ATWT: Here's the Emily Letter
Nona Gamel
be too much trouble to change it a bit so it looks
different, date, sign and MAIL it. I wasn't sure how
to spell Kelly's last name, so somebody please fix it
and any other typos.
Nona
As The World Turns
c/o CBS TV
51 West 52nd St.
New York, NY 10019
Dear As The World Turns:
I have been a faithful viewer of your program since 1978.
I am quite dismayed by the continuing presence of Kelly
Menihan playing Emily Stewart on the program. Emily used to
be, and should be again, a troubled young woman with whom
the viewer can feel some sympathy. Raised by an alcoholic
mother and without her father, she has always searched for
male attention and affection. She has been somewhat amoral
and manipulative and has used her body, but always out
of her need for love. Emily, as played by Melanie Smith,
was a complex character. I still remember the scene in which
she seduced Holden in order to conceal the fact that she
was pregnant with James Stenbeck's child. Melanie Smith
played this scene so well that I was almost cheering her on.
Kelly Menihan plays the role of Emily as a self-centered, disloyal,
nasty, unappealing woman with unrealistically large breasts.
She is not likable ever. I find it hard to believe that a
man could find her sexually attractive. It is out of the
question that Larry McDermit could have any interest in her
at all, except as a surgical specimen. I was delighted when
she was abandoned by Royce at the altar.
Please, get a new actress to play this role, so that Emily
can once more be a three-dimensional character.
Sincerely yours,
etc.
Please note again that I am not sure how to spell the name of
the "actress" who currently plays Emily.
Juliana H Alger
> Okay, by popular demand, here it is. Now it shouldn't
> be too much trouble to change it a bit so it looks
> different, date, sign and MAIL it. I wasn't sure how
> to spell Kelly's last name, so somebody please fix it
> and any other typos.
>
> Nona
Sure, if enough of us send mean letters, we will probably get Kelly
fired. We may even destroy her career for good, and we'll never have
to face her or find out how she deals with the devastation. They'll
hire another actress, stuff her into the push-up bra and the slutty
wardrobe, and let her destroy her mother's marriage. Will that improve
*our* lives?
Not to sound like Pollyanna, recent events in my life and in the world
have taken some of the fun out of spitefulness. I'm as mean as the
next person, and I detest Emily as she's now being written, dressed,
and acted -- but before I send a lot of negative energy out into a
world that already has enough, I'm going to ask myself what good will
come of it. And will it matter that I lived? What have I done that
made someone, anyone feel better? I'm a very long way from perfect,
but I'm trying!
Thanks for listening.
Julie (Scribbler)
Elaine Linstruth
>Thanks for listening.
Sure, whatever you want to do. To each his own.
Nona, I somehow missed your letter! Please email it to me!
And her name is Kelley Menighan, for those looking for proper spelling.
AntiEm
--
Elaine Linstruth <ela...@gcr.com>
Sandra Lynne Rosser
I think this is the meanest thing I ever heard of. How
would you guys feel if people were writing letters to
YOUR bosses in an attempt to get you fired by sheer
pressure? You may not like her acting and in the
case of AntiEm you may not like her at all, but that is
NO excuse for starting a campaign to get someone fired.
I understand that AntiEm may have personal feelings about
this actress because she knew her in high school, but
that's STILL not reason enough to try to put someone
on the streets looking for a job. The rest of you who
are trying to get Menighan fired have no excuse whatsoever
except sheer pettiness. I can't believe this sort of thing
has come up in the Ward.
This is a SOAP OPERA, and because you don't like the
way this woman acts you are trying to mess up her
REAL LIFE. That's just sick. Think about what you're
doing. It'll be a hell of alot easier for those who
don't like Emily to hit the fast forward button than
it will be for her to find a new job.
This makes me so mad I can't see straight. I'd
expect better of five-year-olds.
--SimplyMeredith
beverly.r.britt
>
> I think this is the meanest thing I ever heard of. How
> would you guys feel if people were writing letters to
> YOUR bosses in an attempt to get you fired by sheer
> pressure? You may not like her acting and in the
> case of AntiEm you may not like her at all, but that is
> NO excuse for starting a campaign to get someone fired.
>
> way this woman acts you are trying to mess up her
> REAL LIFE. That's just sick. Think about what you're
> doing. It'll be a hell of alot easier for those who
> don't like Emily to hit the fast forward button than
> it will be for her to find a new job.
>
> This makes me so mad I can't see straight. I'd
> expect better of five-year-olds.
>
> --SimplyMeredith
>
I personally don't see this as a campaign to get this actress
fired, and I am quite certain that what we may say in jest on
the ward is not sent verbatim to CBS.
I do think that as a viewer I have every right to inform TPTB
that I do not like the current portrayal of this character or
the actress in the role. I intend to send a letter myself.
Glynnis O'Connor was wrong for the role of Margo and she is
no longer on the show. Obviously, the viewers weren't content
to fast forward her.
Belfry
solely
James G. Acker
Comments on the Menighan recall petition drive (which
is how I see it):
Soaps are _notoriously_ sensitive to viewer opinion
regarding characters, character pairings, and the appropriateness
of actors and actresses for roles. However, sometimes, to the
amazement of the audience, they are also seemingly insensitive.
Examples of actors/actresses that haven't clicked, and have
been replaced:
DOOL: Settled on the third Jack Deveraux actor,
Matthew Ashford
SB: Four tries on C.C. Capwell until Jed Allan.
Kimberly MacArthur did only a short stint
as Kelly (hung on due to the writer's strike)
GL: Ann Hamilton as Mindy only lasted thirteen weeks
and then booted in favor of Barbara Crampton
ATWT: Glynnis O'Connor never made it as Margo
Y&R and B&B seem very careful about recasts, and would
rather end the role than recast in most cases. About
the only significant recasts I can remember here are
Jeff Trachta replacing Clayton Norcross as Thorne on
B&B, and Peter Bergman replacing Terry Lester (who
quit) as Jack on Y&R. Thus, they seem to ignore
viewer opinion more than most shows (unless the drumbeat
is favorable, as in the case of Kimberlin Brown as
Sheila).
There are obviously more examples, but those are good
for a start. Several considerations go into a casting decision:
the writers' and producers' image of the character, the ever-
popular "taking a storyline in a different direction", HOW MUCH
the actor/actress is being paid, experience (some actors that seem
lousy to us are "director's dreams" -- they never forgot a line
and always hit their marks in rehearsal) -- this probably explains
the longevity of a Nicolas Costner (Edweirdo), sex appeal (Menighan's
figure is likely expected to keep a few males from hitting FF),
as well as audience approval/disapproval.
Rest assured that a few letters disapproving of an
actor's portrayal are probably balanced by other letters equally
approving. It's the right of the audience to pass judgment, and
TPTB take such opinions under consideration. But as I said above,
it's not the only consideration.
So, if you don't approve of the actor/actress in their
portrayal of a role, and you feel strongly enough, WRITE. We
did it for B&B and I've sensed a few changes since. I don't
know if we can take credit, but I know they heard from us.
Now if only they'd get Macy and Keith together...
Lazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzerjet Jimmy
===============================================
| James G. Acker |
| REPLY TO: jga...@neptune.gsfc.nasa.gov |
===============================================
All comments are the personal opinion of the writer
and do not constitute policy and/or opinion of government
or corporate entities.
Semele Halkedis
|>
|> would you guys feel if people were writing letters to
|> YOUR bosses in an attempt to get you fired by sheer
|> pressure? You may not like her acting and in the
|> case of AntiEm you may not like her at all, but that is
|> NO excuse for starting a campaign to get someone fired.
As a viewer, I have every right to complain about an actress I
don't like. Now, I happen to think that some of the character's
problems are caused by crappy storylines and writing, but I also
don't think the actress does a good job. In fact, I think she does
a lousy job, and I have every right to communicate this to CBS if
I choose to.
Every job has different requirements. An actor must obviously
act, but must also keep the bigwigs (be they TV, movie, or theater
execs), the viewers, and the sponsors happy. If any one of these
groups is not happy, the bigwigs are perfectly within their rights
to find another actor. In order to come as far as she has in her
chosen career, I'm sure Kelly Menighan is very much aware of
this--it's an intrinsic part of being an actor.
My goal in life is not to put Kelly Menighan on the streets, but as
a viewer I have no desire to see her portray Emily on ATWT.
I didn't notice you reacting like this to Glynnis O'Connor's
firing. Were you not reading r.a.t.s. then, or is it OK for
an actor to be fired as long as we didn't complain about her?
|> --SimplyMeredith
GGG
--
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Semele E. Halkedis | The difference between the right word
sem...@lazarus.bellcore.com | and the nearly right word is the same
| as that between lightning and the
| lightning bug. - Mark Twain
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Thomas Gunter
Sandra Lynne Rosser <slro...@whale.st.usm.edu> wrote:
>
>I think this is the meanest thing I ever heard of. How
>would you guys feel if people were writing letters to
>YOUR bosses in an attempt to get you fired by sheer
>pressure? You may not like her acting and in the
>case of AntiEm you may not like her at all, but that is
>NO excuse for starting a campaign to get someone fired.
To refute this line of reasoning: I'm a computer lab assistant in the
main student computer lab on campus. My job is to help students in the
lab with problems they have with the computers, printers, scanners, etc.
If I can't do my job, the students have every right to complain to my
boss to have me fired and have someone who *can* do the job hired.
[Note: I haven't seen an episode of WhirlyWorld since early January
because of classes and work -- I keep up via the updates -- so I can't
pass judgement on her acting. But if she really can't act, she shouldn't
be an actor.]
>This makes me so mad I can't see straight. I'd
>expect better of five-year-olds.
>--SimplyMeredith
Don't get so mad -- one of the principles this country was founded on
is that people are entitled to their opinions and have the right to
complain if they don't like the status quo.
-TornadoTom
(And by the way, I'm only four -- I joined the Ward in '90.)
--
Thomas Gunter | "The difference between fiction and
The University of Texas at Austin | reality is that fiction has to make
tgu...@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu | sense." -- Tom Clancy