For decades Agnes Nixon has been praised for the groundbreaking, topical and often controversial stories featured on the early years of her soaps All My Children and One Life to Live. One such story on OLTL was that of Carla Benari/Clara Gray - a light skinned black woman passing herself off as a white woman, who romanced both a black and white man. To this day television historians discuss the story and Nixon herself mentions it frequently as a story she's still very proud of (it's featured on her website as an important event on her 1960s timeline feature). Unfortunately, there's another side to the story.
Ellen Holly, the lovely actress who played Carla/Clara from 1968-1980 & 1983-1985 has written An Open Letter to the Fans and Historians of One Life to Live. In it, Holly claims that the Carla/Clara story and the inclusion of African-American cast members were simply 'gimmicks' meant to get mainstream press attention and draw black viewers in (which it did). Once the story and characters/actors served their purpose they were pushed to the side. Though she and her co-star Lillian Hayman (Sadie Gray) were kept on the show for years, it was essentially as window dressing and an opportunity for Nixon to continue to pat herself on the back in the press for having an integrated cast. Holly also discusses inequity in treatment and pay.
It's a surprising and sad piece, but it's one well worth reading. I'm guessing perhaps Holly might have been a little frustrated with the praise that's been showered on Nixon (especially since the cancellation of AMC and OLTL) and needed to set the record straight about a few things. Can you blame her?
Check out Ellen Holly's open letter Here
Let me know what you guys think of her Open Letter!
-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble
A big theme I read in Ellen Holly's letter comes down to two words we are still dealing with today: Network interference. This letter has caused strong and varied reactions from soap fans. It is important to get out of the letter the point Ellen Holly is trying to make in the grand scheme of things, and not nitpick on a few sentences or a couple of chapters. It is an amazing/intriguing story and Ellen Holly is a very courageous woman.
ReplyDeleteJen, I agree with you. No doubt she's saying things in this letter that a lot of people don't want to hear, or want to believe. But her experiences and perspective are part of the whole picture and I think it's important that we know it. It certainly doesn't change the impact the story had on millions of viewers.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting!
-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble