The love affair
between two young men on the venerable CBS soap opera As
the World Turns has triggered a protest
campaign by angry viewers.
It's just not the
sort of protest you'd expect.
Fans of the
fictional romance between Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer are
baffled about why the two characters haven't kissed
on-screen since September, wondering whether it's a
sign of squeamishness by CBS or show sponsors Procter
& Gamble Co.
The fans have
started a letter-writing campaign, posted an online
petition, and even have a website that counts the days,
hours, minutes, and seconds since Luke and Noah last
locked lips.
''We totally
support this show and applaud the show for doing this story
line,'' said Roger Newcomb, a computer worker from New
York's northern suburbs and the man behind the
campaign. ''We just don't understand why they have to
be censored or treated differently.''
As the World Turns, which premiered in 1956,
had the first gay male character in daytime drama in 1988.
Last August was another milestone -- believed to be
the first time two gay men kissed on a soap -- when
Luke surprised Noah with the sign of affection.
They kissed again
in September, at a time Noah was still coming to grips
with being gay. But since officially becoming a couple,
their lips have been sealed.
Fans first sensed
the new attitude around Christmas, during a tender
scene where the two men proclaimed their love for one
another. It was clear they were about to kiss, but the
camera instead panned up and focused on some
mistletoe.
''I've been
watching soaps for decades,'' Newcomb said, ''and that
doesn't happen.''
Valentine's Day
featured fantasy sequences involving several of the
show's couples. All the stories ended in a kiss, except for
Luke and Noah's. They hugged.
That's when the
campaign started.
''There are some
people who want to see sex between Luke and Noah,'' said
34-year-old Theresa Webber, who lives north of Boston.
''I've been watching soaps long enough to know that
they're a teenage couple, so it's not going to happen
anyway. But for them to not kiss at all, it's a little
extreme.''
The soap is
owned, produced, and written by Procter & Gamble
Productions Inc., a subsidiary of the consumer giant that
makes Bounty, Crest, Pampers, Mr. Clean, and Ivory
soap. CBS executives consult on the series, but the
creative direction is set by P&G.
There's no
kissing ban, said Jeannie Tharrington, spokeswoman for
Procter & Gamble Productions, although she
wouldn't say what will happen in future shows. She
explained the mistletoe shot as a ''creative
decision.''
''It's always
hard to please a diverse audience,'' Tharrington said,
''and we have a diverse audience.''
Webber recalls
reading a handful of letters in soap opera publications
after last summer's first kiss along the lines of ''I don't
care if Luke is gay, but I don't want to see it.''
Barbara Bloom,
CBS senior vice president for daytime, said there was a
''minimal'' negative reaction from viewers about the story
line, although she couldn't define what that meant.
There was apparently no organized campaign by
conservative or parent advocacy groups that monitor
television content.
''It's entirely
new to me,'' said Tim Winter, president of the Parents
Television Council. ''I hadn't heard anything about it.''
The American
Family Association website has a ''take-action alert''
against Procter & Gamble, calling the company the ''top
pro-homosexual sponsor on television.'' The group bases its
determination on the number of P&G products
advertised on prime-time TV shows with gay or lesbian
characters.
As the World Turns isn't even mentioned.
Webber and
Newcomb said they've been more bothered by other things they
have seen on the soap, like when a 14-year-old boy shot a
man who was attacking his mother. One character is so
desperate for a baby that she slept with her
ex-brother-in-law, and was nearly caught having sex in an
elevator. Another woman led her children and ex-husband into
believing she had a brain tumor, just to get him back.
All are more
offensive to her than two men kissing, Webber said.
''It's 2008,''
she said. ''It's something that's real. If they were not
going to follow through with it, they shouldn't have started
it.''
The story's
popularity complicates matters. Some 140 scenes featuring
the two actors, Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann, are
posted online. The message board on Vanhansis.net gets
posts from around the world. While competitors One
Life to Live and Days of Our Lives have seen
double-digit drops in viewership over the past year,
As the World Turns is down only 2%.
The soap's
producers seem to want it both ways, to get credit for
having a gay couple but no backlash from long-term
viewers for showing intimacy, said Carolyn Hinsey,
editor of Soap Opera Weekly.
CBS's Bloom said
she would like to see Luke and Noah's romance continue.
''If that means there is a natural progression to the
physical relationship, I would be in support of it,''
she said.
Tharrington
laughed when asked about any behind-the-scenes debates over
showing intimacy between the two men. ''You wouldn't even
believe,'' she said.
Producers are
committed to telling the story of the romance, she said,
adding she hoped the audience would recognize what As the
World Turns is showing, instead of just what
it isn't.
''We feel like
we're doing so much right here,'' she said. ''We're
telling a story that no one else is doing. We're telling a
story that has really engaged our audience.'' (David
Bauder, AP)
