Luke and Laura. Those two names will be forever entwined as the greatest love story in soap opera history. When fans recall this legendary couple they envision their spectacular summer on the run, their long awaited nuptials (which gave ABC their highest ratings of a single episode of a soap opera to date), and their subsequent decades of vacillating back and forth as tormented suds couples must do. What is often NOT mentioned is how their relationship began.
In the fall of 1979, ABC’s General Hospital was enjoying a fine season with its usual amount of extramarital affairs, life endangering predicaments, good guys and bad girls and vice versa; all natural proceedings in soapdom. The highly regarded daytime drama was also latching on to the hippest trends of the time: namely aerobics and discothèques. Richard Simmons was lending his charm and youth to helping the ladies of Port Charles shed a few to the disco beat while on the dark side the troubled sibling of bad-news nurse Bobbie Spencer was developing a dangerous fixation. Laura Webber Baldwin, convicted murderer (it was an accident, naturally) and everybody’s sweetheart, became Luke Spencer’s obsession. Young Laura, barely eighteen, was newly wed to the equally sweet and youthful lawyer-to-be Scotty. The young marrieds were already experiencing some bumps in the road with Scotty peeved at Laura for overspending on a set of law books for him. Tsk, tsk. This super tame storyline obviously needed jazzing up. Bobbie did her part by trying to break up the saccharine couple, but it was her brother who would leap over all moral boundaries to hold the woman he loved in his arms just one time.
Luke Spenser was an interesting addition to the cast of General Hospital. He wasn’t your typical affluent handsome leading man but instead a rather odd looking and malevolent acting tough man from the most wrong of tracks. Scheduled for a mere 13 week run, Anthony Geary rocked the role hard and fans clamored for more as they took to his shady charisma and obvious talent. The chemistry between him and Genie Francis’ Laura exploded on the floor of the deserted discotheque when Luke raped the woman who would become known as his “angel” while Herb Albert’s’ sexy instrumental “Rise” played in the background. Violent, yes. A crime, of course. But the audience responded to the desperate love-sick Luke and forgave him for the unspeakable act just as Laura would. Francis never portrayed Laura as a “typical” rape victim and more than one viewer and various critics questioned whether there really was a rape at all. Many contend Laura became a consensual partner during the act and a definite one during the aftermath. Laura chose not to reveal Luke as the rapist, continued to work for him and finally admitted to falling in love with him. Voila, soap’s first and most famed supercouple was born.
Why did the viewers so embrace this relationship between rapist and victim? Because it was romanticized. Fans already knew Luke as a complicated but not unsympathetic character. They had already witnessed the onscreen sparks whenever Luke and Laura shared the camera. The stage was set for what one General Hospital executive producer Gloria Monty termed a “forced seduction.” Here is a sample of the dialogue that directly preceded what romance authors would term as “the taking of Laura”:
Luke: …Do you know all I care about is holding you. I need you. All I do is dream about you; I dream about holding you in my arms and making love to you. Laura you are my life.
Then, after he turns on the seductive music:
Luke: I don’t wanna be your friend and I can’t have you. You don’t belong in my world, I don’t belong in yours. Look what you’ve done to me. I am not gonna die without holding you in my arms just one time. Dance with me Laura.
Are these the words one would expect from someone about to sexually assault his prey? No, these are the passionate exultations of an enraptured man for a woman he is crazy for. These are the words women so often crave to hear from a man. How many women wouldn’t respond to being told they are the man’s reason for living?
But, despite the language of love, this is most definitely rape. Witness the final few words of dialogue from the characters as Luke forces her to dance and then finally pulls her to the floor:
Laura: No
Luke: I said, dance with me.
Laura: I have to go now. Luke let call a taxi, please. You’re frightening me. No, no. No, Luke let me go. No, no Luke no!!
Those who became fans after the famous autumn of 79 are often shocked to learn the twosome’s beginning just as Luke and Laura’s son Lucky and daughter Lulu would be when told as adults. Nevertheless, soap’s first Supercouple remains the most romantic pairing in soap history in the minds of many. ABC benefited extraordinarily from the creation of a love affair whose basis lied in a women’s violation and American women (the staple audience of General Hospital) celebrated in mass. Even today, there is no ridding the mind of the ecstatic fan chant that so often greeted Tony Geary appearances during the beloved couple’s heyday. Can’t you still hear them?
