Posted by Ginger on 11/3/2009, 7:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Tony Geary: Carrying the Legacy Alone"
You know, it is a testament, in a way, to the glorious work of these two people that the audience loves the characters so much that they often forget that there are very real people behind them. Those people need to put food on the table, pay their bills and find fulfillment in their lives just like the rest of us.
They need time off to charge their batteries. They need time off to raise their families and fulfill their own dreams. LnL has to take second seat to their own lives. Tony once said that his life is bigger than Luke's to him. I am sure that is true for Genie too. So, I think we need to cut them both some slack when it comes to how their lives affect the story.
--Previous Message--
:
: J, thank you for very eloquently stating how
: many of us see the situation... for anyone
: to think Tony Geary should sacrifice his
: livlihood or career for anyone is just
: bizarre. Despite how much I may love my
: co-workers I wouldn't be quitting, or be
: doing anything to put my own job in jeapordy
: if they found themselves out of a job (for
: whatever reason). The thought honestly seems
: preposterous to me... and have defended TG
: on many a message board thread!
:
: --Previous Message--
:
: 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?
:
:
:
