Chad Harris-Crane

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Chad Harris-Crane
Passions character
Whitney Russell (adoptive)
Simone Russell
(adoptive)

Chad Harris-Crane is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV in 2007–08. Developed by the soap's creator and head writer James E. Reilly, Chad was portrayed by two actors over the course of the show: Donn Swaby (1999 to 2002) and Charles Divins (2002 to 2007). Swaby left the show to pursue roles outside daytime television and was replaced by Divins. The role was the first time that either actor had worked on a television series.

Chad is a member of the

Whitney and Simone Russell. His romance with Whitney is complicated by the possibility they may be engaging in an incestuous relationship as Chad is initially believed to be her half-brother, and later revealed to be her adoptive cousin. Chad's later storylines focus on his confusion over his sexual identity, and his sexual relationship with tabloid reporter Vincent Clarkson. Chad attempts to reconcile with Whitney, after his affair with Vincent is revealed, before being killed by his father Alistair while trying to protect his best friend, Ethan Winthrop
.

Critical response to Chad was mixed; some reviewers praised the sensationalism of the incest storyline with Whitney, while others criticized his relationship with Vincent as an irresponsible and problematic representation of racial and sexual identity. The character marks a notable step in daytime television and soap opera history; it was the first depiction in a soap opera of two men having sex. Chad has also been cited as expanding the representation of LGBT characters of color on daytime television. Divins discussed the storyline with his gay friends and researched LGBT culture to better shape his performance. Media outlets expressed varying opinions of the exact nature of Chad's sexual orientation.

Development

Creation and casting

Lopez-Fitzgeralds".[2]

The role was played by two actors over the course of the show: Donn Swaby (1999 to 2002) and Charles Divins (2002 to 2007).[3] Passions was Swaby's first role in a television series.[4] On May 27, 2002, Swaby announced on his official website that he had decided to leave the show to pursue other opportunities outside of daytime television.[5] Divins assumed the role on September 12, 2002.[6] It was his first audition and acting experience; he had previously worked full-time as a fashion model and had decided to pursue an acting career after appearing in commercials.[7] Divins initially auditioned for another soap opera, but its producers suggested that he instead take a role on Passions.[8] He described his time working on the show as a "scholarship to acting".[9]

Characterization and cast response

Chad was initially characterized as a "street-kid" by the show's official website

Whitney",[2] but his role on the series was expanded following the casting of Divins.[6] An article on Soaps.com wrote that Divins adapted the character from being a "West Coast music producer to [an] ambitious and tortured Crane heir". Over the course of the show, Chad was defined by his relationships with his supposed half-sister Whitney and his nephew-niece, Vincent Clarkson.[6] After Swaby left the show, he was disappointed by the direction Chad's storyline took.[12]

Despite the controversy and negative reception of Chad's sexual encounters with Vincent, Divins identified Chad's confusion over his sexual orientation as a vital part of the storyline.[13][a] While the show was still filming, he expressed an interest in further exploring Chad's rejection of his sexuality.[11] Divins felt that the key element of the storyline was Chad's difficulty in coming to terms with his sexuality.[13] When asked by an interviewer about the revelation of Chad's sexuality, Divins said the show would include clear representations of "male intimacy". Divins said he was uncomfortable shooting scenes related to the storyline, but felt it was an opportunity to sharpen his skills as an actor.[11] He added that he wanted to make the character as "grounded and real as possible" and keep the focus on how Chad reconciles with his sexual orientation.[15]

To prepare for the storyline, Divins consulted with his gay friends and asked them how to ensure the character was "being represented correctly and honestly".[13] Oprah Winfrey's discussion of the down-low on her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show also helped Divins better understand the character.[15] Divins was unaware of the developments in Chad's sexuality until he was given the script four days prior to the filming of the episodes.[13] He said he was surprised by the reveal that Chad's affair was with a man, but thought the soap opera's "storytelling style lends itself to dramatic changes".[11] Divins praised the show for its inclusion of a black, gay character on daytime television regardless of any negative feedback from fans who preferred Chad and Whitney as a couple, and said that he wasn't afraid to take on the role, given the increased visibility of LGBT issues on television and in everyday society at the time of the storyline's broadcast.[15] Chad's character and storyline were not to every cast member's taste; Tracey Ross, who played Eve Russell, later said she "was never crazy about" the incest plot,[16] though Phillip Jeanmarie, who played Vincent Clarkson, commented that he was glad to have been part of the taboo-breaking story.[17]

Storylines

Chad Harris-Crane first appears in the episode airing on September 23, 1999, in which, after discovering he was adopted, he moves from Los Angeles to Harmony to find his real parents. Chad married

Crane Industries CEO Julian Crane and claims to have evidence proving this connection. In a desperate attempt to keep her past hidden, Eve burns down Orville's house and any evidence inside and places him in a retirement home. Chad later meets jazz singer Crystal Harris, who was Eve's confidante during her relationship with Julian and subsequent pregnancy. Crystal also offers information about Chad's birth and parents, but is killed by a French drug cartel's assassin Antoine, who mistakes her for socialite Sheridan Crane
, before she can deliver it to him.

During this time, Chad meets and falls in love with Whitney Russell. Their relationship is complicated by her sister Simone Russell's crush on him, and her parents' disapproval of him. Eve discourages both of her children from pursuing a relationship with Chad, fearing he will be a bad influence on her daughter in the same way Julian was on her teenage self. Whitney and Chad keep their romantic and sexual encounters secret for years while he pretends to be in love with Simone. The love triangle continues until Simone catches Whitney kissing Chad. Simone breaks up publicly with Chad and tells everyone in Harmony about his relationship with Whitney. During 2003, Chad's connection to Whitney steadily unravels after the discovery of his marriage to Latoya and her attempt to murder Whitney.

In 2004, Eve's vengeful adoptive sister

J. T. Cornell
and discovers that he was conceived during Alistair's rape of Liz. Following the revelation of his true paternity, Chad marries Whitney and they decide to raise their son together, and rename him Miles Harris-Crane.

Unbeknownst to Whitney, Chad previously began a sexual relationship with the tabloid reporter

Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald and Noah Bennett, Chad repeatedly insists that he is not gay, and that his relationship with Vincent is based solely on sex. Whitney becomes increasingly suspicious of Chad's fidelity after discovering she is pregnant with their second child. Furious with Chad for continuing to sleep with Whitney, Vincent engineers a scenario in which Whitney sees Vincent and Chad having sex in the back of a gay bar; Whitney leaves Chad immediately and he distances himself from Vincent. The estranged couple start to reconcile as they try to help Theresa and Ethan Winthrop
reunite, but that possibility is cut short on August 28, 2007, when Chad is killed by Alistair while trying to protect his best friend Ethan. Chad dies professing his love for Whitney and their children.

Reception and impact

Chad's possibly incestuous relationship led media outlets to sensationalize Harmony as the place where "half-siblings sleep with one another",[18] and the 2006 revelation that Whitney and Chad were not related by blood was listed as one of Passions' most shocking secrets by an article in Soap Opera Digest.[19] Soapdom.com asserted that the plot enabled Divins to showcase his acting abilities and distinguish himself from his predecessor Swaby.[20]

Media outlets expressed differing opinions over the exact nature of Chad's sexuality. Hartinger called Chad a "closeted bisexual",

We Love Soaps questioned whether Chad was truly gay, arguing that Vincent's reveal as intersex leads to Chad's heterosexuality being "rescued" as he "was sleeping only with Vincent's female anatomy".[23] Joel McHale from E!'s weekly television series The Soup turned a scene in which Chad insisted he was "not gay" despite his affair with Vincent into a running gag by referring to the character as "Not Gay Chad". During the show's season five premiere, Divins made a cameo appearance on The Soup to explain to McHale that he was not his character and was neither dead nor gay.[24]

Passions made daytime history by being the first to depict two men having sex, but the pairing of Chad and Vincent drew less media attention than the gay relationships in As the World Turns and One Life to Live.[17] The complicated incest storyline was described as "insanely convoluted" by Gawker's Kyle Buchanan, who felt it was one of "the most insane things that have ever happened on television";[25] the plotline was also praised, by Soaps.com, as reflecting the show's "unique perspective and zest for controversy" while challenging the "often too safe and predictable world of soaps".[26] NewNowNext.com approved of the plotline for increasing the presence of LGBT people of color on daytime television,[21] with Ross von Metze of Edge Media Network commenting that the show was "taking risks where other TV shows have failed".[15]

Viewers were divided over the sexually explicit sequences between Chad and Vincent. Some felt the scenes between Chad and Vincent were "appalling" and inappropriate for daytime television, while one viewer praised the soap opera for "continu[ing] their outstanding jobs as they teach the people of today's world about daily life experiences". A writer from Soaps.com defended the show by pointing out graphic sex scenes between men and women were previously aired without complaint.[26]

Chad's relationship with Vincent received some criticism, with Windy City Times; describing the storyline as "reckless" and "outrageous".[27] According to Slate's Ta-Nehisi Coates, the storyline was also disliked by the show's black audience.[28] Mike Perigard of the Boston Herald was critical of the timing of the death of lesbian Rae Thomas following the reveal of Chad's affair with a man; Perigard argued that Thomas's character was removed to reduce the number of gay characters on the show.[29]

See also

  • List of LGBT characters in television and radio

Notes

  1. ^ "Out in Hollywood" is affiliated with the Los Angeles Daily News.[14]

References

  1. ^ Bernstein, Paula (May 9, 2000). "NBC's days ABC's Kalouria". Variety. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Soap Opera 'Passions' Keeps Igniting Fervor Among Daytime Viewers". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. January 13, 2003. pp. 38–39. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016.
  3. ^ "Who's Who in Harmony". Soapcentral. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016.
  4. ^ "Donn Swaby". Soapcentral. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016.
  5. ^ Kroll, Dan J. "Swaby Out; Chad To Be Recast". Soapcentral. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016.
  6. ^ a b c "Passions' Charles Divins to Guest on My Boys". Soaps.com. June 23, 2008. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016.
  7. ^ Matthews, Nadine. "Chatting with Charles Divins". TV Megasite. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016.
  8. ^ "Charles Divins". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009.
  9. SOAPnet
    .
  10. ^ "Show Background". NBC. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000.
  11. ^ a b c d e Nahmod, David Alexander (February 15, 2007). "'Passions' pushes the envelope". Bay Area Reporter. BAR Media, Inc. Archived from the original on July 7, 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Former Chad Says Goodbye to Passions Character". Soaps.com. December 6, 2007. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016.
  13. ^ a b c d Hernandez, Greg (February 24, 2007). "A lover to be revealed Tuesday on "Passions"". Out in Hollywood. Digital First Media. Archived from the original on July 7, 2016.
  14. ^ Hernandez, Greg (February 23, 2009). "One chapter ends, another begins ..." Out in Hollywood. Digital First Media. Archived from the original on July 7, 2016.
  15. ^ a b c d von Metzke, Ross (March 17, 2007). "Ten Minutes with Charles Divins". Edge Media Network. Edge Publications Inc. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016.
  16. ^ Wilson, Lori (July 14, 2008). "Tracey Ross Looks Back at Her Time on Passions". Soaps.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016.
  17. ^ a b Giddens, Jamey (July 30, 2009). "DC Exclusive: Passions Villain Phillip Jeanmarie Talks "Workshop", Gay Firsts and Reilly". Daytime Confidential. Confidential Media, Inc. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016.
  18. ^ Block, Dana (May 21, 2006). "Daytime Dial: Life is far from 'Harmony'-ous for Brook Kerr's Whitney". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on November 26, 2016.
  19. American Media, Inc. December 18, 2007. Archived from the original
    on February 3, 2016.
  20. ^ Coker, Lesleyann (October 7, 2004). "October 2004 ~ Passions". Soapdom.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016.
  21. ^ a b Hartinger, Brent (November 3, 2009). "New 'EastEnders' Character (Finally) Brings Diversity to Soaps". NewNowNext.com. Logo TV. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016.
  22. ^ "Favorite Gay (Male) TV Character Poll". NewNowNext.com. Logo TV. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016.
  23. ^ Newcomb, Roger (July 7, 2008). "History of Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Television Characters". We Love Soaps. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016.
  24. ^ "Episode 1". The Soup. Season 5. January 4, 2008. E!.
  25. ^ Buchanan, Kyle (October 15, 2008). "The Creator of The Best TV Show Ever, 'Passions,' Has Died". Gawker. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016.
  26. ^ a b "Passions' New Controversy". Soaps.com. March 9, 2007. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016.
  27. ^ Davis, Herndon L. (May 1, 2009). "View: Racial vs. gay diversity in daytime TV – Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News Archive – Windy City Times". Windy City Times. Archived from the original on December 14, 2016.
  28. ^ Coates, Ta-Nehisi (March 9, 2007). "A Low-Down Crying Shame". Slate. The Slate Group. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016.
  29. ^ Perigard, Mark. "'Passions' exceeds gay quota, kills character". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016.
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