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Comments through Friday, November 5, 2004 Probably you have heard or read the story about the blind men and the elephant. I won’t quote the entire Indian fable or the poem by John Godfrey Saxe, but here’s a quick summary. Three blind men touched an elephant (or five blind men or six depending on the version). The first blind man touched the elephant’s trunk and exclaimed, “Oh my, the elephant is very like a snake.” The second blind man felt upon the elephant’s side and exclaimed, “Oh, I see that the elephant is very like a wall.” The third blind man happened upon the elephant’s tail and thought, “I can tell that the elephant is very like a rope.” And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right, And all were in the wrong! And how does this fable relate to GH? Well, I was reminded of it during interactions between Alexis, Sonny and Ric. The three of them were discussing Kristina; however, they were holding three separate conversations and couldn’t see past their own scars to understand anyone else’s point of view. A witness to her mother’s murder and then forced to live with an evil, tormenting stepmother Alexis can only see that she must protect Kristina from Sonny and his dangerous lifestyle. That Sonny would love his daughter and has a right to be a part of her life is a triflesome concern next to keeping Kristina safe. Abandoned by his father and forced to watch his mother suffer from Mike’s neglect, Sonny possessively claims his children and stands by them no matter what because that’s what a man should do, even if it’s difficult or painful. Yes, he doggedly calls his children “mine” not because they are objects, but because he takes his parenting responsibilities seriously. Ric can’t move past his feelings that his mother rejected him by choosing to raise Sonny and leaving him with an unloving father and stepmother. Sonny is the enemy, a threat to Ric’s security wherever he is. His feelings for Alexis demand that he support her claim to full custody of Kristina because he knows the pain of a child forced to live without his mother. All week Alexis, Ric, and Sonny bickered back and forth in the hall outside of Kristina’s room. Each presented their side of the argument unable to grasp a wider view than what they endured as children. The coolest part of the scenes was that even through the medley of voices raised in one sided arguments, I understood that the writers were offering dialogue appropriate to each character. Pat on the back to the writers for keeping the characters true to their history.
Alexis: I have to protect my daughter. Ric: You cannot take a baby from its mother. Sonny: Nothing keeps me away from my children. One topic, three unrelated conversations. Oh, the twisted irony of Alexis bullying Sam into inducing labor only to have her suffer from a separated placenta. Alexis aggressively guilted Sam into agreeing to induce labor only to have Sam fall at her feet in an unexpected pregnancy crises. Even though Dr. Webber explained, and I confirmed with Katrina our resident birthing expert who taught Lamaze classes for 18 years, that the stress of Alexis’ badgering didn’t cause the problem, the guilt can’t be denied. “How will you feel when my baby dies and you could have saved her?” Alexis demanded of Sam. Well, Alexis, how will you feel when Sam’s baby dies and your baby lives after receiving stem cells from Sam’s baby’s umbilical cord? Will she play out the guilt or will it be 10 minutes of grateful thank yous and then back to her life with Kristina and now Ric. And let’s not forget the irony that if Sam had agreed to induce labor, she wouldn’t have suffered from a separated placenta and her baby probably would have lived. Would you take the 10% chance to save another baby? I think I would. Sam asked Jason, “Do you think I’m being selfish?” after she turned down Alexis request that she induce labor on her already full term baby. And I replied, “Yes, I do.” Sam’s baby had a 90% chance for survival while Kristina’s odds were 100% death. Quite the moral dilemma. Over the summer I met a lady at my daughter’s swim lessons who was pregnant with her 9th child. “On purpose?” I asked without tact when she told me. Yep, on purpose. One of her children was suffering from a bone marrow disease and needed the cells from the umbilical cord which apparently don’t completely code DNA-wise so they would be a viable match for her sibling. After birthing 8 children what’s one more, so she and her husband made the decision to have another baby to save an older child. I’ve thought about her often over the past few months wondering how they’d explain the situation to the baby. Would the 9th child feel like she was special, born for a purpose, to save her brother’s life, or would she look at 8 brothers and sisters and feel like an unwanted afterthought? And yet, the parents must have felt they had no choice since no one in the family could donate their bone marrow. Of course, have another baby, save the sibling. I wish Sam would have agonized for a moment, weighed the pros and cons, regarding saving her daughter’s big sister. What a disappointment when you plead with your ex-husband to spirit you and your daughter out of the country because obviously he must know how to drop out of sight since his brother successfully disappeared several years ago. Vanishing seemed like a desperate but necessary option because you need to save your daughter from her real father only to learn that the only reason your ex-husband’s brother was able to disappear was because your baby’s father, the enemy of your ex-husband, was the one who made said disappearance happen. Alexis begged Jax to help her flee to Europe assuming that he could make the arrangements because Jerry disappeared several years ago only to learn that Sonny was the one who made it happen. Yeah, that really bites. Carly, not known for her wisdom during emotional situations, called it correctly with Alexis. “You’re not sorry, Alexis. You’re not sorry for me. You’re only sorry that your plan didn’t work.” I cried with Alexis as her world crumbled but had to hand it to Carly for seeing the situation clearly regarding Sonny’s reactions to Alexis’ Daddy cover up. I was fine until one tear rolled down Sonny’s face as Sam made her decision not to induce labor to save Kristina. Emotion smacked me and I knew that Monday would be a rough day to watch GH. Did you hear the doctor call Liz, Nurse Webber? She’s been working at the hospital and in school for what, a whole month mayabe? Pfft! She must have taken the accelerated classes, did double homework, and graduated at the top of her class in two months. And she’s so good she rarely even has to wear a uniform. I ran right down to my neighbor’s house to tell her about GH’s amazing nursing program because she has to study for the next couple years to be a nurse and Liz made it through in about 2 months. Obviously, my neighbor needs to transfer to the nursing program in Port Charles. I am concerned about Liz’s hospital etiquette when she has to change a bandage on a man, especially if the changing necessitates the removal of the man’s shirt because she’s known for romantic inclinations over bandages and bare chests. Here’s a mystery for you. What amazing, wonderful treat are the parents holding just out of sight of the camera to bribe the Kristina twins into laying so still and sweet in the hospital bed? I’m thinking it has to be a bowl of ice cream. What else would persuade a 2-1/2 year old child to lay still covered with a blanket watching adults come in, lean over the crib, and cry?
On behalf of foster children everywhere, I OBJECT! Courtney’s foster parenting skills are sinking faster than cement blocks tossed in a shallow river. When Jason pulled a gun on Kyle and Zack for giving Maxie drugs I enjoyed the scene. It came across like an in-the-moment-deal-with-the-situation Jason decision. Purposely finding Diego per Courtney’s request, even an attitude reeking 17 year old like Diego, and threatening death with a gun in his face, just doesn’t sit well with me. For the record, Jason should not have agreed to Courtney’s scare ‘im straight idea (and you know it’s hard for me to criticize Jason). She managed to top her bad parenting though by playing kiss and snuggle with Jax, in the bed she supposedly gave Diego to sleep in, forgetting about him for the entire night. She and Jax deserve each other. She blew off her foster parenting responsibilities for a night of sex and Jax, who sees nothing wrong with beating up teenagers, callously advised her to stop worrying because Diego could take care of himself. It really doesn’t matter what Diego’s capable of since it’s Courtney’s responsibility to keep tabs on him and to provide a home, including a bed that’s not in use as a love nest. And why is Brook Lynn following Diego around town berating him at every opportunity? Keeping track for a couple minutes, she ripped into him at Kelly’s for talking trash to Edward. She followed him to the docks to yell at him some more. Then followed him again into the warehouse to stamp her foot and act indignant all over again. Are they forming a relationship or conducting a disciplinary action? Diego, your stupidity does not become you. “He’s scared of me.” Diego made his startling observation after crying and begging Jason for his life. Umm, yeah, Diego, right. Jason, Sonny’s enforcer, must be shakin’ in his boots that you’re going to take his place with Sonny. Bad boy character I like, but lunkhead bad boys will not be tolerated. They must be taught some harsh lessons and grow in smarts and sensitivity or leave the canvas. And if that rule isn’t in Mr. Guza and Mr. Pratt’s Soapy Book of Knowledge let me be the first to make an addendum. Another one down and counting. Most couples argue, throw in the occasional fist fight or cat fight, mix the relationship up with a couple far fetched plans and you have the formula for a soapy romance. Nikolas and Emily have stepped up the formula because each and every person who crosses their path and holds a negative NEM thought ends up dead or critically injured. There’s hope for Connor, however, since Emily has shown a proclivity for falling for her kidnapper. On a lighter note, Heather’s smooth façade of loving wife to poor, dear, slightly insane Edward appears to be cracking. Tracey’s barbs hit too close to home as she tried to figure out Heather’s master plan and Heather’s claw-like hand flew out and grabbed Tracey by the neck. My favorite line though came from Dillon who showed mocking respect at Heather’s thievery accusations as Tracey watched the interaction mixing and drinking an alcoholic beverage. Dillon unengaged himself from conversation with Heather and said to Tracey in a voice loud enough to be overheard, “I can see why you drink those.” I’m so glad that Dillon found Laura in the attic. Every time I remembered rockin’ Laura locked in the attic all I could wonder was who was feeding her and taking her potty and were stinky odors wafting out from under the door yet? Real life wins over my fantasy life and my daily vacation time. Most of the time. So I wasn’t overly irate when Senator Kerry’s concession speech and President Bush’s victory speech took out my soapy time even though it’s sweeps and Nov. 2 and 3rd were billed as must see GH. I say that sounding noble and realistic. I also say it knowing that I’d see the shows in their entirety that evening on SoapNet so it wasn’t all that hard to suck it up and not become upset over the unexpected interruption to my afternoon. Now I’m not trying to rub it in for those who do not have SoapNet on their cable line up, I offer sympathy and a link to a transcript site where, if you missed your favorite show because real life took priority, you can at least read the words that were spoken. Try TV MegaSite GH Transcripts. I found the transcript site through another wonderful site called GH Talk!Talk!. Updated weekly, if you want to find anything GH related on the ‘net, try this site. Another good site to visit is the recently launched web page for the Official General Hospital Fan Club. Try it, you’ll like it. Debbie Morris, ABC General Hospital Fan Club President, will offer regular GH news regarding the show, actors and events. If you’re looking for accurate news regarding the GH Fan Club Weekend, it’ll be made available first on the GH Fan Club website since GH’s main fan event is Debbie’s baby, beginning to end. Since Debbie is downright entertaining, not to mention having a head filled with insider soapy stories, this is one of those sites to save in favorites and check on regularly. That’s it for me this week. It was difficult not to be affected by the powerful acting I’m seeing this week as I finished up my comments about last week. Grab your remote, your coffee, diet soda or hot cocoa, don’t forget the box of tissue and prepare to be drawn into life in Port Charles, ‘cause all in all, it’s a fine time to be a GH fan. I wish for you no telephone interruptions during your soap time and definitely no breaking news stories while life changing events are being played out in daytime. Thanks for stopping by Eye On Soaps. Kathy |
