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The
Battle for Bianca and Maggie on All My Children
Sarah Warn,
February 2003
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Note:
New article on All My Children's recent lesbian kiss
here.
The
character of Bianca Montgomery was born (literally)
on ABC's All My Children in
1988, the daughter of Susan Lucci's legendary and long-running
character Erica Kane. Over the years, AMC fans have watched
Bianca struggle with Reyes Syndrome, anorexia nervosa, the death
of her father, and multiple actresses playing the role.
Then
in 2000, actress Eden Riegel stepped into the role of 16-year-old
Bianca, just a few months before Bianca became the first long-standing
character on a soap to come out as gay or lesbian. And every
year since then, All My Children has been nominated
by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for
its "fair, accurate, and inclusive portrayal" of a
lesbian teenager and her mother's process coming to terms with
her daughter's homosexuality.
On
the surface, it's a curious award for a show which
in two years, has never given its lesbian character an on-screen
girlfriend. This is partly because, so far, Bianca has had a
bad habit of falling for straight women. But GLAAD Director
of Communications John Sonego contends that "Many young,
newly out lesbians fall for a close friend, only to discover
the friend is straight" and that on television "Unrequited
love...and heartbreak are what keep the viewers tuning in -
and learning."
Unrequited
love is something which Bianca is quite familiar with--she is
currently in love with her supposedly straight friend, Maggie
(played by Elizabeth Hendrickson), who in a January 2003 episode
of the daytime drama finally told a devastated Bianca "I
love you, I really do...but I'm into guys." Hendrickson
previously played Maggie's twin sister Frankie on the show,
another woman Bianca had a crush on, who was mysteriously murdered
last year (don't ask!).
Although
GLAAD may be happy with Bianca's storyline, two years
of no on-screen romance doesn't seem to satisfy
BAM ("Bianca and Maggie"), a coalition of fans determined
to convince All My Children to develop a romantic relationship
between the two characters. Beginning last year, the fans have
campaigned aggressively to make their feelings known to All
My Children writers and execs--and it seems to be working:
the leading soap opera magazines now routinely mention the ardent
fan support for a Bianca-Maggie relationship, such as in the
December 31st issue of Soap Opera Digest, which nominated Bianca
and Maggie as the "Best Non-Couple" of the year:
"It
seems that AMC's hesitation to formally pair these two has actually
upped their rooting value. While other recent duos spend more
time baring their bodies than their souls, Maggie and Bianca
have built their bond the old-fashioned way: through intimate
talks and longing glances. If our mail is any indication, viewers
are ready for Bianca to have more with her dearest pal than
just an unrequited crush."
TV
Guide Soap Columnist Michael Logan dubbed the non-relationship
as "Rip-Off of the Year" in his January 4th, 2003
roundup of "The Worst of 2002:"
"AMC
teased and titillated us mercilessly with the flirtatious sparks
between openly gay Bianca (Eden Riegel) and her buddy Maggie
(Elizabeth Hendrickson), but the show-once famous for its boldness-didn't
have the guts to put the in a real romance, even though the
fans are begging for it. C'mon, AMC! These two have more chemistry
than any boy-girl duo in soaps!"
In
February, 2003, BAM stepped up their efforts through
letters, videos, t-shirts and roses to All My Children,
and it paid off with multiple mentions in the leading soap opera
magazines. On
February 4th, ABC Soaps in Depth included this blurb:
"BAM
Fans lobby for Romance! Fans behind the BAM (Bianca and Maggie)
campaign, which hopes to see the AMC pair become more than friends,
are sending out catchy videos, 'Love is...BAM!' T-shirts, and
white roses symbolic of the one Maggie once gave Bianca. 'We want
the obvious: a romance between Bianca and Maggie," says the
group.'
A
February 2003 issue of Soap Opera Weekly mentioned them, as well:
"BAM fans keep championing their favorite couple--Bianca
and Maggie--even though the show is going ahead with plans to
hook up Maggie with Henry. The fans have been inundating the soap
(as well as WEEKLY) with t-shirts, videos, testimonials and other
paraphernalia. But will they be victorious?"
Although
the two actresses in question are heterosexual, they
have been very public about their support for
taking their characters' relationship beyond friendship. In response
to the statement that "fans want a romance between Maggie
and Bianca" in a November 5th, 2002 interview with Soap Opera
Digest, Riegel replies "We want it, too. I think Liz [Hendrickson]
will agree that it would be an amazing storyline. It would be
an important storyline." Hendrickson answers "Definitely.
I am more than willing to go that way."
Although
both actresses are quick to point out that they don't have any
say in the storyline, Riegel remains optimistic, commenting that
"when it does [happen], I think the show has proven itself
capable of doing the storyline in a very sensitive and positive
way. Nobody could do it better than All My Children."
The
actresses have also taken note of BAM, telling Soap Opera Weekly
in February:
"[BAM]
sent me and Liz [Hendrickson] this big package with presents,
hats and posters that say 'Absolute BAM'" marvels Eden
Riegel. "All of them wrote us these wonderful notes about
what the characters and the storyline means to them. I don't
know how this happened, but I'm incredibly inspired and energized
by it."
So
what about the All My Children writers, for
whom all this campaigning is intended? The message is clearly
getting through, but the writers are predictably noncommittal.
In a February issue of Soap Opera Weekly, All My Children
head writer Gordon Rayfield did acknowledge the BAM campaign,
saying "We just take that as a commitment to our characters,
and we're hoping to not disappoint them. But sometimes the fun
is in waiting to see the scenes that you want to see and the relationships
you want to see."
The
question is how much longer Bianca and Maggie fans are willing
to wait.
The
level of visibility to which the BAM campaign has risen,
however, is unprecedented in soap
opera history, which historically has hardly been a hotbed of
homosexual activity. There have been other gay characters on soap
operas, but they are mostly men--with the notable exception of
Donna Pescow as Dr. Lynn Carson on All My Children in
1983--and usually don't last more than a year or so (if that long).
Gay
and lesbian relationships, however, are almost non-existent
in daytime television, which is why a relationship between Bianca
and Maggie would be so ground-breaking.
So
far, however, the show has chosen to focus mostly on the important
but less controversial topic of Bianca's changing relationship
with her mother after coming out. Erica Kane's progress in dealing
with her daughter's sexuality is a serious issue and it has been
sensitively handled by All My Children, but if the writers
don't allow Bianca to develop the same relationships as the other
(heterosexual) characters on the show, they risk undoing much
of the progress they've made by reinforcing the stereotype of
the lonely lesbian destined for a life of rejection and unrequited
love.
Granted,
this IS a soap opera, where unhappiness, betrayal, and ruin are
pretty much the order of the day--but let's give the lesbian character
the same chance to screw up her relationships as everyone else
on the show.
April
14th Update: All My Children has finally decided
to give Bianca a girlfriend--but it isn't Maggie. The new woman
in her life is Lena, a bisexual schemer who initially seduces
Bianca as part of a plan to take over her mother's company,
but ends up inadvertently falling for her. On April 23, 2003
the two women kissed onscreen, marking
the first time a lesbian kiss has ever been shown on daytime
television. AMC execs have indicated that Bianca and Lena will
end up in bed together shortly, but off-screen.
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