OH. DAMN.
So, I just found out some really significant Hollyoaks spoilers regarding John-Paul McQueen. Here's the news and my thoughts on the subjects:
So this morning, I found out from Digital Spy that John-Paul is going to be a victim of male rape.
The schoolteacher will be sexually attacked by student Finn O'Connor in the culmination of a homophobic bullying storyline.
...I don't know what to think about this, beyond wanting to hug him.
Viewers will see the plot begin in the next few weeks as Finn (Keith Rice) and his friend Robbie Roscoe (Charlie Wernham) start to taunt John Paul over his sexuality.
With support from some of the other students, Finn and Robbie cruelly target John Paul - who is openly gay - in a long-running bullying campaign at Hollyoaks High.
Now, first things first: I know next to nothing about rape and sexual assault, beyond that it's a truly terrible thing to happen. I think it's very brave of Hollyoaks to confront this issue again and it's one that needs to be addressed. I hope it's a sensitive portrayal; I know James Sutton can act like nobody's business (which is why I'm disappointed he hasn't gone further afield in the world of acting and hasn't had more job-offers) and I know if anyone can do it, he can.
… I am a little confused about some elements of the story, though. Firstly, it's the culmination of a homophobic-bullying storyline inside the school where John-Paul works; the same school I thought had cracked down on bullying because of, who was also bullied as a result of peer pressure and whose attempted suicide as a result led to Patrick Blake vowing to make changes. Basically, I thought the school would have learned by now to keep a closer eye on these things - and that the students themselves would have learned to treat each other equally.
The bullying will take several forms, including malicious stunts in the classroom and calling John Paul insulting names.
The two homophobic bullies are Robbie Roscoe and Finn O’Connor - the latter who is goaded by the former (saw a bit of that in tonight’s E4 episode, actually). In fact, Robbie is the one who instigates the bullying and Finn follows his lead and is the one who’s going to carry out the attack on John-Paul. What also intrigues me is that Finn is the brother of Sinead, who was one of Esther’s bullies and she paid the price with expulsion and in turn the loss of her career, instead resorting to becoming a prostitute and becoming mixed up with criminals to make ends meet.
… Just, if that’s not a warning against bullying and general bad behaviour, I don’t know what is.
[..]Finn has a furious argument with his teacher before sexually attacking him.
Finn, who is not gay, carries out the attack as an act of aggression against John Paul and an attempt to assert power over him.
I may potentially be opening up a can of worms here, but: Finn is half John-Paul’s size and about, what, fifteen? I’ve watched John-Paul since the start and I know he’ll go for anyone who threatens him or his family and I also know for a fact that he can pack a punch. I’m really sorry - this is not me victim-blaming, because rape is never the victim’s fault. I’m just wondering how, physically, Finn is going to carry out this attack.
It’s also kind of different to see John-Paul taking the bullying as a teacher, rather than a pupil, which is how he suffered bullying last time when he was studying his A-Levels at the school. I guess the difference between then and now is that he has to abide by the teacher’s code this time around.
As for Robbie: I’ve absolutely hated him since he arrived and not in a good soap-opera-typical way. I’ve been looking for signs for ages that he’s not all bad, but I don’t see any. He has no redeeming features whatsoever: this is a little bastard who, since arriving, trashed a shop, carried out an armed robbery and shot Callum (RIP) and got his brother sent to prison for the trouble, printed pictures of John-Paul and Doug kissing and posted them around college, blackmailed Danny when he found out that he was a married man having an affair with John-Paul, falsely accused his uncle of touching him and, in tonight’s E4 first-look episode, randomly decided to start on at George and Vincent during a private conversation about their sexualities and began throwing homophobic slurs at them. Worse still, Mum Kathy doesn’t even realise just how brutish a thug her son is; she just treats him like a lost little boy and is completely blind to his faults.
And it’s only set to get worse. In case you haven’t guessed already, he’s a seriously homophobic character - I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it since Sonny Valentine (who was John-Paul and Craig’s original nemesis). He hasn’t done anything good, he doesn’t seem to realise how bad his actions are, he goes ahead and does it. I think he’s actually slightly psychotic.
That’s the thing: he just does it. We don’t know why Robbie acts the way he does; why he’s so set against gay people. And not just gay people overall - gay men, as much as his cruelty has been aimed at the male gay/bisexual community of the village: Danny, Doug, George, Vincent and of course John-Paul. Fair enough, most soap baddies don’t; but Robbie is just a sodding sixth-former who’s trying to act as big as his older brothers. The injustice of this whole thing is already rankling at me and it hasn’t even happened yet.
… I’m really, really hoping that JP has a good support system for when this happens. He has Carmel and useless, selfish Mercy, but most of the McQueens have gone now. I’m hoping, when this does happen, people like Danny and Ste will be able to help him - and maybe Esther too, as she can relate.
Please Hollyoaks, let Craig come back and beat the shit out of those guys for messing with his man.
So this morning, I found out from Digital Spy that John-Paul is going to be a victim of male rape.
The schoolteacher will be sexually attacked by student Finn O'Connor in the culmination of a homophobic bullying storyline.
...I don't know what to think about this, beyond wanting to hug him.
Viewers will see the plot begin in the next few weeks as Finn (Keith Rice) and his friend Robbie Roscoe (Charlie Wernham) start to taunt John Paul over his sexuality.
With support from some of the other students, Finn and Robbie cruelly target John Paul - who is openly gay - in a long-running bullying campaign at Hollyoaks High.
Now, first things first: I know next to nothing about rape and sexual assault, beyond that it's a truly terrible thing to happen. I think it's very brave of Hollyoaks to confront this issue again and it's one that needs to be addressed. I hope it's a sensitive portrayal; I know James Sutton can act like nobody's business (which is why I'm disappointed he hasn't gone further afield in the world of acting and hasn't had more job-offers) and I know if anyone can do it, he can.
… I am a little confused about some elements of the story, though. Firstly, it's the culmination of a homophobic-bullying storyline inside the school where John-Paul works; the same school I thought had cracked down on bullying because of, who was also bullied as a result of peer pressure and whose attempted suicide as a result led to Patrick Blake vowing to make changes. Basically, I thought the school would have learned by now to keep a closer eye on these things - and that the students themselves would have learned to treat each other equally.
The bullying will take several forms, including malicious stunts in the classroom and calling John Paul insulting names.
The two homophobic bullies are Robbie Roscoe and Finn O’Connor - the latter who is goaded by the former (saw a bit of that in tonight’s E4 episode, actually). In fact, Robbie is the one who instigates the bullying and Finn follows his lead and is the one who’s going to carry out the attack on John-Paul. What also intrigues me is that Finn is the brother of Sinead, who was one of Esther’s bullies and she paid the price with expulsion and in turn the loss of her career, instead resorting to becoming a prostitute and becoming mixed up with criminals to make ends meet.
… Just, if that’s not a warning against bullying and general bad behaviour, I don’t know what is.
[..]Finn has a furious argument with his teacher before sexually attacking him.
Finn, who is not gay, carries out the attack as an act of aggression against John Paul and an attempt to assert power over him.
I may potentially be opening up a can of worms here, but: Finn is half John-Paul’s size and about, what, fifteen? I’ve watched John-Paul since the start and I know he’ll go for anyone who threatens him or his family and I also know for a fact that he can pack a punch. I’m really sorry - this is not me victim-blaming, because rape is never the victim’s fault. I’m just wondering how, physically, Finn is going to carry out this attack.
It’s also kind of different to see John-Paul taking the bullying as a teacher, rather than a pupil, which is how he suffered bullying last time when he was studying his A-Levels at the school. I guess the difference between then and now is that he has to abide by the teacher’s code this time around.
As for Robbie: I’ve absolutely hated him since he arrived and not in a good soap-opera-typical way. I’ve been looking for signs for ages that he’s not all bad, but I don’t see any. He has no redeeming features whatsoever: this is a little bastard who, since arriving, trashed a shop, carried out an armed robbery and shot Callum (RIP) and got his brother sent to prison for the trouble, printed pictures of John-Paul and Doug kissing and posted them around college, blackmailed Danny when he found out that he was a married man having an affair with John-Paul, falsely accused his uncle of touching him and, in tonight’s E4 first-look episode, randomly decided to start on at George and Vincent during a private conversation about their sexualities and began throwing homophobic slurs at them. Worse still, Mum Kathy doesn’t even realise just how brutish a thug her son is; she just treats him like a lost little boy and is completely blind to his faults.
And it’s only set to get worse. In case you haven’t guessed already, he’s a seriously homophobic character - I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it since Sonny Valentine (who was John-Paul and Craig’s original nemesis). He hasn’t done anything good, he doesn’t seem to realise how bad his actions are, he goes ahead and does it. I think he’s actually slightly psychotic.
That’s the thing: he just does it. We don’t know why Robbie acts the way he does; why he’s so set against gay people. And not just gay people overall - gay men, as much as his cruelty has been aimed at the male gay/bisexual community of the village: Danny, Doug, George, Vincent and of course John-Paul. Fair enough, most soap baddies don’t; but Robbie is just a sodding sixth-former who’s trying to act as big as his older brothers. The injustice of this whole thing is already rankling at me and it hasn’t even happened yet.
… I’m really, really hoping that JP has a good support system for when this happens. He has Carmel and useless, selfish Mercy, but most of the McQueens have gone now. I’m hoping, when this does happen, people like Danny and Ste will be able to help him - and maybe Esther too, as she can relate.
Please Hollyoaks, let Craig come back and beat the shit out of those guys for messing with his man.