And so, it's over to Lara, who is on twitter @larapetale
"I think Stella is a very diverse character, you either love her or you hate her, and in my case love her.
She is strong, independent and has been like this from the offset. From being Leanne's biological mother to being run over by a drunken Carla, Stella has never been short of big storylines - and that was only in her first 6 months!
I know everyone has an opinion and that is totally justifiable but I just wanted to respond, and as you said defend her.
She has been on our screens for almost two years now and in my opinion contributed greatly to the events which occurred in that time. She has been at the centre for many story lines, each showing a different side to Stella, from the vulnerable Stella to the fiesty Stella and I'm sure there's plenty more sides to be see!"
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12 comments:
Michelle Collins, is that you? :-)
Hahaha!!! Now THAT was funny!
Honestly, when Stella first came on the scene I was quite willing to give her character a go. I knew the actress from EE and thought, what the hell.
But the longer I watched and the more stories the writers were jamming down our throats, the more I grew to dislike her. I do chalk a lot of it up to the bad writing. I despise that they made her such a patsy for Karl, which made me not feel sorry for her but made me hate her and him. The story line is TOO long.
It's all just too much. There are some great characters that have taken a back seat while Stella and her gang take center stage consistently and annoyingly. That makes people resent the character, I believe.
Fair play, Lara. I couldn't disagree more but at least you've stood up and been counted. Unlike all the Anons who claim to be Stella fans. Well, let's see some posters with names support you. Agree with Zagg, much of the problem is in the writing. It really has been a very badly thought out story arc.
Stella as a character is a good fit for the street and brings a wealth of many sides to her and a strong female role. Having said that, I blame the writers/producers for having us hate her... not for the actress and character but the OTT stories, amount of screen time (is there an episode where she is NOT in it??) and story lines that go on way too long and are to in the viewer's face. Cut her screen time by 40% and I think we would all be happy.
Of course she's never been short of big storylines and has been the centre of so many. ;) That's partly why people have been getting sick of her. Over exposure.
I would debate the strength of the character, though, since she didn't seem to want to stand on her own two feet more than 10 minutes after Karl started his campaign to get her back. She had apparently overlooked his transgressions numerous times in the past as well. In my mind, that doesn't tell me she's strong, it tells me she can't be without a fella.
But every character has fans and detractors and each is entitled to their opinions. Fair enough :)
I think it was the 'beige' that did her in.
The character has as much depth, colour and charisma as her beige wardrobe. I can only hope that with the return of Liz McDonald , there will be a taxi arriving for St.Ella
Lara, I applaud your bravery to post a pro-Stella article here. I hope you'll continue to take part in these blogs.
I do have a few questions for a St Ella admirer, however.
- How do you justify how she treated Jason? She always took Karl's side over his. Let's see; Karl cheated, lied, stole, gambled, and is terminally lazy. Jason is honest, sweet, hard working, and doesn't have a sly bone in his body. Yes, you'd have to be a real genius to see who to believe.
The Rovers landlady should be someone we can at least expect to be able to come in out of the rain, whether you like her or not. That's one of the many reasons so many of us don't think she's a good fit for Rovers. She's just too dumb. Can you give us any examples of anything smart she's done, except for kicking out Karl the first time?
- Was it right that she destroyed Dev's and Sunita's reunion, thus keeping a family apart and leading to Sunita's death? However, it was fine for HER to get back with Karl? Can you justify that kind of hypocrisy for us?
- How about her arrogance in insisting that Karl remain part of Rovers, after nearly ruining it with his gambling and stealing, when Leanne said she'd give the money, but only if Karl was out of the picture? Leanne was the only one making sense. Is Stella THAT stupid? Because that's what a stupid person does; not one who should be in charge of a business.
I am beyond thrilled that Liz is coming back. I hope she takes back her rightful place as landlady again somehow. Maybe she can just buy Rovers back and kick all the Prices out.
Said it before, but there's no humour in the character, and I'm not sure if that's a limitation of the actress or the scripts or both. Maybe she's too sacrosanct to get that sort of dialogue, who knows. Becky was another character who was (IMHO) also overexposed *but* she was written and played with such verve, complexity and skill that in retrospect we can appreciate what a good character she was, even if she was given too many storylines all the time.
Stella is just sooo irritating, popping up in every scene and always wanting to 'talk to people'. The taking in the back became a joke. The actress is expressionless because of Botox and has a strange plastic expression whatever the situation. The character just has not gelled. I think the powers that be expected her to be another Cindy Beale but the plan failed miserably.
The return of Liz signals the fact that TPTB have tweaked to the fact that the addition of St Ella is a major FAIL. Why else bring back a larger than life character like Liz, who is already a proven hit with Corrie fans? In my opinion, we will see a diminishing of face time for the Price gang once Snarl is banged up/dead/gone, with Liz getting back Rovers because St Ella wants a fresh start somewhere else now that Her Hero is gone. And her contract is done.
I see Liz coming back as a waving white flag from Stuart B & co.
The former producer brought us St Ella. She didn't take with the fans, but the arrogant PTB continued to ram her down our throats and use her and her family to the exclusion of many worthier characters, to the dismay and disgust of many fans.
But the new producer is finally accepting the reality of The Beige One's unpopularity, and how she has become just a joke to many.
They would never come right out and admit any of this of course, but bringing back Liz speaks volumes.
I have to say that I'm not a Stella fan at all and I've tried to give her a chance (I've never even cared about the whole accent issue) but I think it's the writers/producers who aren't doing her any favours by shoving her down everyone's throats with her omnipresence on the screen. However, as someone who likes to consider the other side of things, here's my take on the questions from above:
- Stella treated Jason badly because she likes trouble and couldn't think of any better way to abruptly end her relationship with the much younger man once she realized it was completely inappropriate and depriving her of her ability to thrive playing the victim.
~ While Stella has been written as a naïve, desperately lonely woman of a certain age, I think there is some tradition of women on the Street (inexplicably) falling for the layabout man, working doggedly and never realizing their dreams. While her unconditional love for Karl seems odd given her abandonment of Leanne, perhaps her blind faith in (substandard) men explains how she could have bread a child with Les Battersby and why she holds Karl dear above all reason.
- Stella's need to destroy Dev and Sunita's reunion was likely based upon her need to be over-protective (hence her dragging everyone into the backroom to "fix" them - there are plenty of women out there who thrive on "fixing" all the broken people in their world) and her underlying genuine distrust of Sunita. Stella certainly comes across as overly motherly and thus a "do as I say, not as I do" attitude is par for the course.
- How many times did Liz (and countless other Rovers landladies) take bad men back into their lives? How often does this happen in every day life, with all the bad moments conveniently overlooked because love is blind and women hope against hope that he has changed? Given the number of businesses that collapse eat year (particularly bars, pubs and eateries) there are a lot of people making foolish business decisions because of personal choices that override logic. And for the record, Leanne has become a self-righteous bitch who conveniently overlooks all of her own past faults and whose business saavy comes from life as a drug addict and prostitute - glass houses, stones?
While I don't enjoy Stella, if we look past her ever-presence up our noses each episode she's really not much worse than a lot of folk on the Street.
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