For a show with an appalling lack of diversity, where the mob dominates, law enforcement seldom wins, and the good guys always finish last, General Hospital (GH) has added insult to injury with the specter of pairing lovable mob-techie Damien Spinelli (Bradford Anderson) and FBI rookie Winifred Leeds (Senta Moses). With a stunning lack of sensitivity, GH seems poised to take their dearth of diversity one step further, by callously demonstrating geeks should only be with other geeks, certainly not romantically paired with the hot, beautiful people.

The shallow message was already coming through loud and clear, but for any who might have been slow on the uptake, GH is reinforcing it with fashion icon Kate Howard’s (Megan Ward) insistence her magazine Crimson is pimped by soap hunk Johnny Zacchara, (Brandon Barash), escorting the lovely Maxie Jones, (Kirsten Storms) to high-profile public events. Never mind Maxie begging Kate to let her represent Crimson with Maxie’s escort of choice, “geek-chic” Spinelli, we get it GH; Spinelli, though gentle, kind-hearted, sensitive, thoughtful, and brilliant, is just not hot enough or handsome enough to be with the magnificent Maxie. Here’s a thought — let hot mob prince Johnny get to know geeky FBI Agent Winifred, fall in love, and renounce his mob ties.

Thank you GH for not leaving Spinelli out in the cold like last time his heart was broken. It has been almost two years since Spinelli’s first crush, the beautiful “Blonde One,” Lulu Spencer (Julie Marie Berman), left Spinelli crying in the rain as she chose the hot, gorgeous Logan Hayes (Josh Duhon), who cheated on her, abused her, and eventually tried to kill her. Spinelli’s fans were rightfully outraged when Lulu chose Logan over Spinelli. GH has already had the obligatory Maxie and Johnny trapped together, drinking beer, and sucking face scene to demonstrate their “hot physical attraction” to each other. So, this time as Spinelli loses his Maximista to the next hot, dangerous guy, GH seeks to avoid similar fan disapproval by providing Spinelli with someone “in his league,” a more “appropriate pairing,” a geek female counterpart who is an utterly ridiculous, mocking clone of Spinelli, himself with no personality whatsoever of her own.

There is no need to rub salt in the wound. Fans of a Spinelli and Maxie romance have watched for a year as a healthy, respectful, trusting relationship complete with unconditional love developed between two of the most misunderstood, wounded characters on daytime. We have watched as these erstwhile enemies saw beyond surface appearances and began to see each other’s hearts, their fears and their dreams. We watched as these tentative friends drew closer and closer. We believed opposites could attract, and we believed nice guys could finish first. We even believed real love could start with friendship. We waited for our “wonderful surprise,” our fantasy romance, our love in the afternoon, but it never came.

Article Author: Spin's Vixenella

Cyber-Ninja Defender of General Hospital’s Damien Spinelli (aka The Jackal), hapless hacker and lovable geek portrayed by the talented Bradford Anderson. By day, Spin’s Vixenella is a semi-retired Adjunct Professor in the Political Science Department …

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