna Pescow had a short recurring role as lesbian
Dr. Lynn Carson, and AMC also introduced the first teen lesbian
character (and first lesbian kiss) on daytime TV in 2000. There
haven't been many lesbian/bisexual characters in-between. Although
a female character on Passions named Beth did become
romantically involved with a new "lesbian" character
named Charlie in 2003, Charlie was eventually revealed to be
a man in disguise (and both were fairly unsavory characters,
like everyone else on this show).
The
few lesbian relationships on daytime TV so far have been mostly
in name only, with the networks unwilling to allow the writers
to let same-sex couples show much affection on-camera. Currently,
Simone's coming-out episode does include a kiss, and even a
scene of the women lying in bed together, but whether these
scenes will make the final cut remains to be seen.
Although
Simone's race may make diversify the images of lesbians on TV
(all previous lesbian/bi characters on daytime have been white),
her behavior reinforces the popular stereotype that lesbians
turn to other women because of negative experiences with men.
"All our families have been messed up by men," Simone
told another female character on the January 17th episode of
Passions. "It's the men that cause all the trouble,
and it's the women that just can't help but get sucked up into
it...men are real jerks. I hate them all."
But
a man-hating lesbian is to be expected on a series that regularly
serves up rape and incest as entertainment. You'd be hard-pressed
to find another television series in which more of its female
characters have been sexually assaulted by men (yet another
female character is slated to be raped around the same time
Simone's gay storyline begins). But lest you think the series
singles out men unfairly, the behavior of the show's female
characters--which includes drugging their lovers, kidnapping
babies, and turning into evil zombies--has been just as bad.
Compared
to some of the other female characters on Passions,
in fact, Simone the man-hating lesbian is likely to look like
Harmony's Citizen of the Year.
The
show's dialogue is as convoluted as its plotlines,
with characters routinely uttering sentences like this one currently
in the script for Simone's coming-out episode: "[My sister's]
baby turned out to be our half-brother Chad's child, and then
she lost her mind and had sex with him all over again during
the Tsunami!"
But
it is the very outrageousness of the soap that has made it a
cult favorite among younger viewers. Although its total viewer
numbers are small--averaging around 2 million per episode--the
show is very popular among teens and young adults, an audience
that other daytime dramas have struggled to attract and retain.
Its
younger (read: more liberal) audience may allow Passions
to push the envelope with its lesbian storyline beyond what
other soaps have done in the past. But on the other hand, Simone's
lesbian affair may turn out to be just another bait and switch
to lure new viewers, and Simone could go back to being straight
after awhile. Or she could discover she's pregnant with Rae's
baby, and Rae is really Satan in disguise.
On
this show, you just never know what might happen.
