Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Favorite Fictional Character --- Dorian Cramer


Counting today there are only 3 more episodes of One Life To Live for me to watch.  The disgusting thing, other than it going off the air, is what is replacing it.  Do we really need anymore makeover shows?  Really, who the hell cares about makeover shows anymore.  I thought it was bad enough that they replaced All My Children with a cooking talk show.  I'm still shuddering over that one.  The makeover show is the icing on the cake though.  So instead of pulling my hair out, I'm going to talk about my favorite bitch (hero) from the show.


Dorian Cramer, plus a host of other last names, is the antihero frienemy of last weeks FFC, Victoria Lord.  Dorian, who just so happens to be a cardiologist, moves to town and quickly starts trouble.  And when I say trouble, I mean trouble. She starts an affair with a married man, accidentally kills a patient, and takes a spill down a flight of stairs landing herself in a coma.  You have to give it to the woman, when she wakes up, she gets right back on her feet.

After she confessed to accidental death, she is dismissed from the hospital, a dismissal she blames Victoria Lord for.  She sets out to even the score and marries Viki's father, Victor Lord.  From there the talons come out and Dorian is at her worst.  She hides heart attacks, makes fathers and sons hate each other, blackmails and does all sorts of other mean and nasty things.  Now all this happened before I started watching the show, but just hearing about it from my mom made me like this woman even more.

Now if all she did was evil and dastardly deeds, Dorian wouldn't be all that interesting.  At the heart of who she is, Dorian is a fiercely loyal individual who will do anything she needs to do in order to protect her family and friends.  She has an ability to make those around her love and forgive her every time she screws up, which she does often.  She doesn't mind manipulating those she cares about to do what she thinks is right for them.  No matter what though, she does it out of love, even if it is a bit misguided at times.  

Even her relationship with Viki has evolved over the years.  The two of them are constantly at each other's throats but are always there for each other when it's needed.  Despite everything that has passed between them, they do love each other and I'm not sure their lives would be complete with out the other.

Dorian, and characters like her, is the reason I will miss daytime dramas.  Characters that have years of history and development are always a joy to watch because they never stop evolving.

2 comments:

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

I remember ole Dorian. She was quite the B, wasn't she?! Although I stopped liking soaps years ago, I remember a time when I couldn't miss them. My last favorite about 16 years ago (wow, that long ago!) was Young and the Restless. I worked from 2-9 in those days so I could catch my soap every day. I guess when I started working days was when I stopped watching. The soaps really do remind me of my childhood because we watched them all the time. All My Children was the one I watched with my mom when I was a kid. =O)

Staci said...

I've never watched this show but somehow I did know that she was the bitty of the show!!