Luke and Laura Realistic?
Apr 05 '00 (Updated Apr 09 '00)
I never actually watched General Hospital when Luke Spencer raped Laura Baldwin, a married teenager without a child. I started watching after that and remember missing a class in order to watch their wedding. That episode made TV history, all the magazine covers and I think changed how many romance writers create and shape a romance. Suddenly they realized that the public is fascinated with sexual passion that becomes violent if denied expression.
I do not condone rape, of course, and I don't especially want to read about it. It is a fact, though, that violence fascinates and thrills many, many people. Some people make the mistake of equating all passion with love, but sometimes there is no love and there's only the need for power/domination. Those kind of passionate affairs are not romantic to me, however. They give me the depressing message that there is no love and we are just using each other or being used.
When the passion is sparked by love and shows two people who have held back their passion for a long time, then I enjoy reading that. It is very romantic to see the sexual tension building. Too often one reads bodice-rippers when the couple hasn't known each other long.
If that kind of repressed passion becomes violent one night when the man thinks he will be killed in a few hours, I don't think that belongs in a romance novel since they are escape novels. However, if you prefer realistic love stories, rape may not be inappropriate reading material. In Laura's case, she understood why he became violent, forgave him and fell in love with him. Luke fell for her. Is that realistic? From the number of viewers of their wedding and the media coverage, it is obvious that the public was fascinated with the storyline. Many contemporary romance writers were inspired by it to include similar storylines in their books.
What it comes down to it, we have a choice of what we read and what you find unsuitable may really speak to someone else. For me it depends on the whole picture and what that says about their relationship. The rape was a terrible thing, no doubt, but if it helps the couple to look at their relationship and not deny their passion, then it can become a stimulus for growth and maturity, not necessarily love, but with the possibility of it. I know this won't be a popular opinion, but I do think it is realistic in some cases.
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Member: Jan Peregrine
Location: Lincoln, NE
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1500th review was $200 book: Comprehensive Handbook of Iodine
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