Shame on General Hospital!
The daytime soap is in the middle of major umbrella storyline about the very important issue of violence in teen relationships. Yes, it's been done before. But what makes GH's current tale so compelling is that they really went there. Last week, after weeks of smacking Kristina around, Kiefer beat her to a bloody pulp.
The scenes were shocking and superbly shot, and the acting, as usual on General Hospital, was excellent. But then the writers undid all of the good they were doing for the sake of a plot point.
Rather than name Kiefer as her abuser, kicking off a riveting he said, she said storyline, Kristina fingered someone else as her attacker. Whom? Ethan. Why? Because he rejected her.
I love that all of the major characters are involved -- Sonny, Luke, Alexis, Jason, Sam, Carly, Michael, Lucky, Tracy, Lulu as well as the main three players -- but I can't help but be disappointed by the twist that was visible a mile away.
It's one thing that women are still being portrayed as not being able to physically take care of themselves. (I know, this somewhat contradicts the praise that I heaped upon the soap at the beginning of this post, but why couldn't they have shown Kristina fighting back just a little? Even Tina Turner eventually did in What's Love Got To Do With It?.) Here, though, turning victim into villain not only makes her less sympathetic, but it suggests that maybe such a lying bitch deserved what she got.
I know it makes for good drama, and after a few years of not really caring about GH, I'm tuning in again. But I'd like to see Kristina -- and GH -- let Ethan off the hook, and have her face off with her actual attacker and win.
Now that's the story I really want to see.
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