celebrity gossip, academic style

Confession: It’s the week before finals. Not only am I still enrolled in two classes (the last two classes of my LIFE) but I’m also conferencing with 60 students concerning final papers. And giving a final. And packing up my entire life to move to Walla Walla, WA for the semester. So we’re going to have a few guest posts to tide us over — including the following, from the uber-talented Racquel Gonzales, a graduate student in the RTF Department and soap opera (and soap fandom) expert extraordinaire.

In case you haven’t heard, James Franco of Freaks and Geeks, Spiderman, and Pineapple Express fame officially started his guest star stint November 20th on General Hospital, the long-running ABC soap. If you are scratching your heads, you are in great company with news outlets, gossip columnists, and arguably many Franco fans who just saw him in the Oscar-winning film Milk with a guest star appearance for 30 Rock. I’m not going to focus on James Franco’s reasons for temporarily showing off his acting chops in Port Charles because it has been exhaustively scrutinized, investigated, and rumored by almost everyone covering the story (including soap sites and fans in comment sections): Why is Franco acting on GH, a [insert dismissive, snarky comment regarding low budget/bad acting/cardboard sets]? Was it a bet gone wrong with Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow? Is he on drugs? Is it a school project? Why Franco why? Everybody wants justification as to why Franco, a movie star, would want to be on a soap opera, a supposed vast, vapid, bottom-of-the-barrel wasteland of entertainment and acting talent. I’d like to point out Franco has received ridiculously massive attention and publicity over this decision, possibly even more than garnered with previous projects. Ask not what Franco can do for GH, but what is GH doing for Franco?

I’d like to shed a little light on the other side: How did/do GH fans react to James Franco coming onto their soap? People not engaged in soap opera discussion or fandom may assume that viewers were verklempt and moon-eyed that a famous movie star came down from the heavens of Hollywood to guest star on their lil’ daytime show. While some were, I found other reactions a bit more complicated. As a media scholar, one of my research concerns is the negotiations between the contemporary daytime industry and fan communities online. I am still grappling with the potential differences between online and offline soap viewers, so I am speaking specifically about those fans that engage online. There were and continue to be varied reactions to the news. Understandably, there was a lot of confusion and dismissal of the news as a hoax because the story spread on soap message boards days before there were official blog entries confirming it on entertainment sites. How? A little tweet by Jillian Michaels about Franco coming on for two months. Who is Michaels to the soap world? Besides being a trainer on The Biggest Loser, she is also best friends with Vanessa Marcil. Some of you may know her from Beverly Hills 90210 or Las Vegas. If you’re a gossip follower, she is Brian Austin Green’s ex and mom to the little boy frequently accompanying Megan Fox in paparazzi pictures. However, GH viewers know her as Brenda Barrett, half of arguably the biggest supercouple of the 90’s and a third of the most popular soap triangle. A GH fan tweeted Michaels about Marcil coming back to GH, Michaels responded, and then the investigation started across several soap boards and on Twitter (including several tweets to a clueless Bob Harper, one of the other trainers of The Biggest Loser). Officially confirmation occurred after Steve Burton, aka GH‘s Jason Morgan, spilled the beans on Twitter. The contemporary gossip industry is always in a fight over breaking the news first. And in this case, online soap communities spread the story with each other even before soap gossip sites picked it up. I find this particularly interesting because calculated or not, it was a very successful way to get online fans invested in the news by way of a scavenger hunt.

Franco’s first day on General Hospital

Understandably, there was wide spread excitement and anticipation because there are Franco fans who are GH fans and vice versa. The lines between soap viewing, primetime show viewing, and film-going aren’t as strongly demarcated as they may appear though barriers are placed there. Based on some comments, Franco’s presence actually hooked lapsed GH fans into watching again—undoubtedly one of the goals of the ABC Daytime executives (Did I mention his character is named “Franco”? Just so there is no doubt about Franco and GH’s mutual exploitation of each other). However for others, there is annoyance and dismay, because Franco follows many recent guest star appearances on GH (see Bruce Weitz and Vincent Pastore) that typically result in stalled storylines across the canvas, a centralized focus on violence, and little to no long-term effects because these casting stunts are quick attempts to boost the ratings. Franco’s star power is more widely known than Weitz or Pastore, which prompted apprehensive considerations about how his character would affect other characters’ airtimes. Surprisingly, indifference seems to pervade fan debates about whether or not Franco is really that big of a star to merit such attention. He may be a good actor, but is he a star? On various forums, early shorthand for Franco was “that Spiderman guy” or “the dude from Freaks and Geeks,” which raises questions about how stars are defined in particular communities and points to a potential hierarchy in fan star-making.

Believe it or not, the most talked about soap appearance within the last few months for GH was actually not James Franco, but the return of Jonathan Jackson as Lucky Spencer. This news was released days before Franco’s yet dominated conversation for several weeks. Why would this news rival the appearance of Franco? First, Lucky is the son of Luke and Laura, the soap supercouple whose 1981 wedding still holds the Nielsen daytime ratings record. They were not just a soap phenomenon, but a significant part of American popular culture. If you think Franco is a big deal for the soap world, keep in mind that Luke and Laura’s wedding featured Elizabeth Taylor as the guest star. Therefore, there are strong historical connections between GH fans and Jackson, who played Lucky from childhood to a young adult, allowing the audience to see him grow up on screen from 1993-1999. Some have been hoping for his return to soaps though he has moved on to larger projects like playing Kyle Reese in the now cancelled Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles. While Franco is a huge star, he and his character have no ties to the GH canvas like Jackson and the character of Lucky Spencer. The daytime soap industry has traditionally used viewing memory and nostalgia to reward (and exploit) fan loyalty and tap into their textual investment. The “return” has always been an important narrative choice in the serial medium because of its emotional resonance with fans who have long viewing histories with a show. You’ll find really memorable soap episodes often feature guest returns by former actors and utilize flashbacks like One Life to Live’s 9,999th and 10,000th episode celebration in 2007. Nathan Fillion endeared himself to the entire soap community by reprising his role as Joey Buchanan for these episodes as a way of honoring his show business start, rather than trying to hide it. For many viewers, watching Fillion’s Joey reunite with old cougar flame Dorian in the 2007 episodes during his grandfather’s funeral conjures up their viewing memories of a relationship that began in 1994 (do check out Fillion’s adorable early 90′s ‘do)

I bring up Fillion’s case because it highlights the complicated negotiation between soap operas and its stars like having multiple actors in a single role. Though a fan favorite, Fillion was one of six different actors to play Joey Buchanan on OLTL. His tenure was from 1994-1997 and the aforementioned 2007 return episodes, however he was the fourth Joey and not even the actor to have played the role the longest. But he is seen as the quintessential “Joey” and soap fans followed him to his subsequent TV and film projects. However, other roles occupied by multiple actors can end up being a site of contention among soap audiences. This division of fan loyalty is often referred to online as being a character fan first (characterFF), an actor fan first (actorFF), and even a couple and show fan first, delineating where your loyalities lie. Due to the long, serialized nature of soap operas, recasting is a necessity since characters can exist for decades on the canvas and sometimes outlive their portrayers. Fans often have hierarchies in their loyalties towards particular actors or to soap characters regardless who is currently in the role, though preferences are made known. Quite common, fans follow their favorite soap stars when/if the actors migrate to another soap or even primetime. Soap stars may make daytime their permanent home like Susan Lucci (Erica Kane on All My Children) or move from soap star to primetime TV or film stardom like Josh Duhamel (ex-Leo on AMC). There is cultural caché that circulates around soap message boards about “discovering” a star first or being a fan before an actor makes it big since soaps comprise the early careers of many actors.

This division is the core issue over Jackson’s return as Lucky and a central reason why the news overshadowed Franco’s appearance. Plain and simple, it was old fashion drama behind the scenes. Jackson’s return was announced while Greg Vaughan, the third actor to play the character, was still in the role and starring in episodes. Likewise, Jackson made his premiere while Vaughan’s face was still in the opening credits of the show. This is not the first time ABC has switched between the recast and original portrayer. For example, AMC’s “The Real Greenlee” ad campaign celebrated the return of Rebecca Budig, the role’s orginator, while the recast Greenlee was still occupying the role. While that campaign garnered a lot of online fan criticism, the Jackson casting news was particularly angering to some GH fans because Vaughan had played Lucky the longest (from 2003-2009). Soap loyalty is cultivated with an actor-character’s constant presence on a show. But on the flipside, there are fan loyalties for the actors who originated the roles. And of course, many fans were caught between their love of both Jackson and Vaughan’s Luckys due to viewing memories with both.

Adding fuel to the fire, Vaughan tweeted shortly after the news broke that GH had decided to go in a different direction, thus letting him go to hire Jackson. In contrast, GH and ABC’s official stance was Vaughan asked to be let out of his contract. Soap forums erupted in various heated conversations: which actor was the true/real/only/most soulful Lucky? Are you a LuckyFF or a GVFF or a JJFF? Is ABC telling the truth or Vaughan? And possibly the most curious, was Jackson told Vaughan was leaving or getting fired so Jackson could return? Twitter remained part of these discussions as current GH actors tweeted their personal reactions to Vaughan’s departure. In regards to Vaughan’s truthfulness, countless posters defended him by pointing to his steadfast performance of Lucky during what many fans claim to be the worst period in GH writing history. During Jackson’s years, Lucky was a core character and written in a completely different light than under the current tenure, where Vaughan’s Lucky was written as a low-level antagonist to the mobster heroes currently central. If what partly makes a star is the role or roles he/she plays, how do we deal with multiple actors in a single role? These debates about the true Lucky brought out comparisons of fans’ viewing histories and their personal attachment to Jackson, Vaughan, and occasionally Jacob Young, who played Lucky #2 from 2000-2003. While recasting upsets are prevalent in the entertainment industry, comparison is difficult due to the shifting in-and-out of actors in a constantly moving, decades-long story. I would be curious to see the online reactions if the next Bond film had an accompanying “Sean Connery: The REAL James Bond” ad campaign while Daniel Craig got booted. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if a “Who is the true James Bond?” discussion hasn’t already taken place for many fans of the franchise.

Throughout, Vaughan and Jackson’s personal lives and personalities were central to conversations. Fans shared personal anecdotes from meeting the actors and from reading about each from soap magazines and soap gossip websites. Soap stars are produced and consumed for and by soap fans in very similar ways to those of film stars. At the grocery store checkout, the soap magazines are right next to In Touch, US Weekly, and People. There are soap gossip sites (and some “hidden”) that deliver rumors, casting decisions, behind-the-scenes antics, and industry practices for fans to devour or refute. Historically, the boundary between soap fans and soap stars has been purposefully collapsed in many ways to foster personal relationships (or feelings of one) to ensure viewers. Fan investment is the key to a soap opera’s success and this is one way to achieve closeness to the text—through its stars. Soap magazines typically talk about an actor in contrast or comparison to their on-screen counterpart, blurring the lines between character and actor. Furthermore, news about former soap stars (like Duhamel getting married to Fergie) always make the soap gossip circuit as do blind items. With the exception of The Young and the Restless, opening sequences that feature character montages don’t display actors’ names so that character identification is priority.

The daytime industry, ABC especially, promotes fan interaction with soap stars at events like Super Soap Weekend. Every year, the official GH Fan Club holds Fan Club Weekend in Southern California where fans can meet their favorite GH stars and other fans for a healthy piece of change. These events allow fans to take pictures, get autographs, and talk with soap stars as well as enter auctions to visit and tour the GH set. Most uniquely, the Fan Club Weekend event and smaller meet-and-greets throughout the year allow fans to Q&A with their soap favorites about future storylines, their personal likes and dislikes, and voice their frustration or admiration about the direction of the show. In fact, myriad online defenses for Vaughan became personal fan accounts about his cordial nature at these events and his honesty about Lucky’s unfortunate story direction. Thus, it’s important to note that relationships cultivated with soap stars are both an emotional investment of time and viewing loyalty, but also an economical one as these fan events are not cheap when factoring in travel arrangements and club dues. All these situations work primarily to keep fans invested in the soap opera text regardless of whether or not they are currently happy with the show.

Looking at soap fandom can provide another layer to the question “how are stars made and disseminated amongst fans?” As an on-again/off-again soap viewer and soap scholar, I find that the internet has made the negotiations among soap fan, soap star, and soap industry quite muddled and dynamic especially with star identification. If you are curious for extra reading, I highly recommend C. Lee Harrington and Denise D. Bielby’s Soap Fans: Pursuing Pleasure and Making Meaning in Everyday Life and Nancy K. Baym’s Tune In, Log On: Soaps, Fandom, and Online Community. Both are great pieces discussing soap fans as well as core texts used in academic conversations about the fan-star relationships in general. Also, check out the upcoming The Survival of the Soap Opera: Strategies for a New Media Era (University of Mississippi Press, 2010), a collection of various scholarship on contemporary soap issues in the digital age, including a personal article about GH nostalgia, industry-fan negotiations, and critical discourse surrounding General Hospital: Night Shift.

Much appreciation and thanks to Annie for providing me the space and opportunity to talk about James Franco, Lucky Spencers, and General Hospital.