JR and Laurel

[Jimmy Todd]

I watched the scene yesterday when JR forces Laurel to have sex with him in exchange for providing evidence that would exonerate Clayton. He raped her. At the end of the episode Miss Ellie tells JR basically how proud she is of him. Of course, she didn't know what JR did. JR than says that she doesn't know what it meant to him to get Clayton free and the show ends with a freeze frame on JR's smiling face.
Upon rewatching it, I found the scene disturbing. All this is expected of JR, but to have the show end with one of JR's quips sends the message that the show itself sees Laurel's rape as on the same level as one of JR's usual schemes. This isn't him swindling Cliff Barnes or the cartel; this is much, much worse.
I think it would convey the seriousness of his crime if the show ended with a shot of Laurel crying or looking appropriately upset.
This isn't about being "politically correct" or that it was the 1980s then. The show wasn't taking JR's actions seriously.

 

[James from London]

This isn't him swindling Cliff Barnes or the cartel; this is much, much worse.

But to JR, it's all the same thing.

I think it would convey the seriousness of his crime if the show ended with a shot of Laurel crying or looking appropriately upset.

I think, in a way, that would kind of let the audience off the hook. What I took from that final scene the last time I saw it was this:

As far as everyone onscreen is concerned, it’s a happy ending. However, there remains a complicity between JR and the viewer — we alone understand the double meaning of his final line: “Oh Mama, you have no idea what getting Clayton off the hook meant to me.” And it’s this very complicity that first drew us to this man, this show, this genre, nearly a decade earlier and kept us coming back week after week, season after season. A lot has happened since then, of course — characters have grown older and softer, the spectacle of Rich People Behaving Badly has lost most of its shock value and the genre as a whole has become increasingly familiar, even cosy at times. But as the frame freezes on an unrepentant JR chuckling, it’s almost, almost as if the episode is reminding us of those early days and saying, “This is what you fell for back then. This is the monster you created.”

 

[Kenny Coyote]

JR forces Laurel to have sex

That's not true. JR gave her an opportunity to free Clayton. She was free to accept or decline. In rape there is no freedom to decline.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

But to JR, it's all the same thing.

Yeah, but the show itself seems to be making it the same thing.

I think, in a way, that would kind of let the audience off the hook. What I took from that final scene the last time I saw it was this:

As far as everyone onscreen is concerned, it’s a happy ending. However, there remains a complicity between JR and the viewer — we alone understand the double meaning of his final line: “Oh Mama, you have no idea what getting Clayton off the hook meant to me.” And it’s this very complicity that first drew us to this man, this show, this genre, nearly a decade earlier and kept us coming back week after week, season after season. A lot has happened since then, of course — characters have grown older and softer, the spectacle of Rich People Behaving Badly has lost most of its shock value and the genre as a whole has become increasingly familiar, even cosy at times. But as the frame freezes on an unrepentant JR chuckling, it’s almost, almost as if the episode is reminding us of those early days and saying, “This is what you fell for back then. This is the monster you created.”

This is an interesting interpretation, that the audience had a hand in creating JR. I never looked at in that sense. It adds a fascinating layer to the phenomenon that Dallas had become.

 

[Clubsoda]

JR and Laurel and JR and Cally

Yuck

Pretty sums up everything that's so bad about Dallas after 1987.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

That's not true. JR gave her an opportunity to free Clayton. She was free to accept or decline. In rape there is no freedom to decline.

Ok, fair point. One could say he took advantage of the situation and Laurel's friendship with Clayton and possible guilt she may have had over all the trouble she may have felt her relationship with Clayton caused him.
She did have a choice, so JR would be able to rationalize it in his mind.

 

[Kenny Coyote]

She did have a choice, so JR would be able to rationalize it in his mind.

In rape is there a choice to decline?

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Well, of course not. However, consider the situation: a rich, powerful man with information that could prevent her innocent friend from going to jail. At this point it us, imho, a question of semantics. It may not technically fit the definition of "rape," but it's as close as it gets.

 

[Kenny Coyote]

Well, of course not. However, consider the situation: a rich, powerful man with information that could prevent her innocent friend from going to jail. At this point it us, imho, a question of semantics. It may not technically fit the definition of "rape," but it's as close as it gets.

It's not semantics. Rape is not a deal.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

It's not semantics. Rape is not a deal.

I'm not saying it is. My use of "semantics" was in response to you saying that JR didn't rape her because she had a choice. I'm saying that he gave her very little of a choice, and what he did, imho, is rape. You could call it a "deal," but I think he had way too much of an advantage over her for it to be designated a deal, and it ended with her being violated and debased, physically and emotionally.

 

[Angela Channing]

In rape is there a choice to decline?

It was rape by means of coercive control. JR created a situation which gave her no reasonably option other than to give in to his demand for sex. Legally it would be treated as rape.

I hated Laurel almost as much as I hated Charley and Annabel Schofield wooden acting didn't help. However, I was so disgusted by JR that I even felt sorry for her. I accepted JR's years of abuse of Sue Ellen, driving Cliff Barnes to suicide and driving his friends to bankruptcy but his rape of Laurel was of a different level of wickedness.

I broadly agree with @Jimmy Todd's analysis of the storyline other than whether the show was taking rape seriously. I think they were not making a judgement but leaving it to the viewer to make up their mind. I don't think JR would show remorse because that would be out of character. He knows what he want and goes for it, regardless of what is needed or who is hurt.

 

[Kenny Coyote]

Legally it would be treated as rape.

No. It couldn't be. It doesn't fit the definition of rape. She had the option to say no.

JR created a situation which gave her no reasonably option other than to give in to his demand for sex.

Why would she even trust JR to follow through on his part of the deal? Because he's so reputable?

There were options. She could have said no to JR and then called Clayton and Ellie and gave them the information JR already gave her. Then let them use their power and influence to keep the murderer from fleeing the country.

 

[Angela Channing]

No. It couldn't be. It doesn't fit the definition of rape. She had the option to say no.

Why would she even trust JR to follow through on his part of the deal? Because he's so reputable?

There were options. She could have said no to JR and then called Clayton and Ellie and gave them the information JR already gave her. Then let them use their power and influence to keep the murderer from fleeing the country.

That's like saying if someone holds a gun to your head and demands sex you still have the option to say no, which technically you do but it still would the rape. The same is true for coercive control.

JR created a situation where Laurel felt isolated, threatened and intimidated and he convinced her there was only one option of getting out. In that situation, I can understand why she wouldn't have the presence of mind to explore every option available to her and felt she had to submit to the demands of JR. That's why it's rape. It's about controlling a women in a way to force her to act against her will and that doesn't have to involve physical violence.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

No. It couldn't be. It doesn't fit the definition of rape. She had the option to say no.



Why would she even trust JR to follow through on his part of the deal? Because he's so reputable?

There were options. She could have said no to JR and then called Clayton and Ellie and gave them the information JR already gave her. Then let them use their power and influence to keep the murderer from fleeing the country.

This scenario, where a character pulls the rug out from under JR, has potential. I don't think the character of Laurel would be the right one for it because of the writing and acting at the time. It would be a nice twist if a female character like Kristin back in the day did something like this.

 

[Kenny Coyote]

This scenario, where a character pulls the rug out from under JR, has potential. I don't think the character of Laurel would be the right one for it because of the writing and acting at the time. It would be a nice twist if a female character like Kristin back in the day did something like this.

Yeah, it did have potential. I would have enjoyed seeing Laurel turn the tables on JR. She says no to JR and then immediately calls Clayton or Ellie and gives them the information JR gave her. Imagine Clayton getting freed with the help of Laurel's info she got from JR, and then JR has hell to pay now that Clayton and Ellie know what he tried to do to Laurel. That could have been great. It's not a matter of the actress who played Laurel and her acting ability anymore, now it's Clayton vs JR. Howard Keel was a very capable actor and it would have been nice to see him be able to use his acting ability in a more intense, dramatic situation than they usually gave him.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Yeah, it did have potential. I would have enjoyed seeing Laurel turn the tables on JR. She says no to JR and then immediately calls Clayton or Ellie and gives them the information JR gave her. Imagine Clayton getting freed with he help of Laurel's info she got from JR, and then JR has hell to pay now that Clayton and Ellie know what he tried to do to Laurel. That could have been great. It's not a matter of the actress who played Laurel and her acting ability anymore, now it's Clayton vs JR. Howard Keel was a very capable actor and it would have been nice to see him be able to use his acting ability in a more intense, dramatic situation than they usually gave him.

That would have been an excellent use of two fine actors like Howard Keel and Barbara Bel Geddes.

 

[Swami]

She was another sub-standard addition to the cast. JR and Sue Ellen should have been getting the scenes, not JR and Laurel.

A lot of the arguments above make a lot of sense, but I always thought JR would have been more than content to let Clayton take the rap, after all he said many times he never wanted Clayton to marry Miss Ellie.

Swami

 

[Kenny Coyote]

I always thought JR would have been more than content to let Clayton take the rap, after all he said many times he never wanted Clayton to marry Miss Ellie.

You'd think so, wouldn't you? It's understandable, since Clayton interfered when JR was trying to get Sue Ellen to remarry him and strongly advised her not to marry him. Clayton's son screwed Sue Ellen while she was still married to JR, and Clayton was even ready to propose to Sue Ellen. I wonder why JR didn't like that family?

You'd think that JR, after getting what he wanted from Laurel would renege on his promise to help Clayton. That actually would have been closer to rape, although legally that doesn't matter. It either fits the legal definition of rape or it doesn't. Close doesn't count in criminal law.

Do you think maybe they were afraid that if JR did that, the audience would have turned against JR?

 

[Swami]

You'd think so, wouldn't you? It's understandable, since Clayton interfered when JR was trying to get Sue Ellen to remarry him and strongly advised her not to marry him. Clayton's son screwed Sue Ellen while she was still married to JR, and Clayton was even ready to propose to Sue Ellen. I wonder why JR didn't like that family?

You'd think that JR, after getting what he wanted from Laurel would renege on his promise to help Clayton. That actually would have been closer to rape, although legally that doesn't matter. It either fits the legal definition of rape or it doesn't. Close doesn't count in criminal law.

Do you think maybe they were afraid that if JR did that, the audience would have turned against JR?

At that stage of the series' run, I'm not sure whether or not that have made a difference. But the dynamic of splitting Clayton and Miss Ellie up would possibly have given a new impetus.

Swami

 

[Kenny Coyote]

The show wasn't taking JR's actions seriously.

Right. The show wasn't even taking itself seriously, or seriously enough. If the show had been doing and taken itself seriously, that episode wouldn't have ended with JR smiling at the camera, or if it had, we'd have had a much different reaction to it at the time we first saw it.

None of us are arguing that what JR did to Laurel wasn't awful. The problem is: When a show stops taking itself seriously enough, how seriously can we take what we see in the show? Had Dallas been operating at a quality level of season 3 or season 6, I think we'd have had a tremendously different reaction to an episode where that type of story were told, if they'd done it. They wouldn't have done it. That was not representative of why people liked JR, or why people liked Dallas. We were watching because we knew how good Dallas could be and were still hoping to see some of that quality again.