![[General Hospital Review]](../../graphics/old/masthead.gif) | |||
Volume I, Issue v | January 1999 | ||
 This piece started out as a companion piece to the "Laura's Confessions" article I did in a past issue. In it, I was going to discuss the scenes we've had in the past year concerning the rape. It's changed somewhat since then, both because of the events of December and my decision to start this new family-focused column. What I want to discuss now is the state of the Spencer family--meaning Luke, Laura, and Lucky--at the end of December and in the very beginning of the New Year. It will build on past columns, including mine on Laura's confessions, Joan's on Laura's past, Teresa's on the Spencer house, and various readings I've been developing in my review of current episodes. I take as my starting point Luke, and, more specifically, the series of scenes concerning his rape of Laura in 1979. After progressing through the four scenes in question, I'll look at Luke's decision to leave just before Christmas. I'll then turn to Laura and Lucky, in that order. It's a portrait of a family in complete disarray, but I believe that, as odd as it sounds, the groundwork has been laid for its possible rebuilding. Before I start, I'd like to thank my friends and fellow editors, Arda, Joan, Judy, and Terry. Though my discussion with them is invaluable to me on all counts, this piece more than any other I've written before is indebted to them (though that's not to say that all of them will agree with me on all counts). Thanks, you guys.
I. LukeI have written more on Luke Spencer's psyche than perhaps anything about the show. He fascinates me, worries me, amuses me, and, above all, entertains me. He's not a simple character in any sense of the word. One of the reasons he intrigues me, however, is that his motivations and character development are among the most consistent on the show, even over the span of 20+ years. Everything Luke is doing now can be explained with his past--even the things some people would claim were completely out of character. While it isn't my intention to take on all the arguments of his behavior, I want to use four scenes as a source for my discussion to show that the progression we see in them can illuminate his choice to leave Laura the week of Christmas.The first scene is the scene of the rape from 1979. Accounts of the rape proliferate, and we've seen bits of the footage in the other scenes I'll discuss. I want to notice two things about the rape in particular--the two reasons Luke believed that Laura would never be his. First, he believed that they were from different worlds. That phrase shows up countless times in their storyline back then, from before the rape through the Left-Handed Boy adventure and to the present. Luke was a man who'd grown up on the wrong side of town, and, like his niece Carly with her Russian sable, material goods were the tangible sign of what he didn't have--and what kind of person he believed himself not to be. His goal was to work on the clean side of Frank Smith's business and make money so that Port Charles society would recognize that he had beat them at their own game. He wanted respectability, but that was precisely what he believed he would never have. He feared, perhaps, that he didn't deserve it, or wasn't good enough. It's amazing, actually, how much like Carly that young Luke was. Carly wanted Tony Jones because she wanted her mother's life, respectability, and material wealth, as well as love. Luke wanted Laura because she was the sign of the life he'd never had, with her socially-praised marriage to Scotty "The Prince" Baldwin, her clean and cozy newlywed apartment, and her connections to the legal and medical populations of Port Charles. Scotty himself was the second reason that Luke believed he would never have Laura. Scotty was the other man--or, rather, Scotty's presence made Luke the other man. The respectability that he wanted so much was precisely the thing that kept Laura from being with him. My description takes love out of the equation, and I certainly don't mean to say that Luke didn't love Laura. I believe that he did. The night of the rape wasn't about love, however. It was about the other two things; it was about Scotty and it was about the world Luke found himself trapped in when he received the instructions to kill Senator Mitch Williams. His desperation at that command and his knowledge that he would die because of it combined with Laura's insistence that she and Scotty would help him drove him to take the one thing he believed he couldn't have. It was rape. Nobody can tell me otherwise. You can point to Laura's saying "no," or you can show me the picture of her with her mascara running down her face and her dress torn. The main proof, however, is Luke's own reaction, both immediately after the act and for months following. That night haunted him, and it haunts him to this day.
 In that moment he harmed the woman he loved more than anything. He has spent the rest of his life protecting her because of that. He even creates trouble when there isn't any, I believe, so that he can fill that role. For Luke still works under the assumption that he and Laura are from different worlds. He let himself believe that they could make it work for a long time because of her love for him and his for her. He simply couldn't imagine being without her. That's never changed--until now, perhaps. I believe, though, that he's always kept one foot in the world he came from precisely because he doesn't trust completely that they belong together in the domestic world of the Spencer house. It's why he has the club; it's why he continued working with Sonny on various projects after Frank Smith was gone. In part, that reminds him where he came from; it's a defense mechanism, perhaps, against the very thing that he wants most--home and family. It's as though he can't let himself have that idea, that dream. Instead, he is the protector of Laura's dream, rather than part of the dream itself. The dream cracked wide open in the summer of 1996 when Stefan Cassadine came to town and Laura's string of lies started to unwind. As revelation followed revelation, Luke was faced not only with his belief in their separate worlds, but with the other fear from the night of the rape. He again feared that Laura might choose another man over him, again doubted that she could ever love him completely, or ever had. His investment in the dream was secured by the belief that, whatever their differences and whatever his doubts, their love would see them through. He depended on Laura's forgiveness and her love, both of which were taken away with Stefan's appearance. For a long time he refused to articulate his fear that she loved--and loves--Stefan. He went through many steps until he finally reached the point this summer that he could see that Nikolas's was theirs. If she could forgive Stefan, what did that mean her forgiveness was worth? If she could love Stefan, what did that mean about her love for him? He first faced the truth that Laura had loved Stefan. He kept it in the past, not willing to face the rest. Yet with that acknowledgement, he had to question her love for him and, consequently, her forgiveness of him for the night of the rape. When Lucky accosted him about that night, demanding the tale in the second of my four scenes, Luke told a haunting story of regret, insecurity, and fear. Finally, later, he and Laura were able to sit down in the third scene at Luke's and make their peace with that night. She voiced first her blame and then her forgiveness. If Laura could forgive Stefan, she could also forgive him--and had, years ago.
  Ironically, perhaps it was that understanding that gave Luke the assurance to ask the other question: Does Laura love Stefan in the present? At the trial, he realized that they did have an affair in the past, but even then it took another confrontation for him to face the possibility that Laura loves Stefan now. He faced that question first in a nightmare about the rape, framing his current fears in terms of the conflict of that night:
Laura's voice: "I know that you care about me."
Luke: "Don't let--don't let me--don't--."
Luke's voice: "I don't want to be your friend, and I can't have you. You don't belong in my world. I don't belong in yours. Look what you've done to me!" [dance music plays] Lucky: "Dad? Listen, I got something for you. This is going to help. The ranger said this should help to bring your fever down, all right? This is--this is going to work. And if it doesn't, she said I should put you in a bathtub full of ice. I don't think either of us want to do that. So this is going to work, ok?"
Lucky: "Here you go. I think maybe your fever's coming down. That's good." I'll talk about Lucky's response to these scenes in a minute. I want first to focus on Luke's dream--an amazing sequence, combining material from the past, this time with color and sound, and a recreation of those scenes with the actors today. These scenes were incredible for so many reasons--technically, in the writing and performances, for the fact that here were the same two actors dealing with this in real time. Luke dreamed again that he and Laura were from two separate worlds, and that she was choosing another man over him. Some might focus on the fact that Luke was scared to hurt Laura again, and perhaps he does, here in his subconscious, fear his reaction to Laura's love for Stefan, if it is there. I think, though, that what he fears is Lucky's reaction to the past violence, as well as Lucky's assumption that his father is still the same violent man now in the present. For the most incredible part of these scenes was that Luke imagined Lucky standing at the side of the room watching everything. I believe that this fourth scene was less about Laura and more about Lucky. Luke has learned, from Lucky's departure from the house, that he can (and perhaps must) take his family on individual terms. He made his peace with Laura about that night, though the ramifications still inform his actions. He hasn't, however, made his peace with Lucky, and that is because of that night. The rape is very real, but it is also a metaphor, in this case, for the two things that Luke believes he has to face: 1) that he and Laura can never inhabit the same world, and 2) that Laura loves another man. And, with the addition of Lucky, it comes to represent everything Lucky abhors about his father, and thus Luke's fear that because of this event, he will lose his son as well as his wife. |
At this point, Luke was not willing to let go. He had faced his demons, and while he hadn't won, precisely, he had made some progress. He had admitted what he was afraid of, and had acknowledged that it could very well happen. That's something he hasn't done in a very long time--hasn't let himself do, completely, since the whole thing began when Stefan came to town. That's the point to which he'd progressed by December. Given everything above, then, he returned to town to try to make peace with his wife. Ironically, his attempt to play protector and prove himself unforgivable--the attempted murder of Helena--was standing in between them. It was there, in part, because of Laura's relationship to Stefan, but we'll leave that to the next section. Through December, then, Luke laid the groundwork for his departure. He would tell Alexis the truth about Nikolas and leave his wife. Finally, he went to her one last time, in part, I think (as I say in this month's review), because he wanted to double-check her priorities. When the subject of Nikolas and the request for a lie came up almost immediately, he left. It may seem incredible that I can see this as positive. I firmly believe, however, that this is a progression Luke has to go through. It has allowed him to face things that have been with him since the night of the rape and before. He has been forced to reevaluate his marriage and see the flaws as well as the strengths. He cannot take Laura for granted anymore, in any sense of the word. His decision to leave, then, was not about the Cassadines, but about his relationship to and with Laura. The Cassadines were merely the catalyst to bring all these things to the forefront. Finally, in a metaphor Luke would appreciate, all of the cards are out on the table, and Luke can decide what he wants to do. He can choose, in the future, to be with Laura despite all of this, rather than hiding it and trying to get along as if none of it was there under the surface.
II. LauraLaura has followed a progression of her own, and she is not yet to the same point Luke has reached. Her way so far has been paved with passiveness, which I take as a sign not of her failure, but of her weakness, fear, and insecurity. For just as Luke couldn't let himself face things except in a slow, painful progression, Laura too has got to take things one step at a time. And where Luke was dealing only with Laura, Laura finds herself in between Luke and Stefan, with two sets of emotions and histories to work through. I don't envy her that task.Laura is a survivor; she does what it takes to get through. And to get through her time on the Cassadine Island, she fell in love with Stefan, a man who was kind and caring, and who loved her. Teresa has continually argued against Joan and me, insisting that this was a true love, not simply a survival tactic. I have, as the writing has begun to support it, had no choice but to agree with her. *G* I still think, however, that Laura was only able to love Stefan because she thought Luke was dead. It is the first example of the way Laura has not had to choose throughout her history with these two men. The story she tells now of that day on the lawn at the Mayor's mansion (which seems consistent with the scenes we saw then, though I have a few minor squabbles that I'll leave for another time) is that she intended to return to her son and to Stefan, that she only wanted to see that Luke was alive, that she had no choice. Luke saw her, however, and the choice was made. She's avoided making a choice from summer 1996 on. She admits to things, since her first announcement of her son's existence, only when people guess them or hear them and ask her point blank about them. Like Luke, she could not allow herself to see the possibility of Stefan, to see the consequences that would befall her whatever she chose or didn't choose. She couldn't decide, and so she denied that there was a decision to be made at all. She spoke of her children, and of keeping the peace for them. She insisted on seeing her son, and believed because she wanted to that Luke's objections were about Nikolas and not Stefan. Finally, she adopted as her mantra, "Luke is my husband; I love Luke." That's the truth, but the other truth is that she still has feelings for Stefan--she still loves him. As Joan has said often, and as Laura has said herself in the scene in which she and Luke discussed the rape, she doesn't expect love, and so she cannot throw it away. That is at the root of her problem. Her inability to make the choice to leave Scotty surrounded the scene of the rape, especially afterwards, between the rape and the summer on the run. Now, her Spencer family is apparently disintegrating, and Stefan offers her a ready-made family. It is completely in character that she turns to that comfort. Up to the point at which Luke left the day before Christmas, she refused to take any accountability for their situation. When Luke insisted that it was her refusal to choose that was the central problem, she couldn't believe it. After a scene with Lucky early in January, however, she broke down and told Stefan that she was responsible--that her family was gone and that she was to blame. That realization will serve her, I think, in the same way the scenes above have served Luke. For in that admission, she faced the thing she fears most--losing her family and being the cause of it, whichever family is in question. And there's the rub. She still has two families, though one is currently disbanded, for all intents and purposes. With Luke gone (just as she was gone as he faced the rape, being there for only one of the three recent scenes), she will have to face her feelings about Stefan. From what I hear, she's really going to face them. And I'm all for that too. Some people are completely up in arms over the possibility of a Stefan/Laura pairing, but I think that it's the thing that has to be done. If Laura has any chance of being happy with Luke again, she must make a choice. She cannot do that, however, until she allows herself to admit to both of the options. Yes, I want the Spencers back together. And yes, I've been having more trouble with Stefan in this whole scenario than I expected to. But Laura has to face her insecurities, fears, and demons just as Luke does. Sadly enough, I think that they can only do that alone.
III. LuckySurprisingly, I've seen Lucky receive more flak for his reaction to all of this than either Luke or Laura. This came at the worst time for Lucky, just as he was getting to the age where he'd question his relationships to his parents' authority. The timing of it makes him believe, I think, that he might have never broke with his parents otherwise; he didn't have reason, before this, to begin to define himself outside of the family they defined for him. Now he does, in a big way, and perhaps it's his desire to do so, whatever the circumstances, that makes this such an absolute for him.Lucky has been consistently sure of one thing, and that is that his family is not what he thought it was. All of the Spencers, in one way or another, are facing this same thing. We've seen both Luke and Laura peeling back the lies and the assumptions that underlie their relationship one by one, and some if not most of us hope that they can build their marriage again on firmer foundation once the shifting of the old one is through. I hope the same thing for Lucky. He has faced his primary fear--the breakup of his family--and realized that it had to happen. Lucky is, in some ways, a surrogate for the audience. He gets to say things that we want to say, at least sometimes. He stands in for those viewers who did not see the rape first hand, or for those who never understood it as a rape and are being told now for the first time that it was. He voices the horror, the disillusionment, and the anger some viewers have at being told that this golden couple is not so golden. Yet at the same time, he is the son of two remarkable people who has been taught to "be his own man" and to question authority. How can he not, in the face of these revelations, doubt his parents? Even hate them? I don't believe he does hate them. As he tells Elizabeth over and over, what bothers him most is that he continues to care. That is because he too has had to follow a progression. He has had to face the horror that he might be exactly like the father he has revered, down to the ability for violence and rape. Questioning everything, he's allowed Nikolas Cassadine into his life, against everything he's ever believed. Like his parents, he is making progress at his own pace. With Elizabeth, he has found a way to define himself apart from his family; their tight bond may be in part because he needs that alternate definition so much. Liz is right, however. He can't simply blink and make this go away. He can, however, progress to the point that he can choose (or not, for that is an option for each of these characters) to build his family again. Both Lucky and Luke have made most of their progress through scenes with each other, which could explain why, in their confrontations with Laura, they seem further ahead of her in coming to terms with the situation. None of them are through dealing with it; I'm not saying that. But Lucky and Luke both got down to the core of the problem before Laura did. She hasn't made a choice. Lucky still surrounds that with assumptions of infidelity or lies, and he tends to believe Laura is more at fault than Luke is because, like him, Luke was lied to. Luke may be a liar, but he's also tried. Lucky has to go to Laura; Luke goes to Lucky. And for all his mistakes and fumbling and attitude, he's made more progress because he's made the effort. Laura, in her indecision, has also made little effort with Lucky, and therefore she's made no progress with him either.
Lucky: "Here."
Luke: "Oh."
Luke: "How do you know what I was dreaming?"
Lucky: "Maybe you should be unconscious more often. You think clearer." Laura: "Until Liz came over and she said that she had heard from Lucky. Kind of pathetic, don't you think--a little girl calling the answering machine 'daddy'? There any chance she might get a shot at the real thing soon?"
Laura: "Luke?" Lucky is not, therefore, to the point where he's faced everything, as I feel Luke has (whether or not he's faced it well or has dealt with it upon facing it), but he's closer than Laura is. He has faced down his fear of being like his father, in part because he has seen that his father isn't simply a rapist and a liar. Through Luke's feverish nightmare of the rape, Lucky has seen that his parents were right when they said he couldn't understand all that went on that night, and that it was complicated. He hasn't forgiven Luke completely--certainly doesn't trust him to do what's right--but he understands him a little better. He has to, because to come to terms with Luke is to come to terms with himself. The same can be said for any member of this family because their identities are so entwined. At the same time, they must come to terms with themselves before they can recommit to the family as a whole. To make peace with his family, Lucky will have to decide to love them anyway. And Luke and Laura will have to choose to love each other anyway, just like they did so long ago.
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