I've been really enjoying Neighbours. It's much less outlandish then the American soap opera I used to watch... for the most part. The storylines and characters seem much more real to me.
One of my favorite storylines is about Naomi trying to break up Toadie and Sonya's marriage. For me, it's driving home the message that adultery (or ALMOST adultery) can be usually at least partly blamed on all three people.
In the Naomi-Toadie-Sonya storyline, it's definitely mostly Naomi's fault. She uses manipulation to get herself closer to Toadie. She fakes having a stalker to get his concern. She finds ways to create distance between Toadie and Sonya. For example, when Sonya comes to the office to talk to Toadie about a fight they've had, Naomi suggests to Sonya that it would be better for her and her husband to have time apart. Instead of having a discussion with your husband, why not get a massage instead? Naomi then pays for the massage. So not only does she get Sonya temporarily out of the picture, she comes off looking generous and caring.
Today I watched the episode in which Toadie tells Sonya that while she'd been away on a holiday (Naomi's idea again) Naomi tried to kiss him. Toadie tells Sonya he has no feelings for Naomi, and that he fired her from her job. She's out of his life. I think he expects Sonya to be forgiving and understanding, but she's furious. She calls Toadie naive for spending so much time alone with Naomi. Really! What was he thinking? While his wife was out of town with their child, he invited another woman to be alone with him in their house. They ate nachos together, watched wrestling, and he told her any man would be lucky to have her. And this was not the first time, they spend quality alone time together.
Yes. Maybe men and women can be friends. But if we're married and someone outside the marriage is trying to spend a lot of time with us, MAYBE we should entertain the possibility that for this person, it is NOT a platonic thing.
As for Sonya, I definitely don't think she's perfectly innocent either. I don't think she's an easy person to have for a spouse. There have been times that Toadie has tried to spend time with her, and she's too busy. A few episodes back, they were eating lunch together. Toadie was very grateful because it seemed to him that Sonya was always busy with other people. He felt neglected.
But then teenage Bailey came along to their table needing to talk to Sonya regarding his alcohol problem. Instead of saying, I'm busy now, but I'll get back to you really soon, Sonya ended lunch early with her husband so she could do her counseling work. Bailey's a nice kid. Feeling bad, he then tried to pay Sonya back by babysitting Sonya and Toadie's toddler. Toadie thought this was great. They have a sitter. Now they could have a date together. But no... Sonya took the babysitter opportunity to work at the nursery instead of using it to be with her husband.
Guess who Toadie ate with instead. Yes...Naomi! By spending so little time with her husband, Sonya made it easy for Naomi to spend time with him. And by making it seem that Toadie was very low on her priority list, it made it easy for Naomi to be there to provide the attention he craved.
So yeah. I mostly blame Naomi for the mess, but I definitely don't think Sonya and Toadie are completely innocent.
No comments:
Post a Comment