Minority representation in Hollyoaks - sexual preferences v race

lailai78lailai78 Posts: 86
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I want to understand what is Hollyoaks obsession with LGBT characters?
There are:
2 lesbians (Esther and Kim)
2 bi (Grace (well, she was gay for a day) and Tony's son Harry)
3 gay men (Ste, Jon Paul, and the new annoying one who is Sinead's cousin)
1? Trans - not sure if Dillon is TV or TS.
Last year we saw Vincent (gay asylum seeker from Nigeria) and his boyf George, as well as the pole dancing male to female pre-op TS (name has escaped me but she was with Dennis) all leave.
Hollyoaks is a village near Chester so this ratio is actually ridiculous.
Recently, they got their first 100% Black family recently. I can't remember in its 20 years being on screen, whether they had a Black family unit before (mum and dad TOGETHER). I remember Maddy in the early years floating as a single entity rolling with Kurt Benson and Tony. Then there were the brothers who ran the shop. Then there were the Valentines whose mum died on her first outings and then their waste dad came to look after them. There was also the family headed by the woman who went out with Tony, who had mixed race children (the daughter had a baby with Finn).
Why do you think the demographic in the village is tipped in this manner

Comments

  • Alan1981Alan1981 Posts: 5,416
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    Kirkwood.
  • lailai78lailai78 Posts: 86
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    I think that's too easy an answer, and I don't remember his previous stint at the helm having so many random and lazy pairings.

    I know he was responsible for one of the greatest ever love stories in Hollyoaks - McDean. However, the latest 'gay for a day' character of Grace is just ridiculous in my opinon.

    It's like if we need to have a new story line, let's make them gay/ lesbian irrespective of the fact it's just not needed.

    Was he also responsible for Chryed (in Eastenders).

    (You can see I've been lurking here with minimal questions posed for years - but this one came to my mind this week so I thought I would pose it here :-) )
  • NoughtiesMusicNoughtiesMusic Posts: 15,914
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    Phoebe McQueen is played by Mandip Gill, which is an Indian Sikh name, but I don't remember if the character is Asian or mixed race. Wasn't she adopted by Jacqui?

    The Roy family were Indian, but they fragmented pretty quickly. The parents and Ash left first, Ravi was around a bit more, ditto Leila. Anita lasted the longest.

    Dennis' love interest before he left was called Blessing Chambers. She was also in EE as Faith Olubunmi.

    I'm not sure what the LGBT population is like in Chester or the nearby villages, but it's not the most ethnically diverse city. HO can sort of get away with lack of ethnic minority representation because Chester in real life isn't that multiracial.
  • lailai78lailai78 Posts: 86
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    Was one of the Roys called Amba? But they were a blink and you miss them family who I remember vaguely. There was a dodgy brother... right?

    Re the lack of minority representation, it would actually be quite easy to introduce people into the storyline without it feeling like it's being shoe horned (e.g all this activity around the hospital would lend itself to a doctor, nurse or other health care professional).

    I'm not really that bothered by the lack of ethnic diversity but do feel that the over reliance on the LGBT community is a bit ridiculous.
  • seventhwaveseventhwave Posts: 4,967
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    Phoebe was adopted by Jacqui, yes (she was formerly Phoebe Jackson.)

    I wouldn't call Hollyoaks "obsessed" with gay characters. It's nice to see that level of diversity IMO. The "McDean" storyline (and to a lesser extent, "Stendan") became so iconic and earned Hollyoaks so much praise that it's no surprise they want to keep doing LGBT-themed storylines. The show is newer than the other three major soaps so I imagine that gives them a bit more leeway; for instance when Coronation Street introduces a new LGBT character/romance, older viewers will usually start complaining that the show is trying to be "too modern" or "too PC", etc.

    I agree however that having characters randomly "play for the other team" gets annoying. In real life of course people do come out after many years of being in heterosexual marriages and so forth but for instance the Grace/Kim storyline is pure shock value, or the show teasing at Ste getting together with Sinead after all ... why??
  • lailai78lailai78 Posts: 86
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    Ste and Sinead are just car crash. I think they have destroyed Sinead (it wouldn't surprise me if she ended up being a bit like Kat Slater in later life - like Mercedes) as her storylines involves men and babies.
    I hope they don't may Ste leave JP (yes he 'cheated' with Harry) but these two have been through too much to end after a few months of marriage.
  • lulu glulu g Posts: 52,620
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    Phoebe McQueen is played by Mandip Gill, which is an Indian Sikh name, but I don't remember if the character is Asian or mixed race. Wasn't she adopted by Jacqui?

    The Roy family were Indian, but they fragmented pretty quickly. The parents and Ash left first, Ravi was around a bit more, ditto Leila. Anita lasted the longest.

    Dennis' love interest before he left was called Blessing Chambers. She was also in EE as Faith Olubunmi.

    I'm not sure what the LGBT population is like in Chester or the nearby villages, but it's not the most ethnically diverse city. HO can sort of get away with lack of ethnic minority representation because Chester in real life isn't that multiracial.
    Phoebe's biological mother is white.
  • lady_xanaxlady_xanax Posts: 5,662
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    I guess because the young target audience of Hollyoaks may be interested in sexuality as a topic, whether they're coming out, experimenting or otherwise. I can see why Grace, feeling isolated in her mission to get justice for her father, would respond to Kim's seduction in a moment of vulnerability. It's not like Grace is actively seeking or encouraging it; she just passively accepts it.

    I would like to see some more racial diversity though. They don't need to create a family specifically to fill this purpose but instead of casting a white actor in a role, they could cast a non-white one.
  • dd68dd68 Posts: 17,833
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    Another minority on Hollyoaks is adults living a natural length lifespan
  • Chester666666Chester666666 Posts: 9,020
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    I used to like the way LBG was done with HO but since recently it feels like they are just repeating stories and the characterisation is terrible it doesn't make me happy any more

    plus Scott is just unlikeable and pairing hm with Sinead was a dire idea
  • dee123dee123 Posts: 46,195
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    What is the point of this thread exactly? Besides sounding vaguely homophobic? HO has always had it's LGBT characters front & center.
  • omnidirectionalomnidirectional Posts: 18,796
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    lailai78 wrote: »
    Was one of the Roys called Amba? But they were a blink and you miss them family who I remember vaguely. .

    Amber was part of the Sharpe family and had the baby with Finn. The Sharpes were written out after only 6 months but Amber reappeared for 3 episodes last year.
  • los.kavlos.kav Posts: 8,053
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    lailai78 wrote: »
    Was he also responsible for Chryed (in Eastenders).
    )

    No, but he was responsible for them leaving. They were getting good screen time, then BK came along, then they got about two or three scenes over an 8 month period and Marc (Syed) chose to leave because of it. Once that was decided they descended into the constant splitting-up/cheating/getting back together whirl that now typifies a BK production.
  • HankshawHankshaw Posts: 4,224
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    dee123 wrote: »
    What is the point of this thread exactly? Besides sounding vaguely homophobic? HO has always had it's LGBT characters front & center.

    Yeah its another too many gays thread. I'd also like to know how ethnically diverse Chester is.

    Wikipedia suggests its less than 2%
    Chester has a large White British proportion of around 94.7% of the population. 1.3% described themselves as Irish. 2% as Other White. 0.9% described themselves as Asian. 0.7% described themselves as Mixed Race. 0.3% described themselves as Chinese. 0.2% described themselves as Black or Black British and 0.3% are classed as other.[75]

    The Lovedays, Phoebe and Kathleen Angel would represent a much higher percentage than that for the cast of the show.

    Of a cast of around 50 the show has four openly gay characters. Two bisexual. One lesbian who was obsessed with a man when she was a teen, could be put down to experimentation. One character in the closet. Thats eight which is much less than a quarter on the cast.
  • lailai78lailai78 Posts: 86
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    dee123 wrote: »
    What is the point of this thread exactly? Besides sounding vaguely homophobic? HO has always had it's LGBT characters front & center.
    Apologies for not coming back to this sooner, the point of the thread was that it crossed my mind. Asking a question doesn't make it homophobic.
    I've watched Hollyoaks from the beginning and as I stated in my points I find it weird that if they need a storyline they make someone gay. It's becoming more prevalent in recent years and in certain respects it reeks of lazy writing to me.
    I would have a similar issue if they kept introducing another group just because they could.
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