Content Warning: the following article contains discussions of sexual violence.
General Hospitalhas a long history of problematic relationships, but Carly Spencer must break the mold and cut all ties with Jack Brennan when she finds out the truth about what he’s done to her daughter, Josslyn Jacks. Carly (Laura Wright) has been falling for Jack (Chris McKenna) for months, but he’s been lying to her about a very serious matter.
When Josslyn (Eden McCoy) fatally shotCyrus Renault (Jeff Kober)in self-defense, she called WSB agent Jack for help. However, in exchange for covering up the crime, Jack recruited Josslyn to join the WSB in secret, keeping her new job hidden from even her mother, Carly. Jack has been lying by omission to Carly about Josslyn for months, which has made their blossoming relationship very hard to watch.
Now that Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) has figured out the truth, it won’t be long before it comes to light, especially because Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) might inadvertently discover what Josslyn has been up to as he searches for Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud). Carly’s reaction to Jack’s betrayal has the potential to break a longtimeGeneral Hospitalproblem of women staying in relationships in which their partners abuse them, mentally, physically, or both.
General Hospital Has A Long History Of Women Falling In Love With Men Who Hurt Them
Luke & Laura Were The Show’s Most Problematic Couple
General Hospitalis infamous for its problematic romances, the most horrifying being that of Luke and Laura. Luke Spencer (Tony Geary) and Laura Webber (Genie Francis) were once considered one of the show’s greatest love stories. In 1981, their wedding was watched by a record-breaking 30 million viewers.
However, there was a dark cloud over their romance that couldn’t be swept under the rug: Luke had raped Laura at the beginning of their relationship, but the show had dismissed the violence by calling it a seduction. AlthoughGeneral Hospitalattempted to correct this egregious error in judgment in the late ’90s by revisiting the storyline with honesty, the show could never make up for the fact that it romanticized sexual violence.
Over the years, there have been manyother controversialGeneral Hospitalrelationshipsthat have excused men hurting women, including Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth). Serial killer Franco had kidnapped Elizabeth’s newborn son, Aiden, but all of his crimes were eventually excused by the fact that he had a brain tumor.
It was difficult to watch Elizabeth fall in love with and marry a man who’d hurt one of her children, especially because she’s such a protective mother. Similarly, it’s been concerning to watch Elizabeth allow Ric (Rick Hearst) back into her life after he poisoned her with birth control pills while he held Carly captive in a panic room, which eventually caused Elizabeth to have an embolism when she discovered what had happened.
Carly also has a history of problematic relationships, including marrying Lorenzo Alcazar (Ted King) after he’d kidnapped her, and getting engaged to Franco after he’d done the same and also terrorized so many people she loved. It was shocking to watch Carly, a strong woman who doesn’t allow herself to be pushed around, make such poor decisions when it came to men who caused so much pain to herself and her family.
Carly Must Never Forgive Jack For Lying To Her About Josslyn
Carly Must Stand Up For Herself & Her Daughter
When Carly finally finds out that Jack has put Josslyn in such a dangerous position in the WSB, along with forcing her daughter to deal with the fact that she killed someone without any mental health support from her family or professionals, she must turn her back on him forever. It’s been heartbreaking to watch Jack force Josslyn to continue to lie to Carly’s face when they always had such a strong mother-daughter relationship.
Carly can never forgive Jack for his lies and manipulation. Although several people have warned Carly about how dangerous Jack is, she stands by him because he helped her and her family in the past, including saving her cousin, Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson), from Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota). However, Jack is now making a fool out of Carly by lying to her about Josslyn.
General Hospitalhas a troubling history when it comes to how women are portrayed in relationships, but it can make up for it in part by having Carly, one of their strongest female characters, completely turn her back on Jack when she discovers the truth about him. What he did can’t be excused or changed for the sake of keeping their relationship alive on the show.
Although it can never make up for the horrible mistakes the show has made in the past,General Hospitalmust do the right thingand create a new beginning in which women are portrayed as strong people with good judgment, who refuse to compromise themselves for the sake of a man. Carly is the perfect character to take this stand.
