Santa Barbara 25 - Cruz and Eden

Listen up, daytime network executives and pseudo-soap opera writers...

Pairing up a sexy, intense Hispanic cop with a cool WASP-y blonde does not a soap supercouple make. And yes, I talking to Bill Reilly and all of the hack writers of Passions to tried to coattail the awesomeness of the one and only...

CRUZ AND EDEN!!!

I hesitate dwelling on the interracial aspect of this relationship, since that was not even a factor in why I loved this couple; however, A Martinez and Marcy Walker's reign as one of soaps' finest couples should serve as a template to those writers who want to venture into the territory of creating an authentic, compelling interracial couple who exists beyond their skin color. I am sick of seeing interracial couples who can't even kiss each other convincing (therefore authentic, romantic love-making is out of the question); couples who can't communicate with each other honestly; and who can't cultivate a friendship/intimacy that can combat some disapproval and flat-out racism in the outside world. Lately, the creation of interracial couples has been for the sole purpose of insinuating that the writers and producers are people of the world and are appreciative of diversity; but yet again, the hollowness and lack of knowledge, not only about other races, but what exactly are universal experiences that we all share, shines through, and inevitably, the new interracial couple, or even the new couple, consisting of two persons of color, gets ushered to the backburner or become sounding boards for their White counterparts.

Cruz and Eden never met that fate; they were front and center for the vast majority of Santa Barbara's run. Whatever the combination - the writers, the producers, the insane chemistry between Marcy Walker and A Martinez, Santa Barbara struck gold with this pairing. Although their romance could be, at times, over the top, the love and friendship felt real. Because the love and friendship felt real, the love-making felt really real, or at least, something to aspire to have. Yes, the devolution of soaps and the dry-humping frenzied musings of hip hop/rap continue to brainwash women into settling for less, but seeing Cruz and Eden, during my teens, kept many a dude from taking occupancy between my thighs.

For me, Cruz was the key to his couple's success. While Cruz was walking sex in a pair of tight jeans and a Members Only jacket, he loved Eden unwaveringly. When his exes came back, they remained exes, except when he thought that Eden had 'died' or when Cruz wanted to help an old friend reclaim the child she gave away. But Cruz's heart never really changed.



This is not to say that Eden had a fickle heart. She loved Cruz more than any man she had ever known... nevertheless, she allowed Robert Barr to get under her skin, which nearly destroyed her marriage to Cruz. Of course, Eden was also wrestling with other doubts - never about Cruz, but mostly about herself. Or rather, whether she would repeat the same patterns as her mother Sophia. Eden never 'cheated' on Cruz, but she did do the typical soap heroine thing- marry dudes she didn't love. She married bat$hit Kirk Cranston, who caused plenty of problems for them after they married, but at least his antic wound up pretty comical.



Cruz and Eden ended only because Marcy Walker wanted to try her hand at prime-time. The dumb-dumbs in charge, during the last years of SB, decided that it would be keen to pair Cruz with Kelly, who was being portrayed by Eileen Davidson. Not only was the casting of Davidson an abomination, so was the notion that either Cruz or Kelly would venture into a thorough inappropriate (and unconvincing) relationship. Personally, I would've loved it if A Martinez pulled a Louise Sorel and ditched the show before he was paired with someone who would elicit such controversy and hate from fans.

But back to the loving...