When Bethany starts being bullied at school, Todd is the one who offers her a shoulder to cry on.
Inside Soap magazine reveal that Todd has a lot of affection for Bethany - he was briefly her 'step-dad' when she was young. And being removed from the Platt family and able to listen without prejudice to Bethany, he might just be the person who can help her.
I love watching Todd at work in the florist shop with Tracy as the two of them form a very odd partnership.
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18 comments:
It's about time they 'nicened up' Todd.
I wonder if we'll ever find out what made him so cynical.
Well this make no sense to me. We are now supposed to believe that the smart mouthed over bearing bitchy Bethany is the one being bullied? That's too much of a stretch for me. I certainly could believe her being the bully, though. And, really how many bullying stories are they going to give us?
I hope the writers haven't turned Bethany into a delicate flower whose feelings are easily hurt. More likely, she's opened her gob once too often and her school mates are sick of her attitude. Can quite understand how she'd find it hard to fit in and would do the very opposite of what's required. There's something of Tracy there, as well as Todd, all of them feeling superior but also misunderstood. I haven't warmed to the Bethany character. Like Todd's experience in London, now I come to think of it, we've never heard why Bethany ran away from Milan. Her accent was stronger than her mother's and her very English teenage swagger was totally unbelievable. As with Todd and Tracy, viewers will probably be saying that she needed to be taken down a peg or two.
I love the Todd and Tracy relationship also.
I would have been more inclined to believe this storyline had it happened when they arrived and Bethany wasn't a gobby smart alec that had an answer for everything. Strutting around in her short skirts and bright red lipstick. Don't believe she would suddenly cower to girls in school when she's capable of putting down Uncle Dave and Aunty Kylie. She's rude and has lots of confidence. She took on Callum. Not buying this silly story. Is she now delicate and afraid....? Another character that has a personality transplant to make stories for an over bloated cast. This is the exact thing that gets me annoyed, totally trying to kid loyal viewers.
Smart-mouth Bethany is to be bullied? My first instinct is to root for the bully. If the writers try to get me to have sympathy for Bethany by making her a sweet, innocent victim, they'll have to make her seem the opposite of who she's been. In which case, she'll be totally unbelievable as a character. They already did that with Simon, who was bullied, and who now has become the bully. Because of this "transformation," I currently have almost no empathy for Simon. If the writers trod the same exact path with Bethany I'll have no empathy for her either, and disdain for the the regurgitated plot with only a different character as the subject. I sincerely hope it's not the same tired plot. What saddens me is Coronation Street can be absolutely brilliant. Reusing a plot somehow just seems lazy to me.
Here in Canada we just saw Bethany briefly once last week. Other than that we haven't seen her for ages. Where do her and Sarah live? Surely not still with Nick and Carla? I can't stand the character of Bethany and find the story about her suddenly being bullied ridiculous. Not looking forward to this at all.
Perhaps they should put Simon the bully against Sarah the bully and see who comes out on top? I don't condone violence but this maybe the way to end these dreadful storylines.
What is it with sticking characters into completely unbelievable storylines?
Typical answers from adults!!! No wonder so many kids commit suicide from bullying when they get responses like this. Maybe it's all just a facade and she is just putting on a tough image but deep down she is dieing inside.
What's so unbelievable about this story? It's a huge mistake to believe that only quiet, nerdy, 'delicate' children get bullied - and can, in fact, be extremely damaging to perpetuate that stereotype.
Anyone can fall victim to bullying, no matter how loud and confident they may appear. Children can and will victimise other children on a whim, and any perceived difference will be seized upon and used both as an excuse and a weapon - just because Bethany seems outspoken and confident in a home situation doesn't mean she's any less likely than any other child to be picked on in a different setting. Bethany was a latecomer to her class, she has lived in another country, she's full of attitude she's not a conformist - in short, she stands out, and all the factors people have cited above as reasons to think this storyline unbelievable, in fact probably work against her in a group of peers - she most likely doesn't fit in at school, hasn't made many friends, and therefore has no support system to protect her. Teenage girls can be truly vicious to one another, with very little provocation, and if Bethany finds herself out on her own against an entire group of girls who formed their friendship years before she came on the scene, it doesn't matter how gobby she is or how confident she likes to appear, she'll be vulnerable. Anyone would be vulnerable if an entire group turned against them.
Here, here, to the last comment. Anyone can be bullied. Bethany needs a friend and it would probably have to be someone unlikely. Even though she's only a little older than Faye, they are too different to have anything in common. Craig is only a shade older but I think she'd scare him! She turns 16 this year, too. I hope she follows on and goes on to do her A levels but she probably won't.
Bullying is not new to the street, it is a staple. All Tracy ever does is bully,. We had Owen, now Phelam. Todd himself knows a thing or two about the fine art of bullying for fun and profit.
Seeing as how this isn't real life....I don't think these are typical answers from anyone. I think the real issue is they have made Bethany so unlikable and snarky for her entire time on the street, that suddenly using the "bullying" ploy as a tactic to gain sympathy for an otherwise unsympathetic character is not sitting well. Plus the fact that they keep rehashing story lines with no real solution, is getting tiresome. What happened to the Simon bullying case? Absolutely nothing.They just showed the bullying for dramatic effect and then it was dropped. No one was chastised, no one was punished, no one had counseling. The bullying angle is over used, over worked and frankly boring at this stage.Of course in real life we adults just might have different, understanding views.
Zagg, you took the words out of my mouth so to speak. I was thinking again about my own comment after reading those comments supporting the storyline. This isn't real life. In real life, we would see the complexities of each situation and, yes, sometimes the bullying would be missed because of that person's outward behaviour. What's happened in Corrie is that they've taken a realistic situation and pegged it on to a character that viewers don't believe in, or like much. Bethany is a superficial character and, despite the hateful nature of real life bullying in its many forms, this storyline doesn't make her any more sympathetic. It's too late. She flew in from Milan using her mother's cash, escaping who knows what, immediately became an arrogant teenage Brit, tried to steal her mother's boyfriend and gave him an alibi. This is drama so within the fiction of Corrie, isn't Bethany more likely to vanish again rather than simply bunk off school? Furthermore, Corrie writers still don't understand the need for a confidante right from the beginning. Sarah had Candice, Gail had Suzy, Kevin had Curly and Terry. Todd should have been brought in much earlier so that we would see some depth to Bethany's character.
I wonder whether this storyline is a lead-in to Sarah and Bethany's exits. Sarah has baby Callum and can't bond with him/her. She gives the baby to Marion for her to bring up. Bethany now hates living in Weatherfield, and mother and daughter return to Milan.
Oh yes please, Humpty Dumpty, what a brilliant way to get rid of the tedious Sarah and Bethany. It's also more believable than many recent plotlines.
I've raised my kids in an international school environment for years and my child was horrendously bullied, emotionally and physically, at her previous school so I know quite a bit about both. There is nothing believable about this character or situation with the moving to a different country and insistent on staying when her mother wanted to leave. Whilst I'm trying to take your comments on board Anon 14.58, I still don't buy it.
I'm confused, does Corrie depict real life or not. It stretches the realms of imagination with many subjects, tries to 'educate' us on others but they've got Bethany all wrong. She's nothing like a teen from an international school, they are younger in very many ways than kids from the UK but very knowledgable and yet very mature in others. To them, the world is small, transient. They aren't called Third Culture Kids for nothing. That's what Bethany is, but depicts none of the classic characteristics. She stepped out of what was familiar to her and was adamant she didn't want to return. Odd. Keep that in mind that we are now supposed to believe that she doesn't want to return to Milan. Kids who have lived in a transient society are friendly, clever in making new friends (because they have no choice and see kids come and go all the time) and are adaptable.
I've also lived in Italy and she's nothing like the kids there. International school or local school.
It seems that they are making Bethany up as they go along.
I think they "make it up as they go along" applies to all the characters and storylines - which is why they don't flow well nor are they believable
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