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Friday's episode of Corrie saw the (very low key) exit of Kate Connor after four years on the cobbles. She left to go travelling on, wait for it, a grand! Blimey I wish I lived in soapland!
Anyway, during those four years, I have to say I don't think I've ever seen such a division of opinion on a character like I have with Kate, people really do seem to love her or hate her and there's not much in between. Saying that, I wouldn't put myself firmly in either of those teams, I'd swing more towards hate than love, but I'm sort of in between really (incidentally that's my opinion on marmite too if anyone's interested).
So, reasons to love Kate is the whole Kana storyline of course, she's part of the iconic Connor family, and she did used to have a few good one liners, but she hasn't had much to smile about in a long while now.
Reasons to hate Kate, she comes across as very selfish and childish in some situations, and, if I'm being honest, she really doesn't seem to have very much about her. Of course that's not a reason to actively hate her, but it's the reason why I personally have never been overly interested in her. You can learn a lot about a person from the company they keep, and if Caz, Imogen and Lolly are the examples here then I don't think Kate is my sort of person at all.
The problem with Kate is that her relationships seem to be the only thing that we do know about her character, we don't really know anything about Kate the individual person. I think her two main relationships were with Aidan and Rana, and since Rana's death it's really been noticeable that writers have had no idea what to do with her.
I'm all for the Kana storyline, it made a huge impact and helped several people, which can only be a good thing. The down side though is the division that it brought amongst fans on social media, and having been on the receiving end myself a few times I have to say that some (by no means all) Kana fans can be thoroughly unpleasant people. As a rule I think it's generally acceptable to voice negative opinions on a soap character, but never, ever, the actor who plays them, they are two completely seperate people and most of us don't know anything about the actor themselves so have no right to comment, plus it's never okay to be nasty to a real person. I don't speak for everyone, but disliking Kate is not an automatic sign of being homophobic, in most cases people have a problem with her personality, not who she's sleeping with.
Personally I've never really been a fan of Kana, as I said before though, each to their own and it's great that it meant so much to so many people, but I never really believed in the relationship myself. Firstly Rana herself had a complete character change from when she was originally introduced as a friend of Alya's, and I found Kate's behaviour at times to be, at best, childish, and at worst, controlling. I've never had much time for any of the Connor women really or their attitude to relationships, although Carla has grown on me in recent years, but they seem to have a family trait of being selfish and just irritating really (I'm sorry I can't back that up with real evidence, it's just an accepted thing for me).
I thoroughly enjoyed Rana's death episode in terms of the drama and the acting, and I don't personally think that it was wrong to kill her, especially as it was at the actress's request. It's a soap, no one really gets a happy ending and I don't think anyone should be immune from that, as that takes away a lot of potential drama and would essentially make them a boring character. Corrie, and probably most soaps, should maybe start to introduce more LGBTQ+ characters so that it wouldn't be so disproportionate if and when any of them died, but that's an entirely different subject and a discussion for another day.
Corrie seems to have made their feelings clear on Kate, as I said she's done practically nothing for six months which makes you think that she and Rana should've just gone of travelling together or something, and her exit was instantly forgettable and felt more like she was going away for two weeks (which would still be a stretch with only a grand to be honest), but it's done now. I think it was a bad week to leave really as the main focus was rightly on Sinead and Daniel and I found myself thinking how unimportant every other scene was in the grand scheme of things, but if I'm being honest, I wouldn't have been overly interested in Kate's departure whenever it happened.
So, to conclude, I won't be missing Kate, and I wouldn't bother to hang the bunting if she decides to return, but I hope she enjoys a really long trip. What are your thoughts on Kate? Are you a lover or a hater?
All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License
Friday's episode of Corrie saw the (very low key) exit of Kate Connor after four years on the cobbles. She left to go travelling on, wait for it, a grand! Blimey I wish I lived in soapland!
Anyway, during those four years, I have to say I don't think I've ever seen such a division of opinion on a character like I have with Kate, people really do seem to love her or hate her and there's not much in between. Saying that, I wouldn't put myself firmly in either of those teams, I'd swing more towards hate than love, but I'm sort of in between really (incidentally that's my opinion on marmite too if anyone's interested).
So, reasons to love Kate is the whole Kana storyline of course, she's part of the iconic Connor family, and she did used to have a few good one liners, but she hasn't had much to smile about in a long while now.
Reasons to hate Kate, she comes across as very selfish and childish in some situations, and, if I'm being honest, she really doesn't seem to have very much about her. Of course that's not a reason to actively hate her, but it's the reason why I personally have never been overly interested in her. You can learn a lot about a person from the company they keep, and if Caz, Imogen and Lolly are the examples here then I don't think Kate is my sort of person at all.
The problem with Kate is that her relationships seem to be the only thing that we do know about her character, we don't really know anything about Kate the individual person. I think her two main relationships were with Aidan and Rana, and since Rana's death it's really been noticeable that writers have had no idea what to do with her.
I'm all for the Kana storyline, it made a huge impact and helped several people, which can only be a good thing. The down side though is the division that it brought amongst fans on social media, and having been on the receiving end myself a few times I have to say that some (by no means all) Kana fans can be thoroughly unpleasant people. As a rule I think it's generally acceptable to voice negative opinions on a soap character, but never, ever, the actor who plays them, they are two completely seperate people and most of us don't know anything about the actor themselves so have no right to comment, plus it's never okay to be nasty to a real person. I don't speak for everyone, but disliking Kate is not an automatic sign of being homophobic, in most cases people have a problem with her personality, not who she's sleeping with.
Personally I've never really been a fan of Kana, as I said before though, each to their own and it's great that it meant so much to so many people, but I never really believed in the relationship myself. Firstly Rana herself had a complete character change from when she was originally introduced as a friend of Alya's, and I found Kate's behaviour at times to be, at best, childish, and at worst, controlling. I've never had much time for any of the Connor women really or their attitude to relationships, although Carla has grown on me in recent years, but they seem to have a family trait of being selfish and just irritating really (I'm sorry I can't back that up with real evidence, it's just an accepted thing for me).
I thoroughly enjoyed Rana's death episode in terms of the drama and the acting, and I don't personally think that it was wrong to kill her, especially as it was at the actress's request. It's a soap, no one really gets a happy ending and I don't think anyone should be immune from that, as that takes away a lot of potential drama and would essentially make them a boring character. Corrie, and probably most soaps, should maybe start to introduce more LGBTQ+ characters so that it wouldn't be so disproportionate if and when any of them died, but that's an entirely different subject and a discussion for another day.
Corrie seems to have made their feelings clear on Kate, as I said she's done practically nothing for six months which makes you think that she and Rana should've just gone of travelling together or something, and her exit was instantly forgettable and felt more like she was going away for two weeks (which would still be a stretch with only a grand to be honest), but it's done now. I think it was a bad week to leave really as the main focus was rightly on Sinead and Daniel and I found myself thinking how unimportant every other scene was in the grand scheme of things, but if I'm being honest, I wouldn't have been overly interested in Kate's departure whenever it happened.
So, to conclude, I won't be missing Kate, and I wouldn't bother to hang the bunting if she decides to return, but I hope she enjoys a really long trip. What are your thoughts on Kate? Are you a lover or a hater?
Guest blog post from Jade Rainbow who is on Twitter: @MissJE1994
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Glenda Young
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Although I sometimes wish it wasn't the case, Corrie is very much about dynasties. Kate should have been a great success. Unfortunately, she was a nothing character: selfish but not hatefully so, lazy but not humorously so. The Rana storyline struck a chord with young women but then one half of the team left. There were other possible storylines, though. Carla might have felt a family responsibility towards Kate and taken her in hand. Given her a few economic facts of life, insisted Johnny made Kate work her passage and so on. It would have provided Carla and Kate with an interesting mother-daughter relationship, perhaps like Rita & Jenny, Bet & Raquel, Elsie & Gail and Suzy. An opportunity missed and Kate will soon be forgotten.
ReplyDeleteShe was fairly insignificant to me too. I was quite pleased when she first arrived, being in a same sex, mixed race relationship with a woman who had a career to speak of. Caz,that ended well didn't it! Kana had way too much girlie wailing. It's a shame that Kate's character never really developed that much. It is often argued on blog posts,some characters have a lot of screen time and plots, and the rest don't, and she fell into the second category.
ReplyDeleteIn the opportunities given to Kate, Faye Brooks showed she could act. Unfortunately, they were very few. For the most part Kate was written as either a girl in a woman’s body or as half of the shallowest couple evah. The selfishness that became her signature was in full view this week. Daniel, the one real friend she had, was in a world of pain and all she could muster was to ask someone to say goodbye for her. If he lived in Nebraska, maybe, but he’s across the street. Nope. Buh bye.
ReplyDeleteSince I can be anonymous, I will say I never cared much for the actress or character. Both fell flat for me. Bhavna was by far the better actress, and carried all their joint scenes. I wish the actress luck, but hope she doesn't return to the street
ReplyDeleteKate was never a person. She was always defined in relation to her family, her girlfriends. She had no ambition (drifting from packing to waitressing), she had no hobbies or interests, she had no passions. Her sudden yen to travel - wouldn't it have been good if she'd mentioned this just once before? Instead she was a pretty face who'd occasionally cry a bit but that was all.
ReplyDeleteI also won't miss Kate,she was a spoilt 'Daddy's little girl' who had a sense of entitlement and damn anyone else's feelings.
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised that she would be self centered with Daniel as she was the same way with another 'best friend' Zeedan whom she betrayed when she had the affair with his wife Rana,showing no remorse or concern[the same with Michelle] when Zeedan had to quit his job as Robert's assistant in the Bistro.
Kate even had the nerve to be possessive of Rana who did have genuine remorse[the first time a female character did]for betraying her husband Zeedan and tried to make things right.
It's a shame that Zeedan didn't return for Rana's funeral but again I think that was due to Kate as he still didn't forgive her betrayal.
I wasn't a fan of Kate Conner towards the end...had high hopes when she first came on the scene.
ReplyDeleteHated the Rana Kate thing, terrible acting, always slobbering over each other....there were none of the behaviour of people in love other than a lot of face holding and anguished looks..Now, I can believe Paula though,the running her hands through Soph's hair, the long languid looks.
Will I miss Kate? Nah, probably not...however
Should she return a totally new multi dimensional character who is no longer a victim and a child, I might be interested. For now..."position on Corrie available"
Had the acting been better i might have liked the character more.
ReplyDeleteI've got absolutely no time for Kate. When it was announced the actress was leaving I actually did a little jump for joy. One of the worst characters to have been introduced in recent years. Kate was selfish, childlike and could be controlling. Had no awareness for others. I also hated the Kana story as they changed Rana's character completely and I felt they had no chemistry, just put together for social media.
ReplyDeleteI love how she became a glorified extra the past 6 months too, barely noticed her and that was an improvement for me. So yes, you can probably tell I'm not a fan of Kate Connor although I wish Faye well for whatever she's doing next.