REFLECTIONS

As our reflections on the events of 9/11 color our  week I find it very difficult to be commenting on something as seemingly silly and trivial as a soap opera drama.  The fairy tale  problems of PORT CHARLES’ fictional characters seem particularly overblown and insignificant right about now.  Avatars, angels, vampires and slayers, heaven and hell, psychotic wanderings down twisted roads, love triangles, what does any of this have to do with real life, how can any of this have any import at all when faced with the immense loss, sadness and emotion of what this country experienced one year ago and continues to process in its daily existence. Yet it does. Entertainment holds a mirror up to our world, casting its reflections back at us, allowing us to gain perspective, to laugh, to cry, to escape, to forget the hardships and realities of modern living, even if for only 30 minutes.  Like the great Hollywood musicals of the 40’s which provided a respite from raging war and horrible injustices, soaps, especially PORT CHARLES of course,  provide fantasy and illusion pushed to the max, fantasy that can be visited every single day.  And it’s at times like these isn’t it, when escapism is most needed, that we can most appreciate the impact of the drama, most appreciate the characters, their relationships, the actors talents and the unique way this genre speaks to us and engages us.

A banner hanging from a building opposite Ground Zero reads “The human spirit is measured not in the size of the act but in the size of the heart.”   This struck me as particularly appropriate to the characters we have come to love on PORT CHARLES.

And of course the story that has most defined this past year, that has served to lift our spirits more than any other and kept us glued, sighing and drooling and begging for more is of course the story of Rafe and Alison. I am truly sorry, it seems my musings always come back to this, but well, frankly today it can’t be helped.  Though they’ve been torn apart for the past six months Rafe and Alison have always and will always represent hope and healing and possibilities and the magic of pure love, fantasy aside. 

One of the reasons this  beautiful love story of Rafe and Alison took such hold of our hearts, touched us so deeply, was because it came along at the exact point in time it was most needed. It seemed as if the actors themselves knew it, felt it, and gave their all to the story. Any cynicism and disillusionment with the genre and what it has sometimes degenerated into was pushed aside here, replaced  by sheer amazement at what we were being treated to.  We fell in love with Rafe and Alison because of their incredible beauty of heart and soul, their goodness and light...because of the wonderful way the amazingly talented Brian Gaskill plays Rafe and the endearing Erin Hershley Presley who just seems to glow.   There is no doubt our hearts were healed a little each day we had the pleasure and privilege of watching this story unfold, of being taken by the magic and joy created by inspired actors who had the extreme good fortune of otherworldly chemistry, writers and producers who recognized it  and the potential of the story.   MIRACLES HAPPEN and SECRETS were a gift, one that is so rarely offered in soapland, and one that was so very much needed.  Am I being too sappy and maudlin for you all, too bad.  But don’t just take my word for it….

“I didn't start watching PC until the events of a year ago. The local news preceeded this little show, and as we all stayed glued to all and any late breaking news, I found myself keeping the tv on at my lunchroom at work. Because you see, as the smoke cleared, I saw an angel emerge... he brought magic and hope and joy to everyone around him and I so wished that there was a Rafe among us who could mend our broken hearts as he mended those fictional characters in Port Charles.”
 

“The writers and all the actors put their hearts and souls into the ending of Tempted and then gave us Miracles Happen and Secrets. The sweet love story of Rafe and Alison definitely eased my pain.”

“ Not only did the show give me some respite from the evil and despair that I read about and saw everyday, it also gave me hope. “

“I guess we're all looking for the light these days, and looking for something to remind us that there is good in the world, there is love in the world, and there are people with beautiful souls - and they're even on our TV”

“I remember why I fell in love with PC... It was Dec for me....last year...feeling blue and needed more angels in my life when 2...not one...but 2 angels...Erin bubbles HP and Brian Gaskill fly out of my tube and into my heart....angels, magic ,hope, love and renewed passion for life and love.....Right after the day "when the world stopped turning..."

“Rafe come upon us just at a time when we needed angels to lift us up from our despair and darkness. To remember to appreciate Life and all that is Good about it. “

“This story has been like having a light in the hallway when you're afraid of the dark. And as we face the sadness of this anniversary, let's remember to open our hearts just a little to let some light in.”

“I always believed in angels before our beautiful Rafe, but thanks to PC it really eased a lot of the raw pain we all had on 9/11. I'll never forget hearing the song "Miracles Can Happen" and feeling hope again.

So are we convinced yet that PORT CHARLES had an impact. It doesn’t take a genius to know that the tragedies and triumphs of soap characters “don’t amount to a hill of beans in this world “(to quote my favourite movie of all time) gone mad, but where would we be without Rafe and Alison, Lucy and Kevin, Ian, Eve, Chris, Frank/Avatar, Karen, Jack, Jamal and even Livvie.  The impact of 9/11 will live forever in our memories.  How would this year have gone for us PC lovers had we not had this fantasy to jump into every day, had we not had the opportunity to follow Brian Gaskill’s achingly beautiful Rafe or Lynn Herring’s wacky, wise, kick ass Lucy.  Where would we have been without Brian’s emmy winning “Do you realize how precious life is” speech from SECRETS, well ok, emmy winning in my book that is, begging us to “grab hold of life and just live it for all its worth, for every beautiful, heartbreaking minute”.   A soap is just a soap.  A piece of drama, of entertainment that we choose to watch or choose not to.  Or is it.  That we chose to allow PORT CHARLES  to insinuate itself into our lives, for most of us, was not actually a choice at all, but an inevitability.   Its true and unexpected gift was lifting us above the disbelief and shock, sadness and despair of  9/11, if only for 30 minutes each day, and taking  us just that much closer to the light, to the day when maybe we can believe in angels and a world filled with  peace and love.  Who wouldn’t want to believe that PORT CHARLES’ version of heaven and angels could actually exist.  Doesn’t it….