Deconstruction of a Love Story:
I must confess, I was in denial. I wouldn't accept it. The end of Luke and Laura? Impossible! GH just wouldn't go that far. Would they?
I was barely in school when the great wedding of Luke and Laura took place on ABC, but I remember all the hoopla. Adults were chatting about it. The teachers on the playground kept saying my sister looked like Laura, (she really does bear a resemblance to Genie Francis). Even the magazines at the grocery store had that famous wedding photo on many of their covers. They were the love story to end all love stories and everyone seemed to just get caught up in them. However, it wasn't just their exciting beginning that made them the greatest couple ever on soaps. It was the longevity and the certainty that this couple out of hundreds was truly going to last forever. They set the standard as the original "Super Couple." Luke and Laura were an institution!
For 17 years L&L Sr. were faithful to each other. That's a lifetime! At least, it's a big chunk of mine. That is an amazing accomplishment in real life, but on a soap opera it's a true miracle. The very fact that GH went so long without throwing someone else into the mix to complicate things, seems all the more reason to stay true to this love. Of course Luke and Laura had many ups and downs, but for 17 years there was never anyone else between them..... until now. And, as if defiling the love of Luke and Laura wasn't bad enough, the way it came about made it all the more repellent. If Laura had been the first to betray their marriage vows with Stefan it would have been tragic, but somewhat understandable. They have a lot of history together, not to mention a son. But it wasn't Laura. It was Luke...... and Tammy?
Tammy? The ex-"happy hooker" who obviously will do anything to help a friend? This is how they chose to have Luke throw it all away? On a bar the night they buried their son? As if losing Lucky wasn't hard enough to watch, they had to kill the memory of Luke and Laura too? There is just one word for that:
DISRESPECTFUL!!!
Did anyone else feel like they wanted to take a shower after Luke and Tammy's scene? It was nauseating! I don't care for the argument that Luke was out of his mind with grief. To see that scene following the beautiful and heart breaking testimonies to Lucky was one of the worst choices GH has made in a long time. Do they have no respect for their characters? Do they have no respect for their history? Do they have no respect for their fans?
And while we are on the subject of respect, what does GH expect us to think about Tammy? She doesn't sleep around when she is supposedly a "working girl," but she once she's gets a steady job she just gives it away? Is this a character who is supposed to be endearing to us? Don't get me wrong. I happen to like Tammy very much. I think she's a great asset to the show. I just wish The Powers That Be at GH would respect her a little so that we can do the same. I'm still trying to get over how GH chose to introduce Tammy to Lucky..... and now she sleeps with his father the night of his memorial? Yuck!
As I said before, I never thought that they would actually have Luke and Laura be unfaithful to each other, but GH seems to have made the decision to turn them into two different characters. When they are together, they are unrecognizable to me. Even as Laura walked in to see Tammy in Luke's arms, I found it very hard to feel for her. Instead I found myself yelling at the TV, "Aren't you nearly as bad? Cuddling with your husband's sworn enemy?" (Yes, I do actually talk to my television). The whole scene just left me ill. Two decades of adventure, romance and bonds of love just thrown in the gutter.
So, where do we go from here? Well, that's my whole point. We don't. GH has gone to the edge and over, this time. There is no moving forward. There is no more Luke and Laura because the very things that made them great are now dead. I am still drawn to both characters. I can't help myself. The Spencers are, in my book, the heart of Port Charles. If I ever saw them back together now, though, I'm afraid it would all seem hollow. They could never again be what they were. The question remains: can they ever be something new?
Luke and Laura never had the most balanced or honest relationship. When you look at the kind of trust, equality, and full knowledge of each other that their son Lucky has with Liz, the senior L's come up short. There were always lies between them, as well as lies to others in order that they could be together. What they had for so long was still great, but now that The Powers That Be have decided to trash it, will they ever allow Luke and Laura to learn from the younger generation? Perhaps the problem was that Luke and Laura were never friends, but always lovers. Maybe there is still time for them to have an actual friendship one day. That would definitely be something this soapfan would stick around to see.
Regardless of what the future brings, the past is truly dead. The great Luke and Laura that graced the magazine covers in the early 80's was not allowed to remain the one faithful super couple of soap history. I will always find this tragic. And I will always find GH's choice to defile this great couple with a love-less fling on a bar the night of their son's memorial, as being greatly unfortunate, most disappointing, and extremely disrespectful.
~Boo
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The End of Luke and
Laura
-editorial by Boo
