My Manny Introspective

11 . 6 . 99

The heart is a funny thing.

It feels things without asking permission. It reacts without thought. It pays no mind to the ego or the superego. It doesn’t stop to consider the ramifications or consequences of its actions. Sometimes living my life with my heart at the reigns, I can achieve pure ecstasy. But sometimes, it can be agonizing. Since the day that I found Manny, my heart has ruled my emotions.

Why can’t I just sit back and enjoy the Manny that I get on my screen every day? Shouldn’t I be happy that they’re there at all? Shouldn’t I enjoy the fact that they will be front and center in a big November sweeps storyline? Perhaps. But for the last week my heart has been aching more than I want it to, more than I’m comfortable with, and as hard as it is for me to accept, it’s a result of what has been happening to Manny.

Some say I take this too seriously. Some say I should just realize that it’s a “TV show”. Let me say that I have enough of real life going on around me to realize that, but this strong reaction I’m having is telling me that Manny means so much more than that. That I cannot compare it to the newest episode of Baywatch simply because they’re both just "TV shows". That what I had been given before the summer started was such perfection that anything less is unacceptable.

It’s not as though Manny were a couple who were just “ok” and simply “watchable” since last November. What has this year brought me? It began so divinely. Two characters, diametrically opposed in lifestyle, but truly connected in heart. I was blessed with the union of this man and this woman who forever changed the way I look at love. In addition, the profound impact that they have had on this community is felt on a daily basis, every time I come here and see the number of members grow. The telling of this chapter of their lives was written for us to believe, for us to understand, and for us to fall in love with. Their every thought and feeling was displayed in unforgettable dialogue, written with love and understanding. This was perfection presented to me in the form of a daytime soap opera couple.

So why can’t I be happy with the state of affairs now? Because I’ve experienced their perfection, and I know how sublime they can be. Why should I be expected to sit back and simply accept things as they are now just because their faces are the same? I’ll tell you why – because their hearts certainly aren’t. Looking back, even the bomb in the church, while not a fan favorite, had amazingly astute observations and character exploration. The story was about them, their lives, and how they can live together (or apart), fight to be together while ironically fighting to get away from the very thing that brought them together. It was these two complicated characters whose actions changed their surroundings, not the other way around.

What troubles me is the fact that I don’t believe they know what direction to take Manny. For the first time, I have no clue where they’re going with them. And it’s becoming painfully obvious through every scene recently. Should I know every step they’re taking ahead of time? No. Of course not. But I should be able to see a general direction for the characters, and I don’t see it as clearly as I once did. This isn’t to say that this current storyline cannot be saved. It can. As long as the writers figure out what they’re doing with Manny and decide to actually write for them, instead of using them and their popularity to advance a plot. Their involvement in the murder plot needs to end quickly in order to get them back into the exploration of their existence in each other’s lives, and the impact that it has.

Everyone who is hypothesizing positively about where this story is going – keep it up. If it helps to get through this storyline, then I’m all for it. I used to do that myself. But I can’t do it anymore. I’m tired. I’m tired of getting kicked in the gut every time I feel hopeful. And I’m tired of making excuses for the writers. I’m tired of writing my OWN reasons for the character’s actions when the writers don’t care enough to write them FOR us. I can’t justify the disservice they’re doing to this couple that I adore with all of my heart. I’ve invested too much to stop now, so I’m not giving up. I haven’t stopped caring any less than I used to. I feel as though if I didn’t care so much, their current state wouldn’t upset me as much as it does. I would love it if every Manny fan could be happy, but alas, they cannot. Some of you are enjoying this. Some of us are not.

Some of us are scared. Some of us are afraid that we will never see the Manny we fell in love with again. I’m personally sickened by the fact that they don’t respect their viewers and supporters enough to show me the journey that Manny are on together, instead deciding to shove me from plot point to plot point, expecting me to just be happy with anything that I get. What they don’t understand is that it’s the journey that allowed me to care as much as I did, as much as I still do. It’s the connection between two souls, and between two hearts, that enveloped me in the first place. Is this too much to ask for now? It’s not that I don’t understand that Michelle has layers and that Danny should have his past explored, etc. Trust me, I know all of this, I’ve thought for hours on end about the characters and the complexities that had been introduced to us a year ago. Michelle reaching a breaking point was one of them. Believe me, I get it. But what I don’t get, and what I can’t accept, is TPTB simply going from point A to point B without showing us the line it took to get there. That’s an integral part of good storytelling, and I’m not getting it with Manny these days. It tells me that they don’t give a damn about who these characters really are.

My heart is sad. My heart is aching because of what is happening to these characters that I cherish, that I love. And I have every right to do this. I have the right because I have invested a part of myself in this couple, and in these characters.

Manny. Two souls in love before they ever met. Two hearts intertwined despite the forces of nature pulling them apart. I’ve laughed and cried with them and I’ve spent countless hours talking with some amazing women about them. Hours that have meant more to me than I care to admit. Do I care too much? Am I overreacting? No. No I’m not. My heart is ruling my actions now, and is both a glorious and painful way to live.

I hope my heart can take the bumpy road ahead. I hope it can continue to see some small rays of hope through this murky forest. I hope it can laugh when it needs to laugh, and cry when it needs to cry. But most of all, I hope my heart remains critical and trenchant, while never losing sight to be open and accepting.

The heart is a funny thing.

Candy

This is a later post responding to a response. Because I do not have that person's permission to post their response, it is unavailable. However, my response below answers it point by point.

I'll go paragraph by paragraph -

By comparing Manny's first five months with what is "done with all couples" is a slap in the face to Manny themselves. Their courtship and every element that was given to us during those first 5 months were unlike any that I've seen on daytime television in the 18 years I've been watching. The romance in a soap is what has always drawn me in, so believe me when I say that I've had my share of favorite couples. But Manny transcends those couples. I've spoken to enough people on this board to know that they feel the same way. If Manny's introduction to us were just like every other couple, then all those other couples would've had hundreds of people join a message board to discuss their every move. They don't.

The fact that you say you're an emotionally distanced person is noted. In saying that, you're doing the exact thing that I'm doing, but backwards. If you had actually read my post above you would've seen that I don't exactly have control over this kind of thing, and that I freely admit that it's painful - but the joy that it brings goes beyond what someone like yourself (the emotionally distant type, that is) can possibly feel. This is not a judgment, as I realize different people deal with situations differently.

Interesting point you make about me wanting MY vision to be represented, and not letting the writer's write the story. As I've said many times, I'm only expecting them to give us what they've given us in the past - and that is not too much to ask. Should I let them tell the story? Well, you're right, I don't have much of a choice. But do you realize what their job is? To tell a tale. If they're lucky, they create characters and stories that cause their viewers to go into another time and place and become immersed in that story and in those characters. This is what they did for those five months.. this is something that has disappeared since then. Am I projecting what I want onto the writers? Not exactly. I'm projecting what I had come to EXPECT from them. And that is ONLY because they raised that bar of excellence to begin with. I will blame them. I will blame them for lowering that bar and treating their viewers like puppies who will be happy if they throw out a morsel here and there.

Are they heading back to the family? You know what? I thought they were doing that a month or two ago when they got back from SC. I was re-watching those scenes this afternoon (where they were separated for a day or two after Selena fell) and thought "why couldn't they have just gone with this??". I was actually very happy at that point, I was able to forget about SC because what they were doing with Michelle was incredibly promising. She mentioned how she didn't want to "get used to" that life. What did they do? They dropped the ball. Dropped it completely by bringing Theresa into the picture. They wasted the last month on that crap. So how am I supposed to sit here and believe that by the utterance of ONE phrase by Danny and Michelle, that this means they'll be re-introduced to the family and that storyline possibility? I can't, and that's the point.

Michelle will be brought up on charges, Danny will go crazy and admit to the murder, Michelle will be released, we'll be subjected to the same scenes we saw in the psycho ward with them separated, Pilar & Carmen will hate Michelle yet again for being the woman who Danny would go to prison for, Danny will go on trial perhaps.. blah blah blah. It's been done. It's been written.

I can deal with small plot points being important to the larger picture. I understand that completely. I said earlier that they take us from A to B without dealing with the journey between them. I take that back. They're taking us from A to D, completely bypassing B and C while dropping in a line here and there that keeps people hanging on.

Even if they DID feel like they had a larger picture going on here with Manny, their fault would lie upon the lack of EXECUTION in bringing it to our screen in a cohesive manner. It's jumpy, it's choppy, it's horribly paced, and that all lends to the sheer unbelievability of the last few months.

I still hold out hope. Albeit the smallest glimmer of hope I've ever had. One of the only things keeping me from letting go (and believe you me.. that's the hardest thing for me to do with such amazing actors in these roles) is the fact that, whether you like to believe it or not, people in the INDUSTRY are feeling the same way as I do.

Shake-ups are happening, PR has told B&E to shape up or ship out. He knows there's problems, the mags know there's problems, we know there's problems. With any luck, PR is not the root of these problems and things will look better in a month or two. I just hope my fingernails don't break off from hanging on this ledge.

Candy