Disturbing soaps

[oldspice]

Maggie is almost as funny in Eastenders as she was in Shameless.

Her character in Shameless was bloody hysterical. I had to stop watching because my sides ached so much.

[paulham]

Aren't you more of an arse, man?

[bounty hunter]

So the sicko has been caught.  I'm not sure how well researched this plot line was.  I think the BBC copped out a little with this one, making the victim somewhat ambiguous by introducing the fact that she was abused and therefore raped as a 12 year old, even though the current character is clearly nubile.  The introduction of Lauren (who is very, very pretty but has the sexuality of Olive Oyle) as a potential new victim was silly.  I still believe that this has no more than sensationalised and dramatised child abuse by making the victim appear to be a willing participant.  What exactly are the BBC trying to achieve here?  Can I have my licence fee back?  Garbage.  I won't be watching Eastenders again.

[smurfboy]

I think they're trying to show that what constitutes abuse isn't black and white. Whitney doesn't see herself as an abused child because she's been very cleverly manipulated into believing Tony genuinely loved her. It also makes things difficult for Bianca, who is torn between seeing a young woman who clearly believes she's had a consensual relationship (and in a sense has 'stolen' her fiancee) and knowing a child of 12 was in no position to consent to such a relationship. To me that's the opposite of a cop-out; they've highlighted the difficulty of the issue.

[bounty hunter]

But abuse is black and white.  What constitutes a relationship might not be though.

[oldspice]

I don't watch EastEnders much these days but I did see last night's episode and I think the writers have done a magnificent job in portraying a realistic example of how these men work.  I can't go into details but I have witnessed such a man in action and his victim's response. It was exactly like that portrayed on EastEnders. The vicitm was completely convinced that: a) he loved her and b) she did all the running. Even today, at the age of 50, the victim in question believes SHE led HIM astray and that HE was punished because of HER. She blames her own sexual pervocativeness for evoking her abusers response.

I thought both actresses performed superbly.

[smurfboy]

But abuse is black and white.  What constitutes a relationship might not be though.

What I'm trying to say is that child abuse takes many forms; it's not necessarily a weird-looking man in a dirty mac grabbing an innocent crying child and pulling them into an alleyway. EastEnders were very brave in casting a relatively young, very 'normal' looking actor, who I must say did a great job with a very difficult part.