Shapes

Oct

25

INTERACTION :: The General Hospital HIV Debacle

Kimberly McCullough as Robin Scorpio

POLL :: Paging Dr. Noah Drake! The Twitterverse, Facebook and soap opera message boards have been lit up since the October 24th episode of ABC television’s General Hospital aired. And not in a good way.

Since 1995 the show has earned viewer and critical accolades for the educational and emotional story of  heroine Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), a woman fans watched grow up and lose her first love to AIDS, only to be diagnosed with HIV herself and later have a baby thanks to advances in HIV treatment. Praise came to an abrupt end yesterday, when ABC aired what some critics call the most “unnerving hour of daytime television”, as a twist in their tale saw another General Hospital character wielding the weapon of a needle filled with Robin’s HIV-positive blood.

As disgust rages that a once provocative groundbreaking and hopeful story was so recklessly handled, the question remains:


RELATED :: In 1995 General Hospital‘s young Robin learns she’s HIV-positive:

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2 Comments For This Post

  1. DifficultDiva Says:
    October 25th, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    I’m sorry, but “A story is a story is a story, especially on a soap opera.” doesn’t wash with me as a viewer. Yes, I understand that it’s make believe, fiction, a tall tale and “only a soap”, but I find that to be a huge excuse used to explain away shoddy storytelling. I know that daytime serials are different than once a week primetime dramas, but there’s a “cause and effect” that occurs within those storylines on those nighttime dramas. Using HIV as a weapon was used on an old “Law and Order” episode and the guy who was infecting his victims wasn’t seen as this crazy guy, who’s also a victim of the illness. He was seen as someone who was criminal willing infecting young women who didn’t know about his illness. The guy had to spend out his last days in a hospital due to being convicted for his crimes. This was back in early to mid 90s.

    We’re in 2011 and to tell me that this is something that’s entertaining to watch? Two grown, intelligent female characters, who also happen to be doctors are running around on a ship (with no crew), trying to take each other down with HIV infected blood?!

    In 2011?!

  2. Jay Says:
    October 25th, 2011 at 6:34 pm

    I don’t watch this show but where it’s off base completely is using HIV this way only because you can’t murder someone with a weapon that isn’t deadly in 2011 like HIV now is.

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