All My Children - MESSAGE BOARDS

Usually I write my column about the past week’s episodes and my take on certain characters. This week I am doing something different.

This week is about Annie and the children on the show.

I am not sure truthfully whether Annie is still unhinged or if she is well. I am not sure either if she is being sincere with Adam or playing him and I am not totally sold on Adam helping Annie simply for saving his life and trying to be a decent human being.

I do not like Ryan, Aiden and Erica trying to trip Annie up and to keep her from Emma. Ryan has already a few times allowed Emma to see Annie. Why couldn’t they have Court Supervised visits?

Speaking of past mental in balances. Erica years ago stab Dimimtri believing he was her rapist Richard Fields, and she stabbed Zach (admittedly though drugged by Josh). She also lost it when she had her fling as a show girl in Las Vegas. I don’t see Erica one to call someone out on mental illness. As for Ryan, he joined a Fight Club to deal with his anger issues, and even forged his own death by going off a cliff and letting his grieving wife Greenlee to mourn him. Again, not another person who can claim mental perfection all the time.

Now I know that young children on Soaps are really no more than props. They get trotted on and off screen faster than the wind, usually being passed off to a Nanny or Sitter. However we have right now on AMC, three children who have potential emotional and psychological issues they may eventually have to deal with.

1) Little “A” – First the child needs a normal name. Now he begins life being raised by a couple who thought he was there son(on OLTL). He gets “rescued” by his birth mother, Babe and then goes on the run with her and boyfriend (Jamie), then gets returned to his Dad, JR and goes through a nasty custody battle between the two of them. Finally his parents get back together leave PV, are forced to come home and get caught in a tornado, his mother dies, his grandmother Dixie dies(murdered), his Aunt Di is killed, and now his Uncle Stuart is murdered.
2) Kathy/Kate – She is given up by her birth mother, Dixie, her adopted parents are killed in a car accident, her next adopted mother, Julia is killed, and then she is finally reunited with her birth Father, Tad.

Emma – She is taken away from her Dad, Terry (a child molester according to Annie) and goes on the run with her Mom. Terry is killed and she then finds out her real Dad is sperm donor Ryan who now marries her Mom. All good right? Now Dad (Ryan) gets shot in the head and loses all memory of Mom, her brother Spike and her. He spends months panting after “Aunt” Kendall, then goes after “Aunt” Greenlee who he finally asks to marry him only after her Mother, Annie goes a bit crazy and is committed to Oakhaven. Not before Annie has kidnapped her and she was left in a burning building. She is also informed Mommy Annie is going to have a baby, oh wait, Baby died. No more new little brother or sister for Emma. She hears all about the bad things her Mother has done and that she is either in the hospital or prison and Daddy Ryan won’t let her visit Mom.

Now I may have oversimplified my synopsis of what these kids have been through but I think all and all you understand that they have been really screwed up before they have even turned 10 years old.

I really think AMC owes it to it’s viewers to not make mental illness a joke and that it has serious ramifications not only for the person dealing with the problem but their family as well, especially children.

I don’t expect TPTB to pay much attention to this. That saddens me as AMC use to showcase front burner Storylines that had meaning, drug use, physical abuse, adoption, race issues etc. Now most of the storylines are so frivolous.


Back with more observations and questions.

Well that’s about all for now. Have a great week.

wow! ANYWAY i don't think the writters are making a joke out of mental illness at all,,other than maybe in real life a annie wouldn't b running around with an ankle braclet? i mean "come on" she has killed people? erica never killed anyone, just injured..lol

Think back a long way. Erica has killed at least once. She and her girlfriends, including Janet from Another Planet at that time, killed a guy and buried him in Erica's back yard.

There are never happy children in Pine Valley. I think the writers have real "child" issues.

Lamie, jr and Colby all had relatively good childhoods (for a soap) until they reached puberty (teen years). Jr’s history was re-written to make him into the “devil child” (pulling the wings of butterflies and Lamie was written as a victim. Colby was “fine” until Liza decided to raise her under a fake name and keep her from her father instead of letting her spend 98% of her time with Marion/Stuart!! The only difference is that now the younger set (pre-teens and toddlers) is being used where they used to wait until the kids were older. I’m sick of baby stories but I have no real issue with the “lives” the kids are living on the show. They are being used to create drama. If the drama was more entertaining then I doubt many would take issue. Unfortunately each child is now going through the same recycled story: custody and Ian is stuck in perpetual medical crisis mode. It’s boring and repetitious. Name ONE soap where the kids are “happy” and seen on any regular basis… Imo this is not something that is just about AMC. It’s on Y&R and GH and OLTL. It’s not really anything new. I think the difference is that there are so many kids on at the same time.