Langford on Soaps: Ben Comes Out To His Father on "EastEnders"

LANGFORD'S PICKS AND PANS

EastEnders

I said last week that I was tired of coming out stories and I am, but I think people have come to misunderstand something about my opinion. I still think that coming out stories should and need to be told. Let me be clear about that. They are necessary to help our culture grow and mature when it comes to folks with differing sexual orientations. Such stories help both gays and straights alike. I just happen to think that there should be room for other types of stories involving gays. To me, portraying those different stories shows society that our lives can be just as dramatic and diverse and multi-dimensional as everyone else's. And that’s my real point.

Ben’s coming out to his father didn’t go well….

As for last week’s EastEnders, I do think the show is, for the most part, doing a good job with Ben’s coming out drama. The acting and writing has been superb, and the scene where Ben finally came out to his father was strong. For Ben finally saying those words was a freeing, cathartic moment, but for Phil it was anything but. Like Christian said, Phil probably already knew that Ben was gay. Furthermore as we learned, Phil has always known. Longtime views would tell you it was obvious Ben would grow up to be gay when he was a small child. And it was clear that this moment was something Phil had been dreading most of Ben’s life.

Steve McFadden, in his performance as Phil, was excellent in his reaction to Ben’s reveal, not lashing out in anger and violence as Phil usually would, but with tears of sorrow and regret. Phil clearly loves his son, but just can’t deal with the truth they both have been avoiding. It’s going to be a long road for Phil and Ben and certainly not a pretty one, but one worth watching and telling. I might not love the idea of yet another coming out story on this show, especially since they just told Syed’s coming out story a year or so ago, but I still can appreciate a good one. And this is a good one.

Neighbours

The biggest problem with this story is that it's hard have sympathy for Chris even though the writers intend for us to. Unfortunately, Chris is acting like a spoiled brat and instead of people calling him out on his misguided and wrongheaded behavior, they’re giving into him and apologizing when they’ve done nothing wrong.

Case in point, how Chris treats Lucas. Folks might recall that Lucas and Chris clashed a few weeks ago when Chris was upset because Lucas didn’t chastise a homophobic customer. I said then Chris was wrong for being upset with Lucas, especially since the customer wasn’t rude to Chris as he didn’t know Chris was gay. And here again, Chris is utterly misplacing his anger.

Chris needs to stop acting like a spoiled brat..

No, Lucas should not have hit Chris’ father. But Lucas was only coming to Chris’ defense and taking Chris’ side, just like he always has. Chris should have understood that and been more concerned about Lucas possibly going to jail, instead of criticizing him for getting involved. Lucas was part of this mess because of all the lies Chris told his father so he could secretly work for Lucas. So making Lucas the bad guy is not only wrong, it shows that Chris has no appreciation for all that Lucas has done for him.

Furthermore, given that Chris is also working on his personal projects on Lucas’ property with Lucas' blessing, Chris needs to be far more gracious. And while I don’t think that Chris should be forced to go to college if he doesn’t want to, he should at least finish high school. Lucas and George are right to make sure Chris focuses on his studies and get his high school degree. And they shouldn’t have to deal with Chris’ attitude in the process.