Luke: Maybe not in fantasy land. But in the real world, no, happy endings don’t exist. That’s why romantic comedies don’t have sequels. Nobody gets happily ever after.
-- As the World Turns, July 24, 2008
Actors Van Hansis (left) and Jake Silbermann (right), who play Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer on As The World Turns.
For my second installment of DOD, I felt compelled to introduce another of my obsessions. Being in training for my future career as a housewife, I have already adopted my soap opera of choice – As the World Turns.
Like any other self respecting gay boy, I had been a fan of soap operas since early childhood. I basically grew up in my grandmother’s kitchen, where her “stories” dominated the midday hours. Along with ATWT, she watched The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, and General Hospital. Because she watched, I watched. For a while, I made her videotape the shows that came on while I was in school. When it became too cumbersome to stay up on all of them, I reluctantly scaled back my viewing to only include GH. I finally gave up on that after my sophomore year in college, when I let a friend borrow my TV for the summer and never got it back (long story for another day).
Fast forward ten years and throw in a DVR, and it was only a matter of time before I picked up soap viewing once again. Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t have returned to daytime television had I not read a news clipping about the impending romantic storyline planned for daytime’s first central gay male character, Luke Snyder on As the World Turns. During the summer of 2007, ATWT planned to introduce a love interest for Luke, marking another first in daytime history. Naturally, I was compelled to see how it would be handled, and thus, the obsession was born.
The character of Noah Mayer arrived in Oakdale in late May, and immediately took up with recently single teen, Maddie, who just happened to be Luke’s best friend. While their straight romance progressed, Luke harbored an unrequited crush on Noah. That is, until a palpable sexual tension began to develop between Luke and Noah. As Noah struggled to come to grips with his sexuality, all types of drama ensued, culminating in Maddie’s heartbreaking discovery that her boyfriend was gay and the triumphant pairing of Luke and Noah.
Now, this being a soap opera, the plot has since worked its way through several ridiculous contrivances, which have included: Luke getting shot by Noah’s homophobic military father (who also murdered Noah’s madame mother and a wealthy town rascal who was about to find out about his crime); Luke’s ensuing paralysis; Noah’s discomfort with being openly gay; Noah’s sham marriage to a female Iraqi refugee (who had a history with Noah’s father); the kidnapping of Noah’s “wife” by his father; Noah’s father’s suicide; and Noah’s near-enlistment in the army. Ongoing false steps made by ATWT producers swirl around the couple’s lack of intimacy. They have kissed on the show maybe half a dozen times in the year that they have been a couple (including a 200+ day run as counted by AfterElton.com), and they have yet to have sex. As trailblazing as this storyline has been in depicting young gay love, they continually treat Luke and Noah’s relationship with kid gloves.
While everything going on around them seems preposterous, their affection for one another remains very real and poignant. Which brings me to today’s DOD. Luke is reacting to the revelation that his father, the honorable Holden Snyder, has been having an extramarital affair. Luke is understandably disillusioned and hurt. Noah tries to rationalize Holden’s actions and assure him that true love does exist. The scene goes on to tap into Luke’s insecurities, stemming from the fact that the two have not had sex, despite Luke’s advances, and from Noah’s prior heterosexual experiences. Noah declares his love for Luke, saying that he wants their first time to be special.
I chose this piece of dialogue because it resonated with me on a more transcendent level. While Luke’s outlook can be viewed as pessimistic and defeatist, it offers a kernel of truth. “Happily Ever After” marks both the idealistic realization of love and the realistic beginning of couplehood. As evidenced by today’s divorce rate, 1 in 2 happy endings don’t pan out. The ones that do make it are weathered by hardship and struggle effectively negating the notion of “Happily Ever After.”
I do believe in love. I’ve witnessed some pretty powerful examples of it in my life, which make me hopeful. But I can understand Luke’s thought process. In the face of so much failure, it’s hard to keep the faith. I hope his character, and ATWT, can remain faithful in telling this honest gay love story, regardless of the outcome.
1 comment:
as it goes..
"I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all."
it is hard to love, & to be in love, but once you are, there is that moment, or many moments where it is simply perfect.
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