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He's back and better than
ever. Or is it he's back and worse than ever? Actually it's neither.
Jason is back and he's exactly the same as ever. Same boring creep he ever
was.
So there he is on my TV screen staring at Liz, staring at AJ, staring at
the Drs. Q. etc. and in between yawns I wonder to myself, what is it about
this guy that annoys the heck out of me so much? Yes he's one note, but
so are most people on GH these days. So why do I find him so damn
irritating?
That's when it hit me.
Jason is actually the embodiment of
exactly the problem with just about everyone on GH. I believe that almost
every character on GH share one basic flaw, and Jason is just an extremely
exaggerated example of that flaw.
I realize that I have probably lost you by now so let me explain what I
mean. I think that in their zeal to create unique characters, the writers
created specific characteristics for each character that separates them
from the masses, makes them "special" and unlike anyone else on soaps.
That happens to be a good idea. However, instead of using that
characteristic to make the character compelling to the audience,
the writers are treating GH as though it were a sitcom (granted, a very
unfunny one) and building individual story lines around that character's
one MAIN characteristic.
I'll explain by using my favorite sitcom of all time, Cheers, as a
comparison. Now on Cheers, you have different characters, each
with their own character trait:
Sam: womanizer
Rebecca: neurotic
Carla: nasty
Woody: naïve
Cliff: annoying
Frasier: pompous
Lilith: repressed
Norm: lazy
We knew these characters by these specific traits. All the situations
about Sam were built around him being a womanizer, all the situations
about Carla were built around her meanness, all the situations about
Frasier and Lilith were based on them being pompous, yuppie psychiatrists,
etc. When Cheers' 11-year run ended, we didn't know much more
about Sam than we knew when we first met him, but that is how it should be
because sitcoms are not necessarily character-based. You aren't meant
to get invested in the characters, you're just supposed to enjoy the
situations that they find themselves in.
However, GH is not a sitcom. People watch soaps because they DO care
about the characters involved. We want to see their failures and their
triumphs, their strengths and their flaws. And you can't root for a
character that seems stuck in a rut for years on end and shows no sign of
growth.
That's my biggest problem with Sonny. When we first learned of Sonny's
inability to forgive, it was interesting. I found it compelling, and I
waited to see how he would deal with it. Well, he hasn't. There were no
trips to the therapist, no self examination, no sign of him even trying to
forgive the people that betrayed him. Instead of a trait that makes Sonny
a unique character, it has become Sonny's trademark, an excuse he uses to
throw people out of his life. And so year after year, woman after woman,
we are subjected to the same story line over and over again.
(That is until his relationship with
Alexis, but I think that I have made it very clear that I support Sexis
100%, and it is for this reason exactly that I do, and I don't see any
reason to use this Shmisdom to further that particular agenda of mine.)
Even his reunion with Carly is based
on this premise. Carly came to the penthouse desperate to hear that he
forgave her. Hello??? That isn't what was standing in between S&C. If we
have to watch them together, how about exploring what it is about Carly
that makes Sonny treat her like a child? Or why is it that Sonny seems to
bring out the worst in Carly, and they cannot seem to stop punishing and
hurting each other, yet they can't stay away from each other? If we saw
some effort and growth in the couple then maybe I would see some of that
mysterious, elusive love between them that I have heard so much about.
Instead we have them thrown together yet again, only to be inevitably
separated because of this same stupidity once Sonny finds out that she's
been lying.
Which brings me to Carly's shtick. The ridiculous plans, the endless
schemes. I know that every soap needs a good schemer or a vixen of some
sort, but Carly is not a good schemer. She sucks at it. From making AJ
think he was drunk, to saying Jason was Michael's father, to locking Laura
on the roof so she could announce Gia as the Face of Deception to turning
Sonny in to the Feds to her current scheme (whatever it is), her plans all
have one thing in common: none of them make any sense or have any hope
of working. Maybe if just once, she paid for something she did or
learned from her mistakes, or took some time to think her plans through, I
could get behind one of her ideas. Until then, why bother?
Same thing with Jax and the White Knight complex. Has Jax ever had a
relationship with any woman that has NOT been based on a desire to save
them from Sonny and/or their own impulses? How about looking into the
fact that Jax's obsession with saving women is both sexist and neurotic;
he is co-dependent and should see someone about figuring out why he seems
to be scared to find a woman on his own level! Every relationship he has
with women, including the friendships, stem from the same place. It's
getting really old, really fast.
So now let's go back to the most "unique" character of all.
Years ago Jason experienced a
terrible tragedy and underwent a complete personality change because of
it. He pledged his allegiance to Sonny and treated everyone else with a
blank emotionless stare that broke our hearts as his family tried to get
through to him.
Fast forward to today.
Where are we?
Same exact place, except our hearts
stopped breaking long ago. In fact my heart hasn't so much as stirred in
years where Jason is concerned. Why should it, when he seems perfectly
content to be as he is, blindly loyal to Sonny and Carly and blankly
obnoxious to everybody else? No conflict, no depth, no changes (except
the one completely unexplained change where he suddenly is able to lie on
Carly's behalf. How the fuck did that happen, anyway?) Jason is so
irritating because the "special" characteristic that the writers have
bestowed upon him is much too over the top to work unless it is part of a
good story. Just staring endlessly is boring as hell, and it is soon
going to start annoying even the most patient viewer.
GH is so damned predictable that you can hear a one line spoiler and
correctly predict 6 weeks worth of action and dialogue. Not only because
the plots are so obvious, but because the characters are so stagnant. You
can anticipate every word out of their mouths and every move they're going
to make because they haven't moved in years. And it is going to stay
predictable unless we see some MAJOR character development.
Until that happens, maybe I'll just
stick to watching Nick at Nite.
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