The American daytime drama, One Life to Live (often abbreviated as OLTL), which debuted on the ABC television network in 1968, was one of the first soap operas to address social issues, including rape, a topic that had been addressed by the genre of soap opera long before it became a topic in the broader culture. In 1993, OLTL began to feature a storyline in which three college students, led by Todd Manning (Roger Howarth), gang raped fellow student, Marty Saybrooke (Susan Haskell). The crime was presented to the audience differently than it had been in the past, in other soap operas. The storyline, including the rape and its three-year-long consequences, was called "the most daring plot ever attempted on soaps", was regarded as "the gold standard of rape stories", and inspired feminist studies.

The character of Todd Manning was intended to be short-lived, but this changed when Howarth's portrayal inspired notable fan reaction. OLTL's head writer, Michael Malone, decided to write a redemption storyline for Todd, something Howarth was opposed to, which eventually led to him leaving the show in 2003. The role was recast by Trevor St. John, but Howarth returned as Todd in 2011. The cast and writing team involved in the storyline won several awards, and Howarth became the male lead and most popular actor on OLTL.

Scholars have noted the storyline's similarity to 19th-century melodrama and both supported and went against rape myths. It conforms to many of the same conventions of how rape has been presented in both soap operas and in literature and films, including how the rapists' trial, which dominated the show throughout the summer of 1993. Todd's lawyer, Nora Gannon (Hillary B. Smith), discovered that the defendants were guilty of the crime, and the trial ultimately ended in a mistrial. The storyline used many archetypes commonly used in other types of literature. It was also called "Dickensonian" and Todd was compared to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The writers moved to redeem Todd in order to keep him and his portrayer as a part of the show, using "a whole arsenal of symbolic weaponry," something that had never happened in soap operas before.

Background and history

The American daytime drama, One Life to Live (often abbreviated as OLTL), which debuted on the ABC television network in 1968, was one of the first soap operas to address social issues, including rape. Rape has been a long-standing subject of soap operas; as critic Mary Buhl Dutta put it, rape was "a part of the discourse of soap opera long before its acceptance into that of the larger society". Dutta goes on to state that despite its feminist form, soap opera has paid lip service to the feminist stance about rape and has popularized the rape myths of patriarchal culture. Dutta states that the rape storyline in OLTL invokes many rape myths in American society that downplay the harm experienced by the victims of rape and blame them for their own victimization. The rape storyline, which began in 1993, was inspired by recent news stories about an increase in gang rapes on college campuses across the country. Michael Logan, a columnist with TV Guide, stated that it "may be the most daring plot ever attempted on soaps".

To ensure accuracy and insert realism with the conventional dramatic requirements of soap opera, social workers were hired to review scripts, and the writers researched rape and interviewed rape counselors. Todd Manning (played by Roger Howarth), a defensive back for Llanview, Pennsylvania University's football team, has a one-night stand with fellow student Marty Saybrooke (Susan Haskell). After she tutors him for a calculus exam and he fails it, which results in his suspension from the football team, he blames her. In March 1993, Todd and his fraternity brothers, Zach Rosen and Powell Lord, rape Marty in the dorm room of Kevin Buchanan during a party. Writer Dianne L. Brooks states that the presentation of the rape was done differently than how other soaps had previously presented rape. For example, it was not dramatized in "the usual voyeuristic perspective", but from the perspective of the victim and was constructed to disturb the viewers. Brooks also states that the "careful construction" of the rape scenes "signals another level of adaptation of the rape narrative to the exigencies of rape discourse in the larger world". Brooks also states that one of the most educationally valuable aspects of the storyline was how it depicted Marty's post-rape trauma and hospital examination, and the way in which it opened up further discourse about rape. Head writer Michael Malone scripted Todd as a serial rapist, and the character was intended to be short-lived. However, this changed when Howarth's portrayal of the character inspired notable fan reaction and prompted the creators to layer Todd's personality and showcase him regularly within the series. Malone decided to write a redemption storyline for Todd, having him seek forgiveness from Marty.

The storyline, including the rape and its three-year-long consequences, became regarded as "the gold standard of rape stories" and inspired feminist studies. Todd and his friends are charged with the crime, and a trial takes place, but ends in a mistrial when Nora Gannon (Hillary B. Smith), Todd's lawyer, discovers that the alleged perpetrators raped Marty. According to Brooks, in her discussion of how law is treated in soap opera, the show's writing team relied upon the expertise of one of their law school-educated writers to write most of the trial scenes, having Nora explain rape shield laws, which prevent lawyers from asking victims about their previous sexual relationships, to the jury. Brooks also discusses the common plot complication of a female lawyer defending male defendants, stating that it became one of the most important focal points of the trial storyline. One of the show's writers, Christopher Whitesell, expressed discomfort with Nora's representation of the rapists, but relied on the skill of her portrayer, Hillary B. Smith, to explore it differently on the show. Nora slowly discovered her clients' guilt during the trial, and not afterwards, as is often the convention in popular television and films, when it would be too late. She faces the dilemma of determining how to ensure they would be found guilty without compromising her professional ethics and responsibilities, and it ends in a mistrial.

In 1994, OLTL was awarded several Daytime Emmys in writing and acting for all the principals involved in the gang rape storyline. Michael Malone and Josh Griffith's team won an Emmy for writing, Susan Haskell won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and Hillary B. Smith was awarded the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Roger Howarth won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series. In 1995, Howarth was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and Soap Opera Digest (SOD) named him Outstanding Leading Actor. SOD also named him Outstanding Villain in 1998. Howarth was a "fan favorite, and one of the best actors in soaps", and Howarth's portrayal of him has been called "iconic". The rape storyline propelled Todd "onto the list of OLTL most despicable villains", and he became the show's "centerpiece villain". Soap opera writer Gerry Waggett said that due to the storyline and Howarth's talent, Todd eventually became the show's male lead. Todd has been called "one of the greatest characters of all-time", and TV Guide referred to Todd as a breakout character. The Hollywood Reporter stated that even though Todd was a convicted rapist, he was the most popular character, and Howarth was the most popular actor, on OLTL.

Other controversies In 2002, as part of ABC's push to sell merchandise from its soap operas, the network began selling a doll in Todd's likeness on its website, but was thwarted by a backlash. Modeled after animated versions that represented the fantasies that Starr, Todd's daughter, had about her family, the doll sold for $19.95. According to the description on the site, it was "an all-cloth doll with brown felt hair and blue eyes. He is 20 inches standing. He wears a blue shirt and black pants". The controversy began when the industry newsletter, "The Jack Myers Report," harshly criticized ABC for selling the doll, and other news outlets reported the snafu. Bob Tedeschi of The New York Times stated, "In the charge toward e-commerce revenues, ABC learned a useful lesson last week: Don't try to sell cuddly rag dolls depicting homicidal rapists". Even though several years had passed since the gang rape and Todd had "since settled down", and had become a more sympathetic character, rape victim advocate groups thought that selling the doll glorified sexual assault, so ABC removed the doll from its online store. Pictures of the doll were pulled from the Internet, and the doll was blocked from being available on eBay or any other online store. Angela Shapiro, president of ABC, said, "I was insensitive and take total responsibility for it. I should have been sensitive to the history of the character and I wasn't". A doll of Starr remained in ABC stores.

According to Nelson Branco of TV Guide, OLTL aired "some of the most explosive and ugliest scenes ever broadcast on daytime" television in March 2008, when Todd, at that time played by Trevor St. John, who was recast as Todd in 2011, beat up teenager Cole Thornhart (his daughter's boyfriend and Marty's son), and slapped Starr and Cole's friends Markko Rivera and Langston Wilde. Todd barges in on Starr and Cole in bed together for the first time, jumping to the conclusion that Cole had raped her, "and [beats] the son of his rape victim relentlessly". In Branco's opinion, head writer Ron Carlivati wanted to use the storyline to return Todd to his dark roots by showing him as a monster again, stating, "Carlivati chose to do something unique, bold and risky with one of his marquee characters", demonstrating Todd's damaged personality and calling into question his mental stability. Carlivati said that Todd was convinced that Starr's alleged rape was karmic payback, even when Starr insisted that she had not been raped. Branco postulated that Todd's conclusion and strong reaction to seeing the two in bed together was Todd's inability to separate sex from violence, stating, "Todd, in that instance, became unhinged, paranoid, and out-of-control". Todd was in denial and even almost hit Starr twice when she challenged his beliefs. The scenes were praised as "riveting". Soap columnist, Marlena De Lacroix, a self-described "Todd hater" who felt that the character was psychotic, expressed hope that it was "the beginning of a storyline that will delve into Todd's mind and enlighten viewers as to the complexities of a character who is mentally ill". De Lacroix worried that although the storyline had the potential to be memorable, it could be another way to build sympathy for Todd.

Revictimizing Marty