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EE and it's handling of LGBT characters


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Old 16-09-2016, 17:17
Scrabbler
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Okay to summarise

Paul - Spent a year in the show with no development, had no significant friendships and the majority of his time was fawning over Ben. There was very little focus on their relationship and he was axed
Kyle - Showed promise, there was an excellent episode with his mother but his storyline seemed to drop. He worked well within his family but had very few scenes with anyone else. He has now been axed
Johnny - The only significant thing he seems to have done since he returned was to help Babe in the kitchens and was a bit of a support to Ben.
Steven - His attraction to men seems to have been completely forgotten about on screen. I would have at least expected Ian to have made some comment
Ben - Probably the most developed gay character the show has
Sonia - Is leaving due to Natalie's maternity break.
Tina - Has no real significant friendships even though she had been in the show for two years.

I don't know whether it's just me, but I really think the show could be doing more. It does feel that they have a lot of token LGBT characters and very few with actual substance.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:23
vaslav37
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Okay to summarise

Paul - Spent a year in the show with no development, had no significant friendships and the majority of his time was fawning over Ben. There was very little focus on their relationship and he was axed
Kyle - Showed promise, there was an excellent episode with his mother but his storyline seemed to drop. He worked well within his family but had very few scenes with anyone else. He has now been axed
Johnny - The only significant thing he seems to have done since he returned was to help Babe in the kitchens and was a bit of a support to Ben.
Steven - His attraction to men seems to have been completely forgotten about on screen. I would have at least expected Ian to have made some comment
Ben - Probably the most developed gay character the show has
Sonia - Is leaving due to Natalie's maternity break.
Tina - Has no real significant friendships even though she had been in the show for two years.

I don't know whether it's just me, but I really think the show could be doing more. It does feel that they have a lot of token LGBT characters and very few with actual substance.
Below average Scrabbler- I will explain more later.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:24
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Don't forget Colin's token cameo which really was pointless as he appeared in 4 scenes and that was it. For a character who helped make EastEnders iconic that was a terrible way to treat him.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:24
ianradioian
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Its only done so the bbc can pass a few more box-ticking sections through its diversity and minorities production office. It's all tokenism.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:25
Harlowe
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It's actually pretty shameful how bad EE have been at developing gay characters, when I look at ED Hollyoaks and even welsh soap Pobol y cwm how well their gay characters are developed and diverse with s/ls for them it beg question why is it so hard for EE.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:29
McGillicuddy
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It's actually pretty shameful how bad EE have been at developing gay characters, when I look at ED Hollyoaks and even welsh soap Pobol y cwm how well their gay characters are developed and diverse with s/ls for them it beg question why is it so hard for EE.
Coronation Street is miles better than EE in this area as well.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:31
Harlowe
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Coronation Street is miles better than EE as well.
Yes I forgot Corrie, no they've not done bad with Todd and Billy, the only embarrassment is Sean but the less said about him the better.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:32
Scrabbler
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Don't forget Colin's token cameo which really was pointless as he appeared in 4 scenes and that was it. For a character who helped make EastEnders iconic that was a terrible way to treat him.
I really didn't like how they did that, I think it could have been much better constructed. Rather than the wedding farce and Dots sudden beliefs changing in an episode, I'd preferred it if Colin and Dot had just had a cuppa together and reflected on the past. Thet could still have covered the issue of gay marriage without Dot being suddenly invited and having a moral dilemma that lasted 30 seconds.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:32
Sunday_Girl
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Since Julia Smith left EastEnders has always been the same. I do wonder if its because the writers are now too middle class but even then you would expect them to know how to write for all minority groups. Its bizarre really.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:32
Neil_N
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I do think tokenism is perhaps the BBC's reason, especially with Kyle being TS but I reckon it's more than that.

It's badly written scripts, poor writers who don't give characters a chance and just give them "single issue" stories. Paul had a lot of potential - towards the end of his run, Johnny Labley was coming out of his shell and selling the actor well. I'd rather Paul and Ben be running the funeral directors, than have him killed off. Would be a positive step.

Even as a gay man myself, I find it insulting what they've done with the characters especially Paul and Ben and the pathetic kidnap by the 1D reject kidnappers just as an excuse for a 50 year old to wave a baseball bat.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:35
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Out of all the characters listed the writers are only really interested in Ben tbh. They've woefully neglected the rest of them and will probably continue to do so with the ones still there.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:35
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One of things I think Corrie is good at currently, they seem to focus on LGBT characters a lot.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:36
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Out of all the characters listed the writers are only really interested in Ben tbh. They've woefully neglected the rest of them and will probably continue to do so with the ones still there.
It's really sad that this is the case.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:36
Neil_N
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One of things I think Corrie is good at currently, they seem to focus on LGBT characters a lot.
I actually agree. I can't stand Sean, but with Billy and Todd and Caz, Katie and Sophie they've done a good job with them all....but surely they'd socialise in Canal Street or in Liverpool instead of the Rovers or the Bistro?
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:37
McGillicuddy
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One of things I think Corrie is good at currently, they seem to focus on LGBT characters a lot.
They're not so great with lesbians, but they've done fantastic with Todd and Billy.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:37
Neil_N
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It's really sad that this is the case.
The reason why they've invested in Ben is because he is a Mitchell.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:39
Scrabbler
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They're not so great with lesbians, but they've done fantastic with Todd and Billy.
I don't watch Corrie but EE has never had compelling lesbian characters.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:40
Harlowe
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The reason why they've invested in Ben is because he is a Mitchell.
True, probably see him as EE version of Aaron Dingle.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:40
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The reason why they've invested in Ben is because he is a Mitchell.
He did regress though. They completely glossed over the fact he had come out just so they could do it again, I cannot fathom what the point of that was.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:43
Neil_N
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He did regress though. They completely glossed over the fact he had come out just so they could do it again, I cannot fathom what the point of that was.
That is true Scrabbler. What didn't help was the bad writers and a weak EP turning him like that. It was the writing in my view.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:43
Harlowe
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He did regress though. They completely glossed over the fact he had come out just so they could do it again, I cannot fathom what the point of that was.
It was completely pointless, ruined his friendship with Abi.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:43
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Personally i think Bryan Kirkwood messed up Ben's character when he decided to turn him from camp to wannabe hard man. DTC was pretty much unable to back track at that point. Had they recasted with an actor who could have continued the camp nature of Ben that Charlie Jones had created I think Ben would have been a much better character for it. I think the joy of Phil Mitchell having a super camp son would have been total brilliance yet it was all thrown out the window. Saying that I think Harry Reid is a much better actor than Joshua Pascoe ever was so that's a bonus at least.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:44
vaslav37
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Considering DTC and Alex Lamb are gay men they haven't done much for LGBT characters on EE.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:44
Scrabbler
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That is true Scrabbler. What didn't help was the bad writers and a weak EP turning him like that. It was the writing in my view.
The writing is EEs biggest problem at the moment.
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Old 16-09-2016, 17:45
Scrabbler
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It was completely pointless, ruined his friendship with Abi.
Poor abi has no friends now. She doesn't even have a Guinea pig anymore
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