Is it Really the End of the Ride . . .
Deconstructing Luke & Laura: A Rebuttal
(This is a great response to my editorial, Deconstruction of a Love Story)
My earliest soap memory also had to do with Luke and Laura.
Laura was in the ladies’ room, and told someone she lied to
Scotty – that she knew her rapist – Luke, and that it happened in
the disco, and not in the parking lot.
Although I can’t specifically remember asking my mom the
question, “What’s rape?” I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I
heard the word.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love what Luke and Laura became,
and I had a blast, along with many long-time GH fans, when they
parachuted back into Port Charles after so many years, having
formed a tight, adventurous family unit with their adorable,
plucky, and independent son, Lucky.
As I grew older, though, I began to wonder just what that did to a
young girl, on the brink of becoming a teenager, to have her first
exposure to the ugly and violent crime of rape become soaps’ first
“Supercouple.” For this, and other reasons, I wrote my college
thesis on portrayals of rape storylines on daytime dramas.
Imagine, then, my shock, and delight, when I realized GH was plunging in and tackling the issue they had so carefully avoided for so many years: not only did they address the fact that Luke did, indeed, rape Laura, but they showed it through their son’s eyes; the son who had worshipped them for so many years.
What does this have to do with Tammy and Luke on a barstool the night of Lucky’s memorial service?
One could argue that many moments over the past few
years could have been “the beginning of the end”:
Luke finding out about Nikolas’ existence, Luke’s
partnership with a known gangster, Laura’s exiting
their lives for so long for “safekeeping” – even as
far back as the first lie Laura told Luke (or even her
lying to Scotty, as was suggested by Lucky). However,
Lucky’s horror and disgust with his parents, and
Luke’s reaction to it -- keeping their emotionally
wrenching split from Laura -- was the biggest step in
bringing them to where they are, now.
As Boo alluded to in her editorial, Luke and Laura’s relationship, to be brutally honest, was not the healthiest it could have been. Sure, they love each other, but they have always seen what they wanted to see (he was her hero, she was his angel), and worn blinders when it came to who they really were. Their magical and adventurous life on the run added to these illusions: it was the two, then three of them against the world. They counted on each other, and did not interact much with others, as they could never reveal much of themselves. They lived in a sort of vacuum, never having to deal with the types of pressures facing most marriages: interfering families, money troubles, and ex-lovers, to name a few.
Once they returned to Port Charles, however, the problems began to seep in, slowly whittling away the foundation they had created – perhaps so slowly that they barely noticed anything was happening. They “forgave” one transgression after another – or did they really? Luke and Lucky resented Nikolas from the beginning, and it ate away at them. They were estranged after Laura was forced to kill a man in her home, due to Luke’s partnership with Sonny. They were apart for long periods of time, when she faked her death, and then when she spent over a year in Switzerland and North Carolina, due mainly to Stefan’s blackmail. When Laura returned and found out her son had left home, and Luke had kept that and many other things from her, something broke. The “Three Musketeers” family unit of years past would never be the same, again. She faced Luke about the rape, and spoke the truth she had forced out of her mind for so many years. They “saw” each other and hit a turning point, and their relationship would and could never be the same.
After each of these events, and many others, a treaty was drawn: Luke and Laura came to some sort of understanding and forgiveness . . . but it was a forgiveness that became more and more tenuous, as time went on, and transgression after transgression was revealed. The death of their son, however, was the last straw. Lucky’s death represents so much more than the loss of a son, which, in itself, is one of the most traumatic and horrifying experiences a person can have. Lucky was their friend, their confidant, their pride and joy, and the shining result of their years of love and bonding on the run. It makes sense that their actions and reactions would be extreme, as well.
For all Luke knew, his marriage was over. Laura had been openly “dating” Stefan – his enemy – for months. He assumed he had been betrayed first. Why Tammy? Why did she finally have sex, after all those months of merely counseling? She felt helpless, and offered him the comfort she is used to giving. Despite her lifestyle change, Tammy reverted to the means of comfort with which she is most familiar. Why have Laura witness it? Why on the night of Lucky’s memorial? Shock value -- For Laura and the viewers. The writers are twisting the knife, and milking Lucky’s “death” for all they can get, and I, for one, am relishing it. Don’t get me wrong – I was hoping, just like Boo, that they would not take it this far. However, I’ve begun to appreciate the morbid curiosity of the writers, over how deep a chasm they can dig, yet still, eventually, bring the legend that is Luke and Laura back together.
You see, the writers are challenging themselves, and the audience. They decided Luke and Laura needed some major shaking up, and are seeing how far they can take it. Why? Why ruin soaps’ first supercouple, the couple who has been married for almost twenty years? First of all, the soap supercouple formula is basically dead. This 80’s phenomenon has been replaced by the hallmark of 90’s stories: complexity, and lots of it. The Jax/Brenda/Sonny triangle is a great example – it was picked as the greatest love story on all of ABC soaps, in a recent poll at abc.com. Even when a couple is destined for each other, though, the more complications there are, the more entertaining it often is. Some of my favorite moments through the years have been of my beloved couples giving each other longing looks over a chasm that lies between them. Breakups are a big part of soap coupledom, and, let’s face it, the only reason Luke and Laura were together this long is that they were off the show for about fifteen years! Even the actors, themselves, expressed a desire to try new things, and work with new people, in order to keep things fresh.
I agree with several things Boo said. The Spencers are the heart of Port Charles. Yes, the past is dead, and yes, this is a tragic way to end a beautiful love story, but I am holding on to the hope that it is not the end. Again, as Boo said, I believe a new and different bond can be forged between the Spencers -- a healthier, stronger bond. This catastrophic event – the senseless death of their beloved son – has, so far, split them further apart. However, I believe that, in the end, it can bring them together, once the wounds begin to scab. They are both experiencing horror and desolation, and are bound to experience even more over the next few months, and know each other’s pain, even if they cannot share it, right now. They also share a daughter, who will help them to survive the tragedy, and, perhaps, bring them together in friendship and love in the future, just as Lucky bonded them in the past. As the viewers know, Lucky is not really dead, and, hopefully, the joyful celebration of his eventual return, will bring them together, as well.
Yes, the past is dead, but is it truly the end for Luke and Laura? Have the “powers that be” at GH ruined this couple forever?
Not for this viewer, who is eagerly anticipating a well-planned and thought-out, emotionally stirring reunion to rival the steady deterioration and breakup we have already experienced. Maybe the “soap supercouple” is gone, but there will always be those characters who are destined for one another, and Luke and Laura are bound together by this destiny, even though they, and
perhaps even the writers and some viewers, cannot
see it at this juncture.
Is it the end of the road? Not for me.
There may be more twists and turns ahead, but I,
for one, am excited to see where it leads!
~LCiam
This
editorial is the personal
opinion of just one fellow soapfan. Do you have an
opinion you've been dying to share? A different take
on an event that no one else seems to have noticed?
Praise or disappointment in a character?
Send an email, subject "Editorial" to
SoapFanMag@aol.com
or the Beginning of a New One?
by LCiam
