Simone Russell

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Simone Russell
Passions character
Irma Johnson
(great-aunt)

Simone Russell is a fictional character on the American

Rae Thomas
. The network defended the show's treatment of Simone's sexuality as a serious commentary on the topic.

Simone was created as a part of the show's effort to represent a complete African-American family and fully realized African-American characters on television. Conceived by the soap's founder and head writer James E. Reilly, the role was portrayed by three actresses over the course of the show: Lena Cardwell (1999–2001), Chrystee Pharris (2001–2004), and Cathy Jenéen Doe (2004–2007). The exact reasons behind Cardwell's departure remain unknown; Pharris chose to leave to pursue other acting opportunities. Doe was the third and final actress to play Simone before the character was written off the show shortly before its transition to DirecTV.

Simone's storyline made daytime television history when Passions became the first soap opera to show two women having sex. The character was also daytime television's first African-American lesbian. At the 17th GLAAD Media Awards, the show won Outstanding Daily Drama, and Doe accepted the award on the show's behalf. The show's representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) topics, and Doe's performance as Simone, received a mixed response from critics; she was the principal actress during the storylines focusing on the character's sexuality.

Development

Casting and creation

Lopez-Fitzgerald family.[2]

Over the course of the show, Simone was played by three actresses: Lena Cardwell (July 5, 1999 to April 16, 2001),

T. C. Russell, viewed himself as "a father figure to her" and felt that their close relationship helped make the Russell family more authentic and relatable to viewers.[6] After leaving the show, Cardwell said she received a great deal of fan mail and that the experience "made [her] feel loved and appreciated."[7]

Pharris assumed the role in 2001,[3] but later decided to not renew her contract in order to pursue other projects.[8][9] During an interview with The Christian Post, she said that her time on Passions helped her to realize that her occupation as an actress could be used as a platform to advocate for Christianity.[10] Doe was hired for the third and final re-casting after moving to Los Angeles from New York, where she was primarily offered the role of "a runaway teenager, a prostitute, a drug dealer". Initially hesitant to assume a character already established by other actors, she became friendly with Pharris, who answered all of her questions about the character.[11]

Characterization

Simone was initially characterized by the show's official website through her "major crush on street-kid Chad Harris since he came to town".[12] Daniel R. Coleridge of TV Guide described Simone's early behavior as "bitchy to her older sister, who was nothing but kind to her",[13] while Variety's Josef referred to the character as a "daredevil teen."[14] When assuming the role in 2001, Pharris said that her preparation consisted of consulting with her friends about Simone, Whitney, and Chad, and incorporating her own life experiences into her interpretation of the character.[15] She commented that working closely with the producers allowed her to draw on her family background for her performance. While discussing the connection to her family, she stated that she used her father's temper as inspiration for playing Simone.[16]

Simone was initially portrayed as one of the series' supporting characters, but gained more prominence during a storyline in which she

Rae Thomas, Simone was noted for her naivety when approaching relationships and sex.[18] Simone's sexuality is initially regarded as "a badge of shame" by the series' characters.[17]

Storylines

Introduced in the series premiere on July 5, 1999, Simone Russell is the youngest daughter of T. C. and Eve Russell, and the younger sister of Whitney Russell. The family lives in the fictional town of Harmony. Simone's early storylines concentrate on her reluctant participation in her friend

David Hastings
. At the time, John was mistakenly believed to be Grace Standish's son and the half-brother of Kay and Jessica. Simone's relationship with John ends in 2004 when he moves to Italy with David and Grace.

In mid-2005, Simone comes out as a lesbian by revealing to her family her relationship with Rae Thomas. The family reacts negatively to her sexual orientation. T. C. beats her and says he is ashamed to be her father. Eve panics and is concerned that her daughter's reputation will suffer if the rest of Harmony learns of her sexuality. Simone's great-aunt,

Irma Johnson, describes homosexuality as a sin and calls her "vile" and "disgusting". Simone turns to her mother for emotional support after Rae rejects her declarations of love by revealing that she has no interest in a committed relationship. In December 2005, Eve, Julian, Liz, and T. C. find a video from Alistair Crane
in which he claims to have hired Rae to seduce Simone and "turn" her into a lesbian. Rae later explains that the money is intended to start a lesbian club and that she was never hired to "turn" Simone gay. As she reconciles with Rae, Simone reconnects with her family. Her father, who recently suffered from a stroke following a car accident, apologizes for his homophobic behavior toward her. Her mother also becomes more supportive of her relationship.

Rae finds out

Fancy Crane's rape. On February 12, 2007, Vincent stabs Rae to death before she can reveal his identity to Luis. Simone attempts to cope with Rae's death by helping Jessica through her pregnancy. She invites Jessica to live in Rae's old apartment so they can protect the baby from Spike. Eve, who was previously being blackmailed by Vincent, tells Simone the truth about Rae's murder. Simone leaves Harmony with her sister Whitney to start a new life in New Orleans. She does not appear during the show's run on DirecTV or in the series finale. In July 2008, Simone sends a letter to Kay congratulating her on her wedding to Miguel and includes a pair of earrings as the "something new
".

Reception and impact

"These stories have the ability to reach the many different generations of viewers who watch daytime and share with them stories of our lives. What viewers are seeing is that more and more of their own neighbors and friends are dealing with these issues, and the soaps are merely reflecting the reality of the world we live in."[13]

— Damon Romine on the response to Simone's sexuality

Simone's storyline about coming out as a lesbian received mixed feedback. She was identified as "a character who broke down some barriers for the depiction of lesbians on daytime TV and earned the show awards and accolades from civil rights groups" by a writer from

AfterEllen.com, considered the storyline an improvement over a similar one used in All My Children.[17] Following the character's departure in 2007, Soaps.com identified Simone as a "charming and strong willed" character who would be remembered for "br[eaking] down some barriers for the depiction of lesbians on daytime TV".[22]

Several television critics had a more negative response to Simone's storyline as a lesbian and to Doe's performance. Warn criticized Simone's relationship with Rae as poorly developed, believing her to be limited to "a one-dimensional character who happened to sleep with a girl", and argued that viewers never had the opportunity to "see this woman through her eyes" since the character's sexuality and past relationships with men, and her possible bisexuality, were never addressed on screen. Warn also derided the lack of chemistry between Doe and Jossara Jinaro, who plays Rae.[17] Herndon L. Davis of Windy City Times felt the representation of Simone as daytime's first African-American lesbian was overshadowed by the show's poor portrayal of Vincent Clarkson. Davis discussed Simone's story arc in his wider criticism of race in daytime television.[23] Rae's death following the reveal of Chad's affair with Vincent was heavily criticized by Mike Perigard of the Boston Herald, who believed that her removal was only written to maintain a low quota of gay characters on the show.[24]

Simone was the first African-American lesbian to be featured on daytime television.[23][25] Passions also made history by becoming the first daytime television series to show two women having sex.[26] The soap opera won the award for Outstanding Daily Drama at the 17th GLAAD Media Awards,[27] with Doe accepting the award on the show's behalf.[28] Doe was also listed as a pre-nominee for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the 34th Daytime Emmy Awards alongside co-star Emily Harper, but was not chosen as one of the final nominees.[29][30]

See also

  • List of soap operas with LGBT characters

References

  1. ^ Bernstein, Paula (May 9, 2000). "NBC's days ABC's Kalouria". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016.
  2. ^ "Soap Opera 'Passions' Keeps Igniting Fervor Among Daytime Viewers". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. January 13, 2003. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016.
  3. ^
    Soapcentral. Archived from the original
    on September 15, 2016.
  4. Soapcentral. Archived from the original
    on September 15, 2016.
  5. Soapcentral. Archived from the original
    on December 26, 2016.
  6. American Media, Inc.
  7. ^ "Biography". Lena Cardwell's Official Website. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016.
  8. ^ Havens, Candace (January 23, 2004). "Another Simone bites the dust in 'Passions'". The Bryan Times. Christopher Cullis. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016.
  9. Soapcentral. Archived from the original
    on December 26, 2016.
  10. ^ Thomasos, Christine (May 27, 2015). "Soap Opera Actress Chrystee Pharris Turns Career Into Ministry; Recalls Praying for Wiccan On Set". The Christian Post. Richard Land. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016.
  11. American Media, Inc. Archived from the original
    on August 18, 2007.
  12. ^ "Show Background". NBC. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000.
  13. ^
    CBS Interactive. Archived from the original
    on January 3, 2008.
  14. ^ Adalian, Josef (May 6, 1999). "'Passions' goes to Paris, adds Juliet Mills to cast". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016.
  15. ^ "Chrystee Pharris". Juniorscave.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016.
  16. ^ "Interview with the beautiful ex-Passions star Chrystee Pharris!!". The Soap Spiel. May 15, 2013. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016.
  17. ^
    AfterEllen.com. September 22, 2005. Archived from the original
    on February 24, 2016.
  18. Soaps.com. January 17, 2008. Archived from the original
    on December 26, 2016.
  19. Soaps.com. October 15, 2007. Archived from the original
    on February 15, 2016.
  20. ^ "The Unsung Legacy of Black Characters on Soap Operas". The Atlantic. Atlantic Media. March 31, 2000. Archived from the original on February 16, 2016.
  21. Soapcentral. Archived from the original
    on December 26, 2016.
  22. Soaps.com. November 15, 2007. Archived from the original
    on February 15, 2016.
  23. ^ a b "View: Racial vs. gay diversity in daytime TV – Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News Archive". Windy City Times. Tracy Baim. May 1, 2009. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
  24. ^ Perigard, Mark. "'Passions' exceeds gay quota, kills character". Boston Herald. Herald Media Inc. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016.
  25. We Love Soaps. Archived from the original
    on May 28, 2016.
  26. ^ "GLAAD Media Awards Communities of African Descent Nominations". GLAAD. Archived from the original on February 16, 2006.
  27. Source Interlink
    . February 13, 2007. p. 4.
  28. ^ "Actress Cathy Jenen Doe, who plays the lesbian character, Simone, on..." Getty Images. June 11, 2006. Archived from the original on February 25, 2016.
  29. Soapcentral. January 29, 2007. Archived from the original
    on February 16, 2016.
  30. Soaps.com. February 2, 2007. Archived from the original
    on December 26, 2016.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Simone_Russell&oldid=1213812151"