It's been reported this week that Tala Ashe, the actress who portrays Ameera on As the World Turns, has been released from the show. I've heard that Tala is a very nice girl and it's normally not a pleasant thing when a nice person loses his or her job, but I am thoroughly thrilled by this announcement. I'll detail why that is and my exact feelings about the show and the Luke and Noah storyline after the jump.
Ameera was nothing more than a plot device introduced to keep Luke and Noah from getting their swerve on. It's been obvious from day one and it still is today. It didn't help that the writers never developed Ameera. They never allowed us to know her at all and never made her into an actual character. She has remained a walking, talking plot device throughout the story and never grew into anything more. Viewers were never given an opportunity to actually care about her. We were given reasons that we should care about her (dead mother, life in danger if she goes back to Iraq), but those were external reasons that were shoved down our throats. Ameera never gave us a reason to care about her herself. When there is no character there, there is no character about which to care.
I feel sorry for Tala, because none of this was really her fault. The writing was absolutely lousy. Ameera was introduced with one goal in mind: keep Luke and Noah apart. They never seemed to have any idea what to do with her beyond that. They quickly threw her into a marriage with Noah that made absolutely no sense and didn't bother to write any actual story. Luke and Noah couldn't truly be together simply because she was there. When the writers had Ameera actually try to seduce Noah, it destroyed any chance whatsoever that we could feel any sympathy for her. Luke had sacrificed so much for her, and his family had given her absolutely everything. It was absolutely reprehensible for her to do that. That's when the writers made the biggest mistake of the whole story: they didn't treat it like a big deal even though it was an absolutely detestable thing to do. Ameera faced no repercussions and Luke laughed it off. At this point, Ameera and the story became absolutely irredeemable. Everything that followed was illogical, contrived, and just plain stupid. It didn't help that everyone seemed to be acting out of character and tolerating things that no sane person would tolerate.
Honestly, it amazes me that someone could do their jobs as badly as the writers and producer of the show do their jobs and still get paid for it. If everyone I know performed their jobs this badly, they wouldn't be working for very long. There are apparently two areas where you can be absolutely horrible at your job and continue to get paid: entertainment and politics.
I'm not just basing this on Luke and Noah either. This week, for the first time in a while, I actually watched whole episodes of the show, and it's overall quality has dropped like George Michael's pants in a park. I don't think it's a coincidence that the show has been hemorrhaging viewers in recent weeks.
It's really sad that we've finally gotten over the whole non-kissing controversy only to have the boys stuck in this debacle of a storyline. I only demand two things for Luke and Noah: they do what couples actually do and they get a decent storyline. Now I know that maybe I shouldn't be too picky because for a while they didn't have either. Now that they're kissing again, one of those areas has improved, although it's still ridiculous that guys that age that have been together that long aren't going at it like bunnies. Unfortunately, the fact that they are kissing again only shines a spotlight on just how truly horrible their story is right now.
Recommended song download: Heartbeat - Madonna
Ameera was nothing more than a plot device introduced to keep Luke and Noah from getting their swerve on. It's been obvious from day one and it still is today. It didn't help that the writers never developed Ameera. They never allowed us to know her at all and never made her into an actual character. She has remained a walking, talking plot device throughout the story and never grew into anything more. Viewers were never given an opportunity to actually care about her. We were given reasons that we should care about her (dead mother, life in danger if she goes back to Iraq), but those were external reasons that were shoved down our throats. Ameera never gave us a reason to care about her herself. When there is no character there, there is no character about which to care.
I feel sorry for Tala, because none of this was really her fault. The writing was absolutely lousy. Ameera was introduced with one goal in mind: keep Luke and Noah apart. They never seemed to have any idea what to do with her beyond that. They quickly threw her into a marriage with Noah that made absolutely no sense and didn't bother to write any actual story. Luke and Noah couldn't truly be together simply because she was there. When the writers had Ameera actually try to seduce Noah, it destroyed any chance whatsoever that we could feel any sympathy for her. Luke had sacrificed so much for her, and his family had given her absolutely everything. It was absolutely reprehensible for her to do that. That's when the writers made the biggest mistake of the whole story: they didn't treat it like a big deal even though it was an absolutely detestable thing to do. Ameera faced no repercussions and Luke laughed it off. At this point, Ameera and the story became absolutely irredeemable. Everything that followed was illogical, contrived, and just plain stupid. It didn't help that everyone seemed to be acting out of character and tolerating things that no sane person would tolerate.
Honestly, it amazes me that someone could do their jobs as badly as the writers and producer of the show do their jobs and still get paid for it. If everyone I know performed their jobs this badly, they wouldn't be working for very long. There are apparently two areas where you can be absolutely horrible at your job and continue to get paid: entertainment and politics.
I'm not just basing this on Luke and Noah either. This week, for the first time in a while, I actually watched whole episodes of the show, and it's overall quality has dropped like George Michael's pants in a park. I don't think it's a coincidence that the show has been hemorrhaging viewers in recent weeks.
It's really sad that we've finally gotten over the whole non-kissing controversy only to have the boys stuck in this debacle of a storyline. I only demand two things for Luke and Noah: they do what couples actually do and they get a decent storyline. Now I know that maybe I shouldn't be too picky because for a while they didn't have either. Now that they're kissing again, one of those areas has improved, although it's still ridiculous that guys that age that have been together that long aren't going at it like bunnies. Unfortunately, the fact that they are kissing again only shines a spotlight on just how truly horrible their story is right now.
Recommended song download: Heartbeat - Madonna
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