Speaking of transexuality, has anyone been keeping up with "All My Children" recently?

[Nikki Stone1]

I am home sick today and am watching a transexual storyline on "All My Children". There was a support group with some discussion about coming out as a transsexual. It is really interesting, but I don't know how realistic this is. (It is a SOAP, afterall.:) )

I wondered if anyone was following the story and could tell me what the general plot of it was.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. SPOILER ALERT: Apparently, this guy was cross-dressing for a while and now wants

to take the final step of getting hormones and then surgery. And then supposedly once he is finally a woman, she becomes a love interest of Bianca.

[Nikki Stone1]

3. Wow! (Gotta wrap my head around that one)

I love Bianca's character, by the way. Interesting the play with gender all that entails. I'll bet Erika is blowing a gasket.

I just wondered if any of the transsexual community had commentary on this soap and the depiction of transsexuals.

[soleft]

2. Is she still a suspect in a serial murder plot

I don't watch the show but I saw an article in Time Out that said some people might be pissed because the character was a potential suspect in a murder case.

[Nikki Stone1]

4. Whose murder?

I haven't watched this for a long time.

[soleft]

5. don't know

[Nikki Stone1]

6. I'm actually interested in the depiction of transsexuals and how accurate it is, though

...

[Solo_in_MD]

14. There was a CSI:Las Vegas featuring T*s on Skpike this week. Handled better than most

[mantis49]

29. Murdered:

Simone (didn't like her anyway)
Dixie (I was crushed)
Derek's daughter whose name I can't remember
I think one other one, but not sure.

The transsexual character Zarf/Zoe was a suspect. Zach Cambias's dad is the culprit. He tried to kill Kendall (Bianca's sister and Erica's daughter)

I think I know way too much about this! :eyes: And I work full time! Have followed AMC since it first came on the air (1970?).

Zoe is in love with Bianca.

[Nikki Stone1]

31. They killed Dixie? Didn't she just come back to the show?

Clearly I'm behind the times. Simone was kind of a marginal character.

So why did Zach's dad kill all these women? Is he some kind of psycho?

[mantis49]

33. Dixie was accidental.

Babe was the intended target and Dixie ate food that was poisoned for Babe.

Kendall was the head of Fusion and he was going after the "Fusion women." Kendall was the last intended target. He kidnapped her and was going to blow her up and Zach saved her. Yes, he is psycho. His purpose was to hurt Zach by killing who he loved. He blamed Zach for the death of his mother. Still not sure how that happened.

[Nikki Stone1]

35. Wow. I guess Dixie fans feel screwed over

Killed accidentally by a psycho dad. Charming.

So does everyone love her better now that she is dead?

[Marnieworld]

9. Oh please.

Everybody gets accused of murder at one point in their lives in Pine Valley. I know Erica (her mother) was more than once. Nothing like a good soapy murder mystery. Then again I haven't watched AMC or any soaps in years so I can't comment specifically on this. But I was raised on All my Children so I know how it can be. If they are attempting anything I'm sure they are doing it with sensitivity and awareness as much as they can and still tell a compelling story. They try and be cutting edge, if not influential socially but you can't please everyone.

[Nikki Stone1]

10. That's true in soap opera world. Murder goes with the territory

But I thought today's show at least was well done. I wondered if any transsexuals were actually watching it and could comment.

[Marnieworld]

11. Maybe ask the GLBT forum

You might get a few more bites there. :hi:

[soleft]

13. Here's the article I was referring to

But there also needs to be over-the-top drama, which may explain why Zoe has become the lead suspect in Pine Valley’s serial-murderer plotline—a twist that treads very close to taboo for LGBT folks, who have historically been portrayed as victims or killers. “The impulse of all of us is to blame those who are different than we are,” McTavish explains.

Carlson has taken on Zoe’s intense emotions, even when not in character. “Lately she’s like, ‘You want to fuck with me? Fuck with me,’ ” he says. “ ‘Don’t think I haven’t been dealing with this my whole life’ is what she’s saying to those who attack her.”


http://www.timeout.com/newyork/Details.do?page=2&xyurl=xyl://TONYWebArticles1/590/gay_lesbian/soap_dish.xml

[Nikki Stone1]

16. The actor looks really pretty as a woman

I'm reading the article. Thanks!

[Nikki Stone1]

17. They've involved GLAAD from the beginning. Makes sense

The scenes really held my interest today.

[mr_hat]

7. He needs an accent transplant. Awful.

[Nikki Stone1]

8. Do you think the accent was deliberate? To create a sense of exoticism in a transsexual?

?

[progdonkey]

12. I saw a little when I just had the TV on and thought it was a comedy...

The scene was very serious and it seemed like they were treating sex changing seriously (well, as seriously as a soap can treat anything), but then the guy started talking with that weird, overwrought pseudo-British accent, that it reminded me of Roger De Bris in "the Producers," and I just couldn't stop laughing!

[Nikki Stone1]

15. I wonder what that accent is all about? It's a shame it interfered with the rest

I thought they were taking sex change seriously as well.

[DesertRat]

27. the character is supposed to be British

But I agree, it is a terrible accent. Someone should remind him that it's a soap opera, not Shakespeare.

[Nikki Stone1]

28. What kind of British accent is it supposed to be?

Generic British Rock Star accent?

[femmocrat]

36. They never explained the accent. Aiden (a detective) said Zarf/Zoe is really from Elkhart, Indiana.

I think the accent sounds really, really affected.

[Nikki Stone1]

37. Zarf/Zoe (I guess it's really Zoe) does sound like Indianans that I know

Is it part of the schtick? Will the accent disappear as she becomes more Zoe?

[DesertRat]

38. Yes, I think so. n/t

[zalinda]

18. Okay, back story

Zarf/Zoe was a rock star, this is one of the reasons he is over the top. When they started the transgender story line, they looked to the guy who played Zarf, who had been a one shot appearance on the soap. He didn't come out for a long time, and didn't cross dress until he came out to Bianca. He had bought hormones on the black market because of his fame, and hasn't gone any further because he had no support, such as friends or family.

As far as the murder suspect goes, it was just because he was the new guy in town. They looked as just about everyone.

Zarf was a totally made up persona by (I forgot his real soap name) to mask all his hurt and his sexual confusion. He feels like a woman, but is attracted to women. Now that he has Babe and Bianca, he may go through the change.

They have handled the story line quite well. They have showed his/her goodness, sadness, confusion, and bravado. The character is well rounded and unwrapping the layers has been very interesting.

zalinda

[Nikki Stone1]

19. Thanks for the story

The rock star thing explains the accent. I am glad to see that the story seems to be sensitively handled.

[kimmerspixelated]

20. Does Erica know?

[zalinda]

21. There was a funny exchange

between Erica and Bianca. Erica seemed delighted that Bianca had feelings for Zarf/Zoe, thinking that if she had feelings for Zarf then maybe she could be "over" her attraction to women.

zalinda

[Nikki Stone1]

22. Oh, funny. But I wonder if that is how the viewing audience is taking it

...

[zalinda]

23. It was just a short scene

and Bianca called her on it. It's been interesting as to who can accept Zoe and who can't.

zalinda

[Nikki Stone1]

24. Who accepts her?

Obviously Bianca, but who else?

[zalinda]

25. There is quite a few

Babe accepted Zoe right away, no questions asked, as well as Babe's mother. Bianca had to be convinced, so she wasn't as easy. Josh and Julia who have medical training had no problem with Zoe. And Colby, the teenager, understood immediately because she was a fan of Zarf and now knew what he had been talking about in his lyrics, and she thought it was no big deal and actually cool.

Some of the more established characters don't have a problem with Zoe, as such, as they were still looking for the murderer of all the women. I'm behind about 2 weeks so I don't know how far they've come.

But it seems like the people who love power and what it can do for them, have the biggest problem with Zoe. The Chandlers, the police chief and Dixie's brother, who is some what of a stereotype of a dumb jock, girl chaser, have a huge problem with Zarf/Zoe.

zalinda

[Nikki Stone1]

26. Ah. So the idea is that being different upsets the balance of power in some way

Surprised that Colby accepted Zoe, but she can be unpredictable sometimes. BTW, what were the murders about?

[mantis49]

30. Not really sure.

Had to do with Zach's father and mother, but I'm still confused.

[Nikki Stone1]

32. So Zarf/Zoe has been cleared?

Just trying to catch up here.

[mantis49]

34. Yes.

eom

[zalinda]

39. Just watched week before's tape

so I'm still a week behind. I'll tape last weeks episodes tonight. This is where I've gotten so far. Zach's father (Alexander Cambias) killed his wife when Zach was about 5 years old, because she was going to leave him for another man and take her sons with her. He pushed her off the balcony of their house and then tried to make Zach think he did it. Until Zach and his father confronted one another Zach still believed the lie, but then remembered what had happened. When Zach was 18, his brother Michael helped him fake his own death, that's when he became Zach. Some time a little before that Zach had fallen in love with a girl named Hannah and she got pregnant and Zach's father paid for her to disappear, and Zach never knew he had a son until he came to Pine Valley.

So Michael grows up to be a rapist and rapes Bianca, which is all over the news since she is the daughter of Erica Kane. All this time Pine Valley thinks that Ryan is dead, because he faked his own death because (well, I can't remember why). He ends up in Las Vegas on a motorcycle and comes across a stalled limo and offers the person inside a ride into town. That person happens to be Alexander Cambias. He winds up in the hospital and he sees on the news that his son Michael has raped Bianca so he decides to change his will and give all his money to Ryan. Then he "dies" because he doesn't want to be connected to Michael, as he smeared the Cambias good name. We won't find out about his "death" until a few years later.

So now the women of Fusion are starting to die and no one knows why. Zach thinks it may have something to do with him as all the women had white satin ribbons and gardenias on their bodies, just like his mother did when she died. Zach and Kendall go to Las Vegas and dig up his father's grave and the coffin is filled with stones. Zach tries to confront his father but is side lined with a drugged dart to his neck. Kendall walks right into the trap and she is now being held by Zach's father.

Okay, the exact reason why he has been killing the Fusion girls is not really clear. He was trying to get Zach's attention, he was trying to punish Zach? Not really sure. He's talked about how crushed he was when Zach "died" and he wanted Zach to feel the same pain. The reasoning for the deaths are convoluted. I just think that it was a way to get some of the actresses off the show that really didn't have a story line any more.

So at this point, Zach's father has had a dead man's switch attached to a poison dart that is positioned on Kendall's neck. Zach has begged for his father's forgiveness (as per father's demand)and has even been on his knees to him. The last scene that I watched was Zach lunging toward his father and getting his hand on his father's hand, that was holding the dead man's switch.

zalinda

[Nikki Stone1]

40. Thanks for the update

I can't say that it makes total sense, because it's very convoluted, but now at least some of it is holding together. Does Ryan have to give the money back?

[zalinda]

41. Don't know, it hasn't come up yet n/t