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Watching 59 YouTube clips of Verbotene Liebe puts it all into perspective.I sat down and watched this playlist on YouTube...I had been following the story for a while now but I just wanted a full refresher. I'm so loving this whole story. Christian's temper and angst with Olli early on has an obvious root now...he was attracted to him and didn't realize it. He actually questions in several episodes why Olli bothers him so...he couldn't put his finger on it. The writers of the show have a wicked sense of humor...when Olli kisses Coco there's a rainbow in the sky. When Coco cooks Christian a romantic meal and it sucks, Olli is there to step in and offer Christian some of his "hot sausage". Christian accepts. I have a question for those that may live in the area or are familiar with the local opinion of the show. Was it obvious that Christian and Ollie would end up together? Watching the early episodes you can see the sexual tension...but is it obvious now because we know the full story or was it obvious to the viewers even then? I cannot get enough of this story. Submitted by GayTVluver (2544 points) (516 posts) on Wed, 2008-05-21 12:08. |
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A worthy task
Yes and No.
Though I have seen the story when it originally aired in Germany, I haved watched that whole playlist last weekend as well and loved it :-)
The question if I knew at the time it aired that Ollian would become a couple is quite difficult to answer....
Usually the story plots in Forbidden Love are not as easy to foresee as in other soaps. And sometimes it may have even not been the original plan of the writers, who have to stay flexible, 'cause actors are leaving the show for some reason (like the actress who plays Tanja von Anstetten left twice for having a baby)
The only obvious thing was that the relationship between Coco and Christian was on its way down. But it was sort of tricky, because you couldn't see in the beginning where this would lead to, because of this triangle-constellation. As Oli was bi and also kissed Coco and Coco also had a crush on Oli and Christian being depicted so straight and butch....
I WANTED so much that Ollian would get together, that I don't think a gay viewer can answer that question unbiased, because then your estimation is too much mixed with your hopes, so a straight viewer from Germany could maybe answer this more clearly...
I based my hopes though on the fact that the lesbian marrige of Carla and Susanne just ended in divorce and knowing that Forbidden Love always features one gay couple PLUS they brought Oliver back on the show, who had a gay past, I had the gay feeling something gay is gonna come up *lol*
But I was surprised (though I was hoping for it) that the writers really did get Christian into that gay storyline, who always came across as mega-straight and had been torn between two women before, and was also surprised how believably they accomplished that.
Didn't expect at all that Coco would leave the show, 'cause she was a long running popular character.
I think people were at
I think people were at least suspicious that something might happen because they bothered to bring back Olli (who was a character on the show before), but probably curious how on earth they would accomplish that. Particularly since the writers threw a curveball with Olli spending time with Coco and even kissing her.
That said, they put Ollian on the banner on their official website pretty quickly and changed the bios of the characters to reflect where it would be going, so it's not like they really made much of secret out of it.
Fab!
I WANTED so much that Ollian would get together, that I don't think a gay viewer can answer that question unbiased, because then your estimation is too much mixed with your hopes, so a straight viewer from Germany could maybe answer this more clearly...
I based my hopes though on the fact that the lesbian marrige of Carla and Susanne just ended in divorce and knowing that Forbidden Love always features one gay couple PLUS they brought Oliver back on the show, who had a gay past, I had the gay feeling something gay is gonna come up *lol*
But I was surprised (though I was hoping for it) that the writers really did get Christian into that gay storyline, who always came across as mega-straight and had been torn between two women before, and was also surprised how believably they accomplished that.
Didn't expect at all that Coco would leave the show, 'cause she was a long running popular character.
Fab - I am a straight (female) viewer from Germany (well, Belgium really, but I’m German) and I totally saw it coming! I used to watch VL in 2000/2001 when there was Tom and Ulli and Tom and Olli and when that ended I stopped watching VL completely.
But in the last 6 years I did check (once every 6 months or so) the VL official forum site and in October or so I read that Jo Weil had returned to VL! That’s when it was more than obvious to me that they would start a new gay storyline!
I started watching VL again then and Christian’s relationship with Coco was already in tatters. I have never seen scenes with Christian and Nico, so for me Christian was never the mega-straight, torn between two women guy. So when Olli brought Timo back home and Christian and Coco catch them making out and we see Christian’s reaction, to me it was crystal clear that this was going to be a story about a reluctant in denial gay guy slowly admitting his gay feelings and coming out of the closet. The usual stuff really, but I like! I’m a sucker for coming-out stories.
Also, the January camp fire scenes with Brokeback Mountain background music – duh! How can one not see the gay story-line coming up! :o) I’m guessing my opinion isn’t quite 100% unbiased either (since I am a sucker for you know what), but surely, many other straight VL viewers (used to VL's gay/lesbian stories) must have picked up on that.
@Coco: When I started watching VL again last Fall, Coco was already on her ‘way out’. I really sensed that she was to make ‘room’ for Olli.
Just my two cents, though.
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R.I.P. - Heath Ledger [1979 - 2008]
j U d E,
what else can I say than that you are an excellent observer !
You saw it would come, I hoped it would come that way ^^
I don't know if I'm mixing things up. But as I recall when Christian caught Oli & Timo he was with Lisa and Christian was all upset because of feeling sorry for Lisa who just had been heartbroken and had a crush on Oli. But of course one didn't know if part of his bad feelings resulted from his hidden own feelings for Oli. Surely Christian didn't know himself at that time.
At the camp fire/Brokeback scene I also had the strong feeling Yep, we might get served some nice gay romance in the near future. You just never know if that really will lead to a love story...and it finally took some twists and set-backs for them to be where they are now *sigh*
Lisa, sure.
Fab, you are right. It was Lisa, not Coco. But did I care? ;o) I had my eyes on Christian and Olli. Anything else didn't matter.. *lol*
BTW, I didn't believe for 1 minute that Christian felt sorry for Lisa (I could be totally wrong though, because I have no idea about the episodes in the months before, I couldn't say if Christian and Lisa were actually buddies - enough at least, for Christian to really care about Lisa). I think it's what you say next - it's his own emerging feelings towards Olli that make him so aggressive and defensive. IMO.
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R.I.P. - Heath Ledger [1979 - 2008]
Christian and Lisa
have been friends, but not that close.
Nevertheless it was still very believable, because Christian is Mr. Morals !!! ^^
Comparable situation: Remember when he was also very upset with his bro Gregor when Gregor slept with Miriam and Christian knew that Miriam had a crush on Gregor, but for Gregor it was just a one night stand and he already was flirting with other ladies? There are several other examples.
Christian always stands up for other people who he feels have been treated badly. He easily gets angry when he got the feeling someone might has been fooled or/and feelings have been hurt.
That 's why he can't stand Olivia ^^
So Christian's adequate reaction was being mad at Oli for making out in front of her with Timo with no excuse whatsoever knowing that she had a crush on him, but like I said IMO his own hidden feelings surely played an additional, but subconscious role in his anger. He surely wasn't aware of them at that time. That feelings reached his consciousness after Oli kissed him in the locker room.
Christian often deflects
There's no question in my mind that a large part of the huge stink he made over him and Lisa walking in on Olli and Timo had more to do with his own feelings than Lisa's. After all, it's not as if Olli was actually dating Lisa, nor that he could have predicted that Christian would bring her up to the flat.
Christian also used deflection to cover up his feelings at the club and afterwards when he and Olli finally got together last month. First he made a big show of being there with Miriam, which was unecessary since Olli was only there with his cousin Olivia. But when Rick started coming onto Olli is when Christian's jealousy really kicked in. So he "accidentally" shoves Rick off of Olli and then nearly starts a fight. Later, when having to explain it to his brother he again puts on the white knight routine and said he was defending Olli from a guy that just wanted to screw him (which was admittedly true) and then retreated to his cave when Olli showed up and called him on it.
This is not to say Christian's not extremely virtuous. That's part of the irony of his character. He's been in trouble with the law twice through no fault of his own, on both occasions because he had acted to help someone else (his father and Nico in those cases). He's a good guy with a thuggish image. It's what makes him so cute.
But I think that in Olli's case he used his usual righteousness as a shield to hide from the deeper issue, which was that he had feelings for, and was feeling possessive of, Olli.
The Borkeback references were laid on so heavily it was almost comical. Gregor even commented on it when Christian and Olli were by the campfire ("Sighing cowboys. Didn't I see that movie?"). Even so, the way they handled the build-up it could have easily been one of those things that gets consumated in slash fiction. The big excitement came from the fact that they really did actually get together.
I can actually see Christian as being bi/gay. He always seemed a little awkward with Coco, as if he wanted to be into her but wasn't really. He seems a lot more relaxed with Olli (coming out drama aside). It's as if he feels he can let go more. This makes me wonder how far in advance all of this was planned. Because Thore seems to have a fully-developed set of behaviors for being with Olli that are different than those with Coco.
It just came to my mind,
that before the making out of Oli and Timo on the sofa Christian didn't even know that Oli was gay, did he?
So the BIG part of the hassle Chris made was the shock that he was living with a gay guy under one roof and learning that by seeing it "live", something new and strange to him. That of course is another argument that he primarily used Lisa to detract from his own feelings which were maybe shock and dislike/like (not knowing why) seeing gays making out on his sofa.
The deflection Christian uses later after the club is different though, because at that time he already was well aware of the huge crush he had on Oli as he had already admitted his feelings in the chat and afterwards slept with him, but still couldn't deal with it. During the couch scene he didn't know what caused the anger in him being never confronted with a situation like this before.
But you're right: Chris often deflects. He also rather breaks up with Coco stating that he doesn't love her any more and hurting her than being honest and telling her his real struggle, which she sympatheticly asked for.
But I can relate to his defections so much...don't we all -often- deflect?^^
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What a bold guy that Oli is: moving in with people and making out with a guy on the shared sofa....^^
Christian's Bionic Hearing Sealed the Deal for Me
For those of us who have been following VL (at least the Ollian youtube clips) for a while, a funny convention the show uses is the hearing loss or hearing amplification for characters in a given situation.
What struck me as the most stunning thing Christian has done regarding Olli was his sudden 180 with respect to his decision to leave Germany with Coco for Goa for six months simply because Christian overheard Olli outside their flat pining away for Christian with Olivia as Olli's audience. That Christian decided to stay and seriously give a figurative slap in the face to Coco all because of Olli's singular declaration that Olli would be lost without Christian, to me, spoke volumes about where Christian's mind and heart were, which couldn't lead to anything else but the inevitable breakup with Coco and Coco's departure from the canvas. That was just terrific storytelling, and, Jo Weil and Thore Schoelermann's combustible chemistry are what keep me coming back for more (even if Ollian are Sideshow Bobs in the current air episodes).