Spinelli: The Thinking Fan’s Hero

As the self-appointed Chief Cyber-Ninja-In-Charge of defending General Hospital's Spinelli, it is not all glitz and glamour for the vigilant Vixenella. To quote our fearless leader, President George W. Bush, some days it is "hard work." Well, on Tuesday, June 24, it was hard work indeed.

When last we left our hapless hacker, Spinelli was being wheeled away by paramedics on a gurney, having succumbed to the dreaded, life-threatening Pizza Delivery Guy (PDG) virus. Thank God, this is not back in the day when everything happening on soaps was a surprise — no spoilers, no Internet, no info on actors' employment status, etc. If I didn't know Spinelli's character was not dying, I might be blogging this while sitting vigil in the waiting room of General Hospital, fretting and awaiting word on Spin's condition.

Even babbling deliriously from a scorching fever, Spinelli was still the most cogent, insightful character on GH. His references to Greek Classic playwright Sophocles' famous story of Oedipus were brilliant and foreshadowed the inevitable dynamic in both the Jason/Sonny relationship, and possibly in the end, the Jason/Spinelli relationship. Both the writing and Bradford Anderson's spot on delivery of this important monologue were impressive.

Still basking in the glow of the highbrow literary allusion from her favorite character on her favorite soap, Spin's Vixenella wandered over to one of the largest General Hospital message boards on the Internet… just in time to find Spinelli bashed to the high heavens for urging Jason to kill Sonny. What? Reference to one of classic literature's most famous power struggles had flown over the heads of many message board posters, and Spinelli stood accused of spewing unintelligible Sonny-hate.

Spin's Vixenella was stunned at some of the negative response. The GH writers actually gave the fans something more intellectually stimulating than the pitiful dreck to which we have grown accustomed. Yet, the references and their implication were completely lost on many fans. Perhaps this bespeaks the woeful failure of the American education system to instruct in classic Greek literature at the high school level. On the other hand, perhaps it just goes to show the General Hospital writers they are damned when they do, and damned when they don't. How can we bitterly complain about soaps not being intelligently written, and then criticize when they are? From the writers' perspective, if they are going to be bashed regardless, why not just play to the lowest common fan denominator?

Driving this point home, in sharp contrast to Spinelli's perceptive monologue, the same episode also featured a fight scene between Johnny and Logan. Bear with the Vixenella as she briefly sets the stage for this deep, thought-provoking scene: "Lulu is mine, not yours!" PUNCH! (This was not too riveting in either the dialogue or compelling drama department, if you ask the Vixenella.)

As for Spin's Vixenella, I would take one Damien Spinelli sweaty and feverish over the entire rest of the hot bods on GH wrapped in leather pants and delivered to my doorstep. Hot guys are a dime a dozen on soaps. Interesting and erudite are much harder to find. Sincere thanks to General Hospital for the rarest gem, Damien Spinelli — the thinking fan's hero.

* You may also enjoy this article by Spin's Vixenella at Blog Critics Online magazine.


VIXENELLA'S VIDEO OF THE DAY: A big Vixenella Shout Out to another of my wonderful Spixie friends, Ashley for I Need A Hero (by Frou Frou) starring our beloved Spinelli and his side-kick Jason. Ashley is the technical genius behind one of my favorite and best-run fan forums on the internet, the Spixie fan site, Opposite Attraction If you are a Spixie fan, get involved with Opposite Attraction...they even put up with the ever-snarky, Spin's Vixenella. ENJOY!