Posted by J on 11/3/2009, 1:50 pm
It has been a rough year to be Tony Geary. Thanks to rampant rumors, assumptions, and poor wording in interviews on his own part, many have lost their respect for this great actor, who is half of the greatest soap couple of all time. Many feel betrayed by him, feel he has dropped the ball and stopped supporting the L&L "legacy". I would like to comment on that.
An actor is, at the end of the day, responsible for one thing, and one thing only, his own career. No one gets into this business to become an appendage to another actor, no matter how successful a screen partnership might be. It is an unfair position to put any actor in, especially when fans seriously expect one partner to sacrafice their employment for the sake of the other, or because the stories given don't reflect what the fanbase wants. Outside of whether Luke is with Laura, or Genie is on the show, there is Tony Geary the man, the man who must protect his own career, and his own right to work. In a business where spouses work on the same show, or for the same network, and one gets fired while the other continues working, can we really fault Tony Geary for staying employed regardless of what happens to Genie or L&L? Do we really expect him to jepordize his lucrative career because ABC is not interested in Laura Spencer and L&L at the moment?
But my main point is to actually highlight how much of the legacy Tony has carried alone. To echo Luke's words, which Tony performed with such ringing authenticity, "you come, you go, you come, you go". It needs to be reminded, IMO, that Geary, for decades now, has often found himself the sole carrier of the Luke and Laura mantle, and it is not a position that Genie has ever found herself in. For various, and good reasons, Genie Francis has been the one leaving, time and again, and Tony has been the one responsible for fighting for the integrity of the the love story. It must be noted that:
- In the early 80's Geary wanted Luke to commit suicide because he didn't believe Luke could carry on without Laura. The man was willing to end his own employment earlier, and in such a way that would permanently seal Luke as unable to literally breath without Laura.
- When Monty offered Geary the chance to return as Luke, he opted instead to play a different character because he could not play Luke without Genie's Laura. When Monty, and Bill Eckert with her, tanked, and the network was clamouring for a Luke return to help patch up the slipping ratings, it was Geary who implored them to get Genie back, because he could not do it without her.
- When Genie left on her second extended, open ended maternity leave, one that she wasn't sure when, or if, she was returning from, Geary hit the press, and the GH writing team, to let everyone know that he didn't want Luke in ANY affairs, because he believed in Luke's fidelity to Laura, and that they were connected even with her out of town. He made countless public comments at the time that he loved Genie, missed her, and that Luke could not live without her.
- When Genie, feeling pressure from ABC's lack of equity on her behalf, quit the show once again in 2002, Geary was heart broken, and missed his partner. For years he played stories with Luke NOT moving on, a broken man, and he made it clear during those years that he missed Genie, and he wanted her home. Laura's presence was held strong on canvas, even to the detrament of Luke moving on, as the soap took an unprecedented move of continuing to sell L&L's love, going as far as to sabatoge Luke's relationships at the time for the sake of a catatonic Laura.
- After Genie returned in 2006, Geary made it clear once more that he wants his partner back, and agreed with Genie that a sunset ending was the only true option for them. Geary less than a year later stood up on national television and, in a bold move, said that it was time for Genie to come HOME. This was around the time that he reminded us that one of Luke's lungs would always breath for Laura.
This little recap encompasses a multi decade pattern of Genie exiting, and Geary having to carry the L&L mantle alone. It has been an amazing thing to behold, but ALL good things indeed must come to an end. Personally I feel that Geary has just become realistic, that he, and Genie with him, are aware that someone at the top isn't interested in having her back, or investing in L&L. So he did what Luke had to do, he simply has moved on. What else is there to do but? Geary has expressed some frustration in the past with the "wig stories", and I do believe he reached a point where he wanted them to either invest in L&L and bring Genie back, or let it go; stop sitting on the fence, and get the ball rolling, or just let the whole business fly away.
I do not blame Geary, at least not for supposedly "betraying" L&L. It is clear that Geary has been put in a position that NO OTHER ACTOR in the history of Daytime has. He has been reponsible for upholding not just his own career, and character, but the heavy weight of this singular relationship that defines what love is in Daytime television. And it was a burden that he carried for a very long time, and with much blood on the walls, fighting to keep it authentic, and true to what they all built in the late 70's/early 80's. And after a long fight, when the industry has changed so much, when the network no longer wants what he is carrying, I will NOT begrudge him for putting it down, and finding some relief in the freedom of having to worry only for his own career and his own character. When the chips were down, and Genie needed to save herself, she did just that, choosing many times to take leave as a stand for what was important to her, with Luke and Laura taking a back seat to her own needs. Does Geary not finally, after all this time, deserve to take the same actions?
Hasn't he more than earned that much?
