theboldandthebeautiful

You know, there is a common problem among writers of serials and series, whether they be writers for television, film, comic books, books or magazines.  That problem is allowing your audience to disconnect from your hero and/or heroine.

That’s my problem.

I do not see Brooke as a heroine.  I do not see Ridge as a hero.

Brooke is nothing but a cheap little Valley Girl who has slept and married her way through an entire family and yet it is never called what it really is: incest.  She betrayed her daughter by sleeping with her son in law and conceiving a child with him.  She betrayed her son by always choosing Ridge over him.  He was always second place and knew it.

Ridge is a pampered, spoiled, self-involved, self-serving rich kid who never grew up.  He never matured and he never learned to see life the way it really is.  He still believes the world and all that is in it revolves around him.

I don’t know why I’ve watched the show for all these years.  Maybe because it played during my lunch break when I was in college.  Maybe because it is sandwiched between two excellent soaps: As the World Turns and The Young and the Restless.  Maybe because I loved Sally Spectra and her antics.  Maybe because I loved Macy and Thorne together.  Maybe because I loved Darla and Thorne together even more.  Maybe because I loved Massimo.

I stopped connecting with Ridge and Brooke back in 1988.  If that’s all they’re going to keep doing, maybe it is time for me to stop watching.

Ashley Abbott was just a passing diversion for Ridge. I was quite excited to find that she and Rick had a thing in Paris. I thought that was just brilliant writing and was dying to see Rick and Ashley pair up. Unfortunately, like all the other women on The Bold and the Beautiful, Ashley was written in as mating stock for Ridge. She and Ridge started dating while he was on the rebound from Brooke. (Brooke had left him in Australia and jumped on Nick as soon as she got off the airplane and that did a job on Ridge’s fragile ego.)

Enter Ashley Abbot. The character of Ashley Abbott originated on The Bold and The Beautiful’s sister show, The Young and the Restless. Ashley had a long history on The Young and the Restless, beginning in 1982. She was a key player in The Young and the Restless for quite some time but was dropped for a while due to budgetary concerns. Then she was picked up on contract by The Bold and the Beautiful. I had high hopes for her stay on The Bold and The Beautiful as they are always in need of quality actors vs. models hoping to break into acting. But, like my dream of Brooke and Ridge falling off a cliff and dying instantly, it wasn’t to be.