Days of our Lives has an incredible cast.
Let’s give Days of our Lives credit where credit is due. They don’t just talk a good game about diversity and inclusion, they actually practice what they preach. In addition to the Hortons and Bradys, DAYS features a well-developed Hispanic family, a Black family, and an Asian family. They also spotlight gay characters, bisexual characters, even a nun, once in a while. This is very good.
And the best part is that the characters’ stories aren’t centered around their identities. So often on other shows, the Black family’s story is about being Black, the Asian family’s story is about being Asian, the gay characters are solely defined by their sexuality and have no other personality traits. DAYS hasn’t made that mistake.
Rafe (Galen Gering) and Gabi (Camila Banus) have complicated, messy love lives. They’ll sometimes mention a special treat from their childhood or a unique way to celebrate a holiday. They aren’t whitewashed, but nor are they stuck into a storyline ghetto.
Paulina (Jackée Harry) and Chanel (Raven Bowens) are guilty of various crimes that have nothing to do with their race, Li (Remington Hoffman) is a schemer instead of a model minority, and Paul (Sean Christopher) and Andrew (Colton Little) face the same stumbling blocks as any heteronormative couple in Salem.
But all of that being treated the same way as everyone else has its downside. DAYS’ diverse characters are stuck with the same morally gray storylines and dumbed-down dialogue. They are all directed to overact and make on-the-nose declarative statements. They are all stuck with borderline functional IQs. And they all do horrible things, then get all huffy when they’re called out on it or, God forbid, asked to suffer the consequences.
DAYS has the most relatable and accessible cast list currently on daytime television. Just imagine what they could achieve if they wrote more dramatic and less campy storylines for them all.
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