From: numandu Artist: Rachelle Ferrell
"Sista" live au théâtre antique de Vienne le 12 juillet 2001.
The Cramer Women
The Cramers are one of the hallmark families of OLTL and they are immediately identifiable through their strong matriarch, Dorian Cramer Lord, played by the incomparable Robin Strasser. Dorian's family of Cramer women is fragmented and the sense of unity is fractured. Dorian's niece, Kelly, is in London with her son, Zane, and her ex-husband, Kevin. Dorian's sister, Addie, is at St. Anne's, a mental health residence, somewhere close to Llanview and her sister, Melinda , is in and out of mental facilities, as well; she resides in California. Dorian's daughter, Cassie, is still in Savannah, I think. Dorian's niece, Blair Manning, and Dorian's daughter, Adriana, are in Llanview; in fact, Blair and her children, Starr and Jack are living at LaBoulaie with Dorian. But, that is likely to change soon as it appears Blair is on her way to a reunion with her ex-husband Todd.
Recently, I enjoyed a scene between Starr and Dorian in which Starr was bemoaning boyfriend troubles. Dorian reminded her that men may come and go but the women in her life, especially the Cramer women, will always be there for her. On an earlier episode, Dorian managed to save the day by finding the perfect prom dress for her niece, who had been asked at the last minute to the prom. There are most certainly Cramer scenes here and there but it's still not feeling like family.
For one thing, Adriana and her mother have remained distant. It was maybe a week ago that Adriana discovered she had allowed herself to become close to a racist, who later attempted to kill her. Dorian wasn't seen with her daughter during much of this at all. And in the aftermath of Adriana's near-murder, there remained a coolness and rift between Dorian and Adriana as Adriana reminded her mother of how she came between Adriana and her boyfriend Rex because Dorian had someone stalk her. While that is certainly reason to put up barriers, why is there no attention to repair of the relationship? In my mind, a near-death should have offered the opportunity for mother and daughter to bond or to at the very least reassess their estrangement. Hey, how 'bout this one? Adriana could even be seen talking to her sister Cassie on the telephone about her difficulties in trying to amend things with her mother.
All this said, I miss the scenes like those that I have on the "Diva for Life" page that are from episodes that aired in 1998. By then, Pam Long may have taken over as head writer on OLTL. I have witnessed many writers come and go. What I have not witnessed in long while is the sense of family that made the Cramers a sisterhood. I have not witnessed the respect and love that was once shown toward Dorian as the head of this family. You see despite their troubles and even anger toward each other, the love was apparent. Remember the brush of hair from the face and the caress of cheek that Cramers seemed to use in their scenes to convey warmth? Maybe when I see the love again, I will get a sense of family and regain an appreciation of this unique sisterhood.
I have seen glimpses of it recently, as in the above mentioned scenes with Dorian and Starr and even between Starr and her mother. But, I have not seen any of the family members interested in Dorian and what is happening in her life. She has one. The Cramers can be a selfish bunch but they used to show an interest in each other. Does Blair know what happened to Adriana with the racist? Does Adriana not care how her concealing that Todd's baby is alive will affect her cousin? Addressing these type issues warrant immediate attention if one is to see this group of people as a family.
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