The GH Women 

I have been watching GH for as long as I can remember.  I remember my mother putting me down for a nap when I was four and hearing the theme music to GH playing down the hallway.  I have always watched it.  But, as I’ve gotten older, I have become more of a critic.  The years I have invested in this show makes me feel entitled for something a little more.  What I want to address first of all is the writer’s inability to write an interesting, strong and balanced female character.  There are many female characters I would love to dissect but I want to start off with Sam.   

When Sam first came onto the scene I didn’t really pay her any attention.  She was just another poor attempt to replace Sonny’s Brenda.  I thought Sonny and Sam were a big yawn.  They did try to make her interesting by having her be somewhat of a con artist.  I liked the fact that she wasn’t some weeping willow.  She knew how to handle a gun and she wasn’t the type to be appalled at Sonny and Jason’s business.  She wasn’t another woman like Courtney, Liz, Brenda, etc. who were going to eventually leave because they couldn’t handle the violence.  She was a nice change in that respect.   

It wasn’t until she was paired with Jason that she really became interesting.  Or should I say, Jason made her interesting.  I loved the slow build to their romance as they bonded over the impending birth of her baby “as friends.”  I tried to ignore the circumstances which brought the two of them together which was basically Sonny tossing her to the curb.  (The fact that Sam accepted Sonny “giving” her to Jason does not mesh very well with any independent woman’s sense of self.  How does anyone with any self esteem simply go along with that?)   I also tried to stifle my hope for the pairing of Jason and Liz to happen again and simply enjoy their budding romance.  At this point I was so glad that Courtney was out of the picture I would have taken anyone!   

After the pointless loss of Sam’s baby we were left with Sam and Jason needing to find a way to cope with their loss.  This was never allowed to happen.  This is when the destruction of Sam began.  She obsessed over Manny.  She obsessed over making a baby.  She obsessed over Jason dying.  She is now obsessing over her Alexis.  It is at this point I am left to wonder, does Sam have any hobbies?  Any career aspirations?  What does she do all day other than obsess?   Don’t even get me started on her recent goals of becoming a lawyer.  I guess Jason will be paying for law school because she surely can’t come up with the money.   

I loved the scene when Alexis did her disposition with Sam and she was asking her how she supported herself. Alexis forced her to say that it was Jason who fully supported her.  Jason pays for everything!   Didn’t Sam use to take care of herself before Jason came along?  Why have they turned her into this leech who cannot fully function as a person without the help of Jason?   

This is where the writers lose me.  I don’t care about Jason and Sam anymore because I can no longer respect the character of Sam as someone deserving of it.  She screeches all the time now and whines about her mother giving her up at sixteen.  I’m sorry, but she was sixteen!  Who can blame Alexis for letting two ADULTS adopt a baby when she was only sixteen?  It’s not like she abandoned her on the side of the road.   

Maybe if they allow the character of Sam to do something productive like get a job she wouldn’t obsess over everything.  She should do some volunteer work or get a hobby.  Just something other than screech all the time and take bubble baths.  Maybe they need to go back to Sam being the independent woman she once was before Sonny and Jason got a hold of her.  If they do that then maybe I’ll enjoy her with Jason again.  Maybe I’ll remember what it was that Jason saw in her in the first place.  Right now I just feel sorry that Jason has to put up with her whining all day.  This is my main problem with a lot of the female characters on GH.  They hook up with a guy and they instantly lose all backbone and become a shell of what they once were. 

By: Charlotte