The Many Faces of Liz 

Liz is a character who doesn’t get broken down too often. I mean, we could discuss for hours the many vices of Carly or the personality quirks of Flea, or the “Artificial Intelligence” of Jason the Automaton, but rarely do you hear much about Liz. Now here is a character as complex as the ominous Helena Cassadine and as tragic as the tormented Lucky Spencer. She’s been through numerous trials; rape, losing her true love (twice), watching Helena eliminate Lucky’s love for her, feigning death and being locked in a crypt as of late.

With all that going on, she has every right to be a mental case. Everyone on GH is a mental case…they’re all suffering from some kind of problem, whether it’s being a pathological liar, battling an addiction or having some sort of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Every character is therapy worthy and Liz is not the angel she sometimes seems to think she is.

I saw a movie a long time ago called “The Three Faces of Eve” about a lady who suffers from multiple personality disorder. In one persona, she’s just plain old Eve White, golden girl and symbol of perfection. In another, she’s Eve Black, a wild child, a party girl and pretty dang sexy. As the third person, she’s Jane, normal, sweet, honest. This reminds me of Liz…depending on the people she’s around (and the time of the month); she has a face for every occasion. 

#1 Liz “White”, Riding on her High Horse

I’ve heard Liz referred to more than once as on a “high horse”, looking down on those not worthy of her precious time. She often assumes this position when around Lucky, Sarah, Gia and Nikolas, people who have “offended” her and don’t deserve to even look upon her glorious countenance, much less hear the sound of her melodious voice. Okay, so maybe she’s not always thinking that, but that’s the impression I get when she talks to Nikolas like he’s a flea-infested swamp rat or she treats those “lowly ingrates” like they’re career criminals and her record’s spotless. I know her records not spotless. I don’t have all the details, but from what I’ve read, I gather that she wasn’t the golden child when her sister Sarah was around the first time. But although she believes in lying to friends and family to save her true love from the clutches of Helena Cassadine, when the shoe is on the other foot (as it was when Nikolas lied to keep ! Gia from going to jail), the person who had the audacity to lie to her, to her very face (oh the horror!) is the most horrendous person to walk the planet. Now Liz can be a very difficult person to deal with when she has this Queen Mother thing going on. She angrily accused Zander of sleeping with her just to spite Jason, yet somewhere, lurking in her heart, is the sneaking suspicion that she slept with Zander just to replace Jason…If Jason had been there instead of Zander, would she have slept with him instead? You can bet she’s asked herself that question and often wondered what the answer might be. She rails against the immorality of a guy lying to save his girl while she’s best friends with a guy who sets fires and kills people for a living. Irony? Yes, Liz has her moments of condescension, of haughtiness and self-righteousness, but I hope that occasionally, she realizes that her slate isn’t sparkling clean either. 

#2 Liz “Black”…Bar Dance, need I say more?

Fortunately, Liz is not one of very loose morals. She’s only slept with two guys in her life (a record I’m sure for a character of her duration) so she’s not classified as a “hoe”. Of course, she falls in this category mainly because of that appalling bar dance, an act I’m sure she’d love to erase from her slate just as much as we’d like to erase it from our memories. She did some pretty devious things when she was younger though, jealous of Sarah and Lucky. She also successfully managed to pull off a deception that went unnoticed by Helena Cassadine, poising as Nikolas’s hapless girlfriend and later feigning death just to help save her dear Lucky. Although we don’t see this side of Liz very often, be assured, when it shows, it shows with a vengeance. 

#3 Lizzy Jane; has a nice ring, don’t ya think?

Liz being open and honest. Liz being vulnerable and needy. We don’t see this side much. Liz baring her soul doesn’t happen very often. Of course, being locked in a crypt, thinking that you’re going to die always leads to some soul searching and surprising revelations. We never saw this side of Liz after Lucky, when she had no one to turn to. But do I hear a motorcycle in the distance? Does the nauseating phrase “paint the wind” ring any bells? It’s always with that leather clad buddy of hers that we see the Liz inside. Can you believe that beneath all the bravado and claims of independence she’s still just a girl who wants to be loved, and held? Sappy, I know, but that’s how it goes in soaps. That everlasting, annoying idea that women can’t survive without men or whatever. Liz has proven that she can survive without a man; it’s just not as fun or interesting. And although her and Zander look cute together, Jason’s the only one who doesn’t make her feel pressured, or trapped. He never forces her to choose and he’s the only one with whom she can be completely honest and free. And she’s the only one who makes him smile. 

So, which is the real Liz? Is it the haughty, righteous Liz White? The independent, scheming Liz Black? Or the honest, open Lizzy Jane? Well, why not all? You know it’s a women’s prerogative to change her mind and it’s also safe to say that every Liz mentioned above is who Liz is at different times and around different people. She’s a character with more facets than a diamond and though she’s not always right, as long as she thinks she is, we’ll still get to see Liz in all her multi-faceted glory. But if she ever Bar Dances again, well, let’s just say she’ll need to take a long walk off a short pier (and we all know there’s plenty of those).