General Hospital‘s Alexis was horrified to realize that her client, Willow, was, in fact, guilty of shooting Drew. We’re not sure why.

Everyone in Port Charles is a criminal, including Alexis, all of her relatives, her baby daddies, and her children. She asked Diane how she

could possibly defend someone who’d actually done what they were accused of! Luckily, Diane reminded Alexis of what a defense attorney’s job is. But, to us, Alexis’ dilemma felt very familiar. Though she didn’t quite go in the same direction as the last ABC legal eagle.

 

 

Up until the moment when she gave her closing argument to the jury, we were afraid Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) would go in the same direction as Nora (Hilary B. Smith) on One Life to Live who, upon coming to the conclusion that Todd (Roger Howarth) and his cronies, whom she was defending on charges of gang rape, did indeed commit the crime, gave a summation which incriminated her clients. Nora should have lost her law license for that.

When Andrew Carpenter (Wortham Krimmer), the young minister, rejected Marty’s sexual advances, she retaliated by spreading the lie that he was sleeping with a teenaged boy named Billy Douglas (Ryan Philippe in his first role). Marty’s lies almost destroyed the minister, divided his church, and troubled the town. (Co-writer) Josh Griffith and I named the story “The Accusation.”

“The Accusation” led to the next story: one of the most challenging and controversial we did during my tenure on the show. Remembering the story, people call it “Marty’s Rape” or “Marty and Todd.” It was a graphic, honest, intensely emotional, extensively researched portrayal of the too-often unreported crime of college rape, in this case, a gang rape by three fraternity men. The victim was Marty, a fellow student who already knew them, who had previously had sex with one of them, and who was intoxicated at the time of the rape. The “message” of the story was that none of these circumstances mitigate against the fact that rape is rape and rape is a major crime. The story has had a strong effect both on its creators and on its audience.

General Hospital‘s Alexis was horrified to realize that her client, Willow, was, in fact, guilty of shooting Drew. We’re not sure why. Everyone in Port Charles is a criminal, including Alexis, all of her relatives, her baby daddies, and her children. She asked Diane how she could possibly defend someone who’d actually done what they were accused of! Luckily, Diane reminded Alexis of what a defense attorney’s job is. But, to us, Alexis’ dilemma felt very familiar. Though she didn’t quite go in the same direction as the last ABC legal eagle.

Up until the moment when she gave her closing argument to the jury, we were afraid Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) would go in the same direction as Nora (Hilary B. Smith) on One Life to Live who, upon coming to the conclusion that Todd (Roger Howarth) and his cronies, whom she was defending on charges of gang rape, did indeed commit the crime, gave a summation which incriminated her clients. Nora should have lost her law license for that.

When Andrew Carpenter (Wortham Krimmer), the young minister, rejected Marty’s sexual advances, she retaliated by spreading the lie that he was sleeping with a teenaged boy named Billy Douglas (Ryan Philippe in his first role). Marty’s lies almost destroyed the minister, divided his church, and troubled the town. (Co-writer) Josh Griffith and I named the story “The Accusation.”

“The Accusation” led to the next story: one of the most challenging and controversial we did during my tenure on the show. Remembering the story, people call it “Marty’s Rape” or “Marty and Todd.” It was a graphic, honest, intensely emotional, extensively researched portrayal of the too-often unreported crime of college rape, in this case, a gang rape by three fraternity men. The victim was Marty, a fellow student who already knew them, who had previously had sex with one of them, and who was intoxicated at the time of the rape. The “message” of the story was that none of these circumstances mitigate against the fact that rape is rape and rape is a major crime. The story has had a strong effect both on its creators and on its audience.