 by Brian Juergens
Video Blogs
TV Shows:
Find Articles On:
Who's onlineThere are currently 22 members and 881 guests online.
|
Liveblogging "As the World Turns": Kevin Help Us!
Today's As the World Turns marks the end of a very dry spell for MASSCoTs (Most Atrophied Same-Sex Couple on Television) Luke and Noah. After week upon week of having little more to discuss but Luke's hair, we're at last getting the chance for salvation for the two plot-challenged lovebirds thanks to an injection of new(ish) blood. And that injection's name is Kevin. After two years away, the man behind The Backrub That Launched a Thousand Fanfics is back to muck up Luke's life once more. If you remember, Kevin was Luke's first real crush, to whom he came out ... which didn't go so well. Now Kevin is back and it looks like he's bringing that hot/infuriating combo that made him such a thorn in Luke's side with him. Also back for more punishment is Reg, the captain of the Oakdale All-Gay Hot Tub Team whose ex made some ineffectual passes at Noah back around Gay Pride (nothing like getting Nukeblocked by Cyndi Lauper, nosiree!). Will Kevin and Luke scorch one another with their smoldering stares? Will Noah turn to Reg for a chlorine-scented shoulder to cry on? And will anything good ever come of this Oakdale U. gay film fest? Click on through the jump and refresh often to find out, as it happens! Send us an angel, TPTB! 2:55PM EDT: The Campbell's ad with the guy who finds that the nameplate on his cubicle says "NUM YUMMY" ... I'll say! Wheatables flies off the handle about Lady D and her stubborn family and when she asks what his problem is he tells her that Luke is going against his advice (although he doesn't mention the gay element, conveniently enough) and when he threatens to quit Lady D makes it clear that isn't happening. Back at the farm Noah tells Luke to chill out on Dusty because he's his friend for supporting him when Luke was all Debbie Downer in his wheelchair. Luke didn't know about that and he caves, telling Noah that he loves him and kissing him. Noah tells him he loves him too and kisses him back passionately. And then Luke, desperate for the last word, adds that he just hope Dusty leaves his mom alone ... and Noah tells him that Lily showed up at Java looking for Dusty. Gentlemen, start your cold showers! Preview Time: No Nuke. So how do we feel about today's jump-start? 2:48PM EDT: Wheatables is sulking at his desk and Lady Drumstick breezes in and tries to cheer him up with the good news about Lily, who went to Dusty to help get her out of jail. She asks if she should leave Lily a thank-you message for sticking up for her but Wheats tells her not to. Luke and Noah come home to the farm and Noah asks if he really wants to run for office, and Luke says that they've got a few more years left at school and they may as well try to change things. Noah asks if this might not be about Kevin, and Luke insists it's not. Noah gets frustrated and Luke tells him that he's doing this for Noah, and for his film festival. Noah tells him he already sounds like a politician and Luke moves in on him, purring, "what do I have to do to get your vote?" Noah of course is as responsive as a corpse and replies, "tell me what went on earlier with Dusty." Way to kill the mood, Noah! 2:40PM EDT: After the meeting, Luke and Reg are furious with how it went, with no one standing up for the film fest and Kevin saying nothing to stand up against the board. Luke is furious, saying that this isn't just discriminatory, but also censorship. Reg says there's not much they can do about it when it's in the council's hands, and Luke of course gets the idea to run for office. Go Norma Gay! Hey, Obama ad! That's a refreshing change. 2:36PM EDT: Noah asks Luke if that was the same Kevin he was in love with in highschool and Luke reminds him how badly it went when he came out to him, and Noah tells Luke that Kevin has clammy hands. Reg comes over to ask how the chat with Kevin went and Kevin seems to be watching them closely from over his onion rings again. Reg is convinced that Kevin "isn't on our side" when it comes to the fest, because Kevin looked uncomfortable when Noah put his arm around Luke. Uh-huh. 2:25PM EDT: After Wheatables storms out, Reg is all, "What's HER problem?" and Luke fills him in. Reg the Walking Exposition Dispenser then tells Luke all about how the school wants to cancel the fest because of losing donors but they're having the President of the Student Council make the decision instead. Luke remembers that elections are coming up soon and Reg points out that the frontrunner for office is sitting right over in the booth ...
And Luke turns and sees Kevin, who gives Luke the gimlet eye over his onion rings. Ooooh chit! After a hilarious interrogation scene between Lady Drumstick and Clarice, Kevin walks over and he and Luke catch up. It's actually all quite civil. Kevin is all, "Still straight!" and tells Luke that he's running on a "college should be fun, party on!" platform for presidency. Luke tells him that he's thinking of getting involved in the gay film fest as his boyfriend is the curator, and Kevin tells him that it might not be around next year. Luke reminds him how much he likes films and how many they watched in his grandma's poolhouse, which seems to dredge up some uncomfortable cocoa-butter-scented memories in Kevin. Just then Noah arrives and Luke introduces him, and Noah seems to have a flash of name recognition but thankfully doesn't ask anything. 2:16PM EDT: Ooh, Detective Clarice Starling's new 'do is pretty sassy. Although it's hard to even see over her colleague Alex's muscles ... yowch! And courtesy of the Oakdale Wormhole System (or maybe they have a Floo network?), Alex is suddenly at the Lily Pad ... and arresting Lady Drumstick! I hope they strap her on one of those Hannibal Lector boards. "Take this thing back to Baltimore!" Over at Al's, Luke meets up with Reg (welcome back, swinger!) and finds out that the complaints about the festival are also about "potential donors". On cue, Wheatables appears to give Luke another spanking for wanting to pass out fliers at the fest, and Luke tells him that if the school pulls funding for the fest, he wants the Luke Snyder Foundation for Kids Who Don't Read Good and Endangered Off-Screen Gay Film Festivals to back it. Wheats says that if Luke does that he's out, and leaves. Back at Java, Dusty asks Noah if he and Luke are a couple and when Noah tells him he is, Dusty is genuinely happy to hear it. I'd like to think it's because he only messes around with married people, but that's probably wishful thinking. Lily arrives to break up the bromance by telling Dusty it's his fault her mom's pushing iron in the yard. 2:05PM EDT: Right off the bat, we meet up with Luke, who upon visiting Noah at Java learns that some students have been complaining to the Student Council about the rumored gay film festival that apparently happened. When Luke replies, incredulously, "you mean because they showed two guys kissing and in bed together?" my Irony Meter peaks so hard that my hat pops off of my head. Dusty comes by and when Luke snaps "get away from my man!" that they don't want to hear his excuses, Noah snips, "uh, I can speak for myself." In the next scene Luke shuts Dusty's apology down and tells Noah they should better head over to Al's for the Student Council meeting and Noah's all, "Go ahead and bounce, I'm talking to Dusty!" and Luke leaves on his own. Gentlemen, start your Noah/Dusty fanfic!! Oh, and Lily just threatened to put her own mom in jail. Rich! Submitted by on Mon, 2008-10-13 13:58. |
 Recent Comments
Recent blog posts
|
Welcome to AfterElton.com!
- Login
- Join Now!
News, Reviews & Commentary on Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media
Oh God.....
What's wrong with Dusty and Noah?
It's Not The Relationship I Have A Problem With
OH BUT THAT "You gotta lean in close and pay attention"
quality is what I sooooo love about both the characters of Noah and Dusty.
Soaps are all EXCLAMATION!!!!
Luke is more like Lily than Holden. He's very immediate and dramatic and big with the emotions and feelings (WHICH I LOVE ABOUT HIM) but that's why you need folks like Noah and Dusty.
In the midst of the hystrionics they're kinda like this calm, watchful creatures just taking stuff in and thinking on it. You can hear a pin drop when they're together. It's so pent up and full of meaning
Yes they're both kind of stilted but I always took that as an indication of the relentless pain and trauma they've both faced over the last year.
I've only watched the show for a year or so but it seemed like Dusty was constantly being punched, told off, shot , shot at, reprimanded and warned away from folks (usually Lily) all the time. And he just kinda took it in.
I think I'm kinda biased towards the low key, slow moving, tragic kinds of characters and whenever Noah and Dusty are together it always feels like they want to hug each other but there's this weird unspoken agreement not to be too efusive, not to fall apart too much, not to show too much emotion.
I love the stilted conversations and the genuine little moments of surprise on each of their faces that the other person cares about them. They're like these old school cowboy figures who could have an entire conversation consisting of "Ya know". "Um hmm". Yep. but still get each other. (no I don't mean Brokeback).
Okay, clearly I have an unnatural thing for the Noah/Dusty parternal-like connection but, oh well.... I'm so much more of a Dusty girl than a Holden girl so, go figure.
There was a classic Dusty/Emily scene last Friday...
...Emily has some info for Dusty regarding Johnny; he kisses her, starts to leave, turns around and kisses her again, starts to leave and turns around a third time to kiss her again; that last kiss was almost certainly ad libbed, as Kelley Menighan Hensley (Emily) was totally not expecting it (she even laughed).
It's a shame that nobody seems to like Emily with any guy on the show, since KMH seems to bring the best out in all her male co-stars--Grayson McCouch (Dusty), Billy Magnusen (Casey), heck, even Roger Howarth (Paul) is watchable with Emily.
Check out my blog: http://radicalsexy.blogspot.com/
Casey and Em
When there are SO many dud
TPTB make so many bone-headed decisions...
...they failed to bring back Matt, a fan favorite, while forcing Sofie on us for a year, even though NOBODY liked her. You expect them to recognize when a couple really has chemistry?
I keep hoping against hope with this show, and I keep getting shot down.
Check out my blog: http://radicalsexy.blogspot.com/
I Have To Say.....
.... the show did realize their mistake with Parker and Liberty, which is why we haven't seen either of them in over a month. I think the show had planned a big love story for them, but viewers didn't go for it, ratings plunged and to their credit they pullled the plug.
Paul and Meg seem to be a couple fans either love or hate. I'm on the hating side, but they have a huge fan base, if you can believe that.
A Great Couple, But Doomed
Casey and Emily were great together, but did anyone really think this could last?
What bugged me was the WAY they split up-Casey was upset that Emily decided to get her tubes tied. C'mon-how is it that NOBODY points out the obvious reason they shouldn't have kids together: because it would make Daniel the kid's brother AND uncle.
Subte what?
Well, I DO......
I do wear glasses, whether they are skewed or not.... who knows?
As I said, I still enjoy both the actors and the characters they portray, even if their performances are lacking at times. Some say their acting style is sublte and low key... but to me it's the difference between putting feeling and emotions in the material and simply reciting the lines from the script.
But neither of them are as bad as Roger Howarth (Paul). Now there is some bad acting for you.
Dallas, Not Alex
Noah/Dusty
I've thought all along that we were going to find out that Dusty is Noah's "real" father, especially with the whole "Dusty knew Cherie back when" storyline before Cherie's death.
Maybe we should hold off on the fanfic for just a little while longer.
Just a correction
Whoops!
Noah is such a contradiction
He kills the mood when Luke goes in for a kiss; but he's possessive and latches on to Luke when he sees Kevin or Reg.
Of course, who could blame him? Reg is soooooooo adorable!
Check out my blog: http://radicalsexy.blogspot.com/
Wow...
Are TPTB setting us up...
...for something exciting or disappointment? I'd like to think that all this irony about censorship and "people afraid of seeing to men kissing or in bed together" is laying the groundwork for the primary audience (the old ladies in Iowa) to be ok with finally seeing Luke and Noah consumate their relationship.
Check out my blog: http://radicalsexy.blogspot.com/
I'd have to agree
This is their way of paving the way to acceptance with the audience. Get all the housewives up in arms about censorship. Maybe even a scene at the film festival showing a gay couple in bed (on film) and Luke or Noah saying, "Wouldn't it be a crime if we were characters in a movie and they wouldn't let us be shown kissing (or in bed, or whatever)."
The writers and actors have been fairly insidious in sneaking in comments about TPTB, maybe this whole Wheatables thing has been one slow huge dig at them.
Who are Wheatables and Lady D?
Wheatables and Lady D
Wheatables is Brian Wheatley, the chairman of Luke's foundation; Lady D is short for Lady Drumstick, aka Lucinda, Luke's grandmother. To this day, I still don't know where Lucinda's nickname comes from!
Check out my blog: http://radicalsexy.blogspot.com/
Lady Drumstick....
I think Noah's reaction to today is in keeping with how his
character has been portrayed.
Noah has a lot of admiration and affection for Dusty because Dusty was so kind and supportive to him when he really needed an older male in his life to counterbalance evil daddy. Also, Dusty is really the only friend Noah has that is his own separate relationship from Luke. They are both kind of outsiders and both kind of broody and angsty so I think it makes sense that they would connect.
As for the not wanting to make out, I think given Noah's past year (I'll say it again, ONLY CHILD/ORPHAN) it makes sense that he would be worried about Dusty and Luke not getting along. Noah's lost so many people (including Maddie who he really liked as a friend) and changed his entire life plan and sense of self.
I think it makes sense that he should be worried about whether or not Luke and Dusty can put their differences aside. I also think it makes sense that he'd be worried about Luke and the whole Kevin situation.
Noah is a worrier. He's never struck me as particularly laid back about things.
Luke has a lot more backup and a stronger foundation to fall back on so it's easier for him to take risks and be more free spirited about things.
I really hope that further develop the Dusty as father figure to Noah thing. I like their chemistry and I think it makes sense for Noah to have some support outside of Luke and his family.
My Feeling Is..
Brian W has totally crossed the line this time and shame on
Lucinda for not getting more information about the situtation before she totally supports Brian's position.
Brian's job, in the words of Tim Gun is to "Make it work." Brian's mission should be to manifest Luke's vision, not tell Luke what he can and cannot do with his own foundation. Unless he's a straight up homophobe (or, more likely a cowardly closet case) he's going to need to come up with something better than "offended potential donors" to explain his behavior.
Anyone who's going to be offended by the foundation's brochures being handed out at the gay film festival is certainly not goint to donate to a foundation OWNED AND NAMED AFTER AN OPENLY GAY MAN (people research organizations before they give so it's not like the potential donors wouldn't find out that Luke Snyder is gay).
This is just crazy.
And while we're on the subject,
What's up with everyone blaming Dusty for every crazy, neglectful, rediculous thing Lily does. Lily is a grown woman for chrissake s! She is responsible for her own behavior. It's sexist to think that Dusty has some magical power over Lily that makes her do rash, irresponsible things. If Holden wasn't still holding a "you took Lily's virginity" grudge after 30s, he wouldn't be constantly flying of the jealous handle and conducting his own rash behavior in response.
You would think that Luke (given his previous insights about having to "explain" his mother's behavior) would get that Dusty is not responsible for everything Lily does and Dusty is not the reason Lily and Holden keep breaking up.
Dusty and Lucinda made questionable choices with the whole fake death thing but you'd think Luke would weight all the information and have some compassion and I hope apologize to Dusty at least for Noah's sake.
I don't think so.
Two Words "George Soros" (who donated over 1m dollars
to gay causes and he's not even remotely gay. Every donor is not going to be a Soros or a Geffen, but if Brian is worth his salt, he'll find 5 donors to replace every 1 donor who is offended by Luke's foundation being associated with gay causes.
This is just another version of "gay panic". Yes, you have to make compromises if you want to be openly gay and run a foundation that supports gay and non-gay causes.
Luke is saying that he's willing to make that sacrafice and I think Brian's jobs it to figure out how to get donors WHO WILL support the foundation, not try to talk Luke out of funding what he wants to fund.
Brian clearly has some personal agenda about "gay stuff" that is clouding his judgement. This had nothing to do with business.
It's not 1987. If organizations like Lamda and GMHC and GLAAD and GLSEN (which are only about gay folks) can make money and get donors, why wouldn't Luke's foundation (which is multi-facited in its support) be able to get donors?
Will the foundation face homophobia, of course, but you face and you say "KISS MY GAY ARSE!" and you move on.
I just don't like hearing gay folks support internalized homophobia in any way.
If SOME big moneybags don't want to donate to a foundation because it's run by a gay man, then so be it.
I hope they reveal what the F is up with Brian soon because his little gay panic hissy fits are getting tired!
Jamie Frame (Brian)
I hope they reveal what the F is up with Brian soon because his little gay panic hissy fits are getting tired!
I always thought Jamie Frame was gay on AW.
I think today
was kinda promising. It actually smelled like the beginning of a bona fide storyline. I just hope the final student-body-president debate involves wrestling. In vegetable oil.
When Luke and Noah kissed today, I heard sirens going off from Middle America: "My God, I can tolerate them talking and all, but do they have to kiss? With tongue?!"
Even though it still feels self-conscious -- and compared to anything on European TV it's a mere pittance -- I do think it's cool that the boy-boy kissing seems to be coming a little less interruptus these days.
The blog would never interruptus anything boy-boy.
I agree
The Picture in Java
Brian, Where did you get the picture in Java with nuCasey and old Kevin? That has to be from an episode that hasn't aired yet! I'm really happy to see that Casey might be somewhat involved in the new Luke and Noah story line. He worked very well in the Ameera story.
Though I'm not at all fond of Dusty as character or actor He definitly would work in this story line.
I Think...
Mild spoiler
Cribbed from the ATWT Fan Message Board -
According to the ATWT Editor at SOW, Casey and Alison will soon be embroiled in Luke & Noah's storyline.
Also, there will be an interview with Van about this storyline in this week's SOW.
Casey and Ali....
Luke and Ali...
...are related now, so it'd make sense they'd see more of each other.
By the way, what sadist made Aaron wax his chest?
Noah....
Grayson McCrouch
This episode made me
This episode made me realize that it's been a YEAR since Luke's paralysis story. It was last Halloween when Luke fell out of his wheel chair. Remember when Luke sadly wished they'd acted on their feelings before he got paralyzed from the waist down? A year later and they still haven't rented the one room in the Lake View hotel for a little private time. We got some sly references in this episode as to why, though, by using the gay film festival as Nuke's analogy.
Also, maybe Noah has no libido. If my boyfriend wanted to play Naughty Politician with me, I'd drop everything and go along with it. How Noah could ignore the fact that they had a big empty farm to play with and want to have a Very Serious Discussion instead is beyond me.
The Original Dusty and the Original Lily
Found this clip showing a nice interaction between the first Dusty and Lily circa 1985.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNoHaMwPaAs&feature=related
They are about three minutes in.
Noah the gay film-maker? Has any one asked him?
But back to Luke and Noah. Not too shabby. I was not bothered by the Dusty conversation at all and think that it would be great if Dusty was a big brother of sorts to Noah without of course any silly paternity revisionism involved.
Has anyone asked Noah if he's even interested in making a movie that would qualify as a "gay" movie? I am not being flip, as nothing that we've been told about Noah leads me to believe that he would be remotely interested or dare put a gay stamp on any project. When he was with Maddie we seemed to be really into old movie, esp. film noir.
I am glad that the guys got some scenes that will likely stretch into more than this episode. I do wish that the Executive Director and Header Writer would stop using the Brian character to almost break the 4th wall by framing the portrayal of these guys as if they were metaphors for the issue of gay marriage during 2004 election.
It's time that they got to have some of the joys of being alive as people who happen to be gay. That is what I assume Brian keeps yapping out. The show plays a bait and switch as it treats them like aliens yet repriments them for being aliens :-)
Hopefully no more gay-inspired shootings, Iraqi wives, sex but only with female friends who are writen into a corner, xenophobic Aberzombie attacks gone homophobic, and the introduction of gays just being. Not likely (but not impossible either), as the "gay" theme seems to be rearing its head yet again. Maybe the writers will surprise us and have Luke win on that platform and he'll also get to hang out with gay and straight people who don't talk about sexual orientation 24/7, esp. while there is a huge white elephant in the room.
With regard to Noah's film, maybe he'll turn out to be a still waters run deep kind of guy who has already filmed an homage to the movie Secretary starring his Iraqi ex-wife ;-) Or maybe he already has a Bruce LaBruce meets Greag Akari take on his days a good soon to Col. Mayer. Very gay and ready for the 2009 Gay Film Festival. I would have prefered a simple film festival but God fordid that not making it gay might make viewers accept these characters even more than they already have......
Guillermo's Media Guillotine: Entertainment, journalism, politics, and popular culture.
http://springintoaction.typepad.com
Gay Is Good
I don't know what folks on this lists coming was like but for me, from about age 17 to 25, I could not get enough GAY.
I went to college in New York and had lived in New York since age 14 so it wasn't like I was from a small town with no access to Greenwich Village and the like, but I was so excited to be out and to meet other gay folks my age and connect to the GAY COMMUNTITY, that no, I couldn't stop talking about it.
Lesbian Avengers, Act UP, Queer Nation volunteering for GMHC and God's Love We Deliver, that was the thing to do as a young gay person.
Myself and my other young gay cohorts volunteered our way through every gay organization, event and party we could get into because we were so happy to be around gay folks and feel like we were part of this big gay world.
Sometimes the comments folks make on AE and other sites just seem so anti-gay gay.
It's like we want there to be gay characters but they shouldn't ever mention that they are gay, they should never face any homophobia or heterosexism and they should boink at every possible moment (but not be effimate at all costs)
I know for some people, just blending in and not having their sexual orientation be part of how people view them is the goal.
But that's not the ONLY way to be gay. It's not the only way to show your pride.
Loads and loads of gay folks want to shout it from the rooftops and make a place in the gay community for themselves and be out and proud and loud about it and celebrate those things that make gay folks different from straight folks (as well as those things that make us the same)
The Opposite of Gay Pride is Gay Shame
Until the "revolution" comes and folks really and truely don't care what a person's sexual orientation is, gay folks have to be happy but vigilant about not letting folks "blend us in" so much that we dissappear.
What the hairy heck could possibly be wrong with having a Gay Film Festival on a college campus?
Isn't Noah's curating the film festival a really great indication of the fact that he's actually interested in gay cinema (by, for, about , gays)? He's a film buff, he's gay. Makes perfect sense to me.
I mean, this is a gay website geared towards gays who want to talk about gay film, television, art and pop culture.
It seems strange that folks on THIS site would be so critical of a storyline where gay students are, you know, being gay on a campus where I'm sure they are the minority and where it's obviously not so "post gay" there that having a gay film festival is a "non issue". If regular film festivals on campus were as gay inclusive as they SHOULD be, there would be no need for a Gay Film Festival. But we all know they aren't.
Every gay character on television doesn't have to be their own personal gay pride parade (Kevin on Greek or John Paul on Hollyoaks are good examples of gay characters who aren't GAY, GAY, GAY)
But some gay characters should definitely be more gay community oriented and I love that ATWT is going there.
It's realistic. It's what gay students go through on campuses (even in 2008) and I think ATWT writers would be remiss to just pretend otherwise.
Noah's Movie?
Has anyone asked Noah if he's even interested in making a movie that would qualify as a "gay" movie? I am not being flip, as nothing that we've been told about Noah leads me to believe that he would be remotely interested or dare put a gay stamp on any project. When he was with Maddie we seemed to be really into old movie, esp. film noir.
I don't think that making Dusty Noah's dad would be that much of a stretch.... but while I wondered from time to time, I feel the show wouldn't change Col. Mayer being Noah's father because that way he remains an ongoing threat for Luke and Noah to have to contend with. Having Col. Mayer come back from time to time (you don't really believe he's dead, do you?) wouldn't have as much of an impact if he weren't Noah's father.
And that's the one issue I have about this gay film festival part.... it's hard for me to buy that Noah would be involved with a gay film festival, not to mention wanting to make a movie about gay folks. I just kinda chuckle everytime Luke talks about it.....
Here's a clip from Noah's film!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDaszN9ByxM
He's Buff
"Does this cocktail glass make me look fat?"