Hello and welcome to Issues Street.
Issue 1: Paediatric Health. We start back in the hospital with Oliver under sedation so the doctors can do more tests. The extended Battersby-Barlow-Brooker-McDonald clan pull together, whilst the doctor finally tells Leanne and Steve that Oliver might have mitochondrial disease.
Issue 2: Mental Health. Gemma talks to her post-natal depression group about how she feels useless and worries that she will harm the quads and that she hasn't done any of the milestones that other parents have. One of the other mums tries to reassure her that it will get better. Not for the poor casting director, who'll have to find four lookalikes for the next eighteen years. Gemma says that the group has helped her feel better about herself.
Issue 3: Racism and homophobia. Tim tells James that he should let stupid comments wash over him and that everyone's gender fluid nowadays ("gay is old school"). Not for footballers, unfortunately. Weatherfield FC's manager threatens James with going on the transfer list when he finds out that James almost punched a fan (already? It only happened about half an hour ago!)
Meanwhile, dastardly Don (you can tell he's a baddy as he has Nasty Nathan's hair-do) gets all Piers Morgan and complains to Ed and Michael that "You can't say anything nowadays", although people who come out with that kind of rubbish usually have no problem saying anything they want. Michael complains to Ed that Don is racist, but Ed says that they need to get on with the job at hand and fighting people like him won't change things, to Michael's frustration.
Issue 4: Anger issues. David confesses to Craig about why he's been winding up the local gangs. Craig's advice is not to think too much and warns him that he will handcuff David to himself if he keeps looking for trouble. I suppose David must have a type: the last man he was friends with was Graham and he tied him to a radiator.
Issue 5: Tupperware. Actually, this isn't an issue, it's the rather sweet story of Evelyn and Arthur going to a tea-dance and Ev bringing back some leftovers. Brings back memories of both my grandmas shovelling tangerines, mince pies and chocolates into their handbags, post-pub Xmas lunch.
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3 comments:
It must be the first rule of a charity's media campaign. To get your story across, you have to make the public care about the patient/client/sufferer. Every leaflet carries the life story of a named person because they know we won't care about the subject matter if we don't care about the person. Same is true for animal charities. Why haven't Corrie writers understood this? Oliver, James and family, Gemma to some extent. Viewers would be a lot more interested if they cared about the character. At the moment, these are medical/social issues which need airing but the characters don't involve us.
Far too many storylines and as you rightly point out, they're all issue based. The Baileys don't even feel like proper characters, they're only used to highlight issues. I can't stand the family, get rid of the lot. Same with Oliver- we've barely seem him and suddenly we're supposed to invest in him? The show needs to make us care! But it hasn't done so. They never do any build up to stories anymore. Seeing more of Oliver with his family would've helped.
Wish Corrie would be less educational and more entertaining. Oh, and if it's struggling to give characters screentime,then maybe it needs to cut down its massive cast? Get rid of the deadwood; Baileys, Seb, Alina, Gary, Gemma and family (the name a few).
jeanie (anon): I like the Baileys--Michael has so much charm with that infectious grin, James is quite well done as the slightly secretive, insecure youth with that awkward smile he has; Aggie is a sympathetic motherly figure who comes across well when she's helping others (as opposed to the nonsense when she kept burning food in Roy's cafe). But I agree they're poorly integrated so when we see them interacting so cozily with other Corrie characters it's quite jarring. Like Tim suddenly there as James' best friend. Or the first person Leanne and Steve see in the hospital is sympathetic Nurse Aggie. You can't help doing a double take... And in some ways I find the character of Edison is a bit of a caricature, in the same way Sean is a caricature of a gay man. The show may be telling a story of racism but they might want to take a closer look at their conception of Ed who embodies many stereotypes of an older black man. That hat and the chuckling manner, for example, are such a throwback to Bill Cosby and the Cosby family.
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