Most 'Soap Opera' books are big coffee table books celebrating the show's history and past through lots of pictures and recaps of the history of the show. There was, a few years ago, a series of Harlequin-esque books published centered around a few of the soap operas - I believe they were Proctor & Gamble soaps.
But, I didn't buy anymore after the first one because it had no correlation to the show that I was watching.
The difference in those books, and Hidden Passions, is that Proctor & Gamble never tried to shill to me that these books were based in the history of the show. Nothing in those books were supposed to help me understand the P&G soaps.
But, that is EXACTLY how Hidden Passions was shilled to the general public.
It was sold to the public as being a HISTORY LESSON for viewers of Passions.
A book that would give us a deeper insight to the characters.
That you would find out, in detail, the stories of the Adult characters of the show, with some Shuis past lives thrown in there for good measure.
They shilled the book everytime they could. They wrote and entire arc of the show for Tabby and Timmy in order for it to be one long advertisement for Hidden Passions.
The book has been out there for at least A YEAR, and now NBC is willing to say ' oh, so sorry. We lied. It's not the history at all.'
One of the few things a soap viewer has with regards to soap viewing is a fundamental TRUST in the show. In the history of a soap. If a show changes the history to fit the wind blowing, it erodes the confidence. Passions viewers, as a whole, give a lot of lattitude with this show already, considering the acceptance of the supernatural as a main character of the show.
But, when you shill, push excessively and give the reason for Hidden Passions as it being a good supplement to the show: AFTER SPENDING THEIR MONEY, the viewer wants to believe that he/she has a better understanding of the background of the show.
Not see their hard-earned money thrown out the window and feel like a fool for purchasing Hidden Passions.
Because, that's what I felt like yesterday, watching the wholesale re-write of Eve Russell's life.
For well over a year, BECAUSE I had read Hidden Passions, I felt
I knew the following about Eve Russell:
a) she grew up an ONLY child in Boston
b) she grew up in a monetarily WEALTHY home, raised by two professionals of the Black Upper Class
c) while her family had money, LOVE was on the short supply. She was raised by nannies after her grandmother died when she was a child
d) she was a freshman at Radcliffe when she began singing
e) her parents turned their backs on her when she was pregnant with Julian's child, because it would be embarrassing to them in their 'social set' to have a pregnant unwed daughter around. Eve and her child were a 'social liabillity'.
f) it was clear that Eve DID grow up in the life that she described for her daughters - one of tea parties, debutante balls, horses, etc. She just 'went astray' the year she met, fell in love with Julian, got pregnant and was abanonded by him, and lost her child.
ALL of these 'facts' went into UNDERSTANDING the character
of Eve Russell and her choices on the show.
And, ALL of that was overturn in the course of one episode.
I liked Eve's background. Mainly because it didn't feed into the STEREOTYPE that all Black people come from 'poor, downtrodden' backgrounds. It's been almost 20 years since the Cosby Show tried to break that stereotype, yet it still prevails in stories about African-Americans. And, I thought it was doubly interesting that Eve's parents were clearly professionals and part of the Black Upper Class, which is rarely seen, IF EVER in anything in entertainment depicting African-Americans.
But, here we were, watching Passions.
It was bad enough when Liz came on, claiming to be the sister of ONLY
CHILD Eve.
But, ok. Maybe there was a hidden sister in Hidden Passions
being neglected too, and the lack of emotional depth in the household is
what made Liz and Eve cling to one another even more, and the loss of Eve
from her life devastating.
Yet that re-write wasn't good enough for the writers of Passions.
They had to wholesale destroy Eve's background, and for what? The inclusion of Lousy Liz, one of the most irrational characters to ever be on a soap.
Eve's professional, wealthy parents are now replaced by the stereotypical 'poverty stricken, but religiously strong' folks.
Her emotionally distant parents are now replaced by loving parents, except for now the loving father is also a child molester?
It was an 18 year old college student Eve who decided to sing because she loved it in her soul; not some 16 year old underaged girl who thought she was 'helping' her family?
They need to get their stories straight.
Plus, there is absolutely NO logic to the mother being shunned by the community because of Eve singing. If anything, the community would have rallied around the mother in sympathy for having a 'wayward' child.
In order to justify the ridiculous character of Liz, they destroyed Eve's background and history.
Liz is the supreme emotional cripple, and ALL of her problems are blamed on Eve?
WHY?
Eve turned her life around and has led a productive life. She worked
on her marriage and family. It's ridiculous for Liz, who never had a committed
relationship in her life, to sit up there and tell Eve how she hasn't been
a wife and a mother for her family.
BULL!
Liz only knew about Chad and Whitney because she spied Chad hiding. It wasn't that she had some terrific insight. Eve asked questions of Whitney repeatedly, and what is Eve supposed to do? Sneak around, following her children, not trusting them?
Liz doesn't know the first thing about being married or raising children. She is a psychotic, pathetic woman who needs to be locked up because she's obviously a danger.
And, for this, Passions betrayed its audience and one of its core character's histories.
Pathetic.