Oscar MacGuire - Jake Speer

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

Would Jake Speer still be eligible for the Logie for Most Popular New Talent next year, seeing as Oscar arrived in early September 2013? It would be a shame if he couldn't be nominated for it because Oscar has grown into a really good character this year and this should be recognised.

[shyongirl]

This hit and run was such a good story for him It is long running and has a huge affect on him. That picture was genius. The way he feels about himself is brilliant. I just hope now he calms down and slowly comes to terms with his mental state.

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

Let's hope that it is a long-running storyline, and not something that seems to not exist a short time later. I recall that in 2006, Mattie Hunter was at some retreat for bulimia after receiving burns in the barn explosion, yet she was playing strip poker in a bikini with Belle, Ric and Lucas a mere few months later. With no regard to possible lingering body image issues. Oscar's storyline is one that deserves continuation. I don't know how, but it does.

[shyongirl]

I remember Casey had panic attack at his court case and I was thinking he would again after his whole no legs, Barrett is my dad thing, or Tam fell for my brother but they left it out to be a one time thing. I suspect next year this will all be forgotten and whenever something else happens they won't even mention Oscar is still taking medication for his troubles and may deal with it in another way.

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

This is different though because for the past month, Oscar has been having recurring panic attacks, and this is the storyline that has made him grow as a character. It wouldn't have fit as a long-term thing for Casey, but it does really well for Oscar. I hope they mention it in the future.

[shyongirl]

They never mention anything as a recurring story. Casey had dyslexia for about a month and now he manages the books at the gym. He was also mentioned to have a temper but with Andy taking him fora ride over and over he suddenly becomes all nice.

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

That's true, but I think people are saying that Josh's difficulties with studying are possibly linked to Casey's dyslexia. And Heath and Casey are the managers of the gym. I highly doubt that Heath would take the responsibility to manage the books. It would be good if we saw Oscar's counsellor or if Leah had regular meetings with him (as she's the school counsellor) to check on him. On Neighbours, we still have recurring references to Imogen Willis' bulimia storyline with mentions of seeing her counsellor or completing her food diary. And this is over 6 months later. If they can still do that more than 6 months later than the main storyline, so can Home and Away. And I loved Jake Speer's acting in this storyline. I'm also shocked by Evie and their friends being so uninvolved with this storyline. You had Evie and Spencer involved for that one episode where Oscar was taken to hospital after the courtcase, but otherwise, it's only been Zac, Hannah, Andy, Nate, Sophie and Leah involved. And John a bit as well.

[shyongirl]

But no mention of Spencer's bipolar.

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

Actually, when Spencer came to visit Oscar in hospital and they spoke, that was a form of mentioning Spencer's bipolar. But I don't think it was explicitly mentioning bipolar.

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

I think we're seeing a pattern here. Home and Away seem to always touch the subject of mental health issues (i.e. bulimia, anxiety, etc) and things like dyslexia, but then they seem to not exist a few months later. And these types of storylines are really few and far between anyway. On the other hand, alcohol storylines are featured most years. My first memory of an alcohol storyline was Kit Hunter's. Imagine the number of alcohol storylines since then. Jesse. Dan Baker(?) Lucas (kinda). Casey. Zac. I have 3 memories of eating disorder storylines (Jade in 2001 - I only know of this through YouTube clips, Matilda in 2006, and Melody in 2008). I have 2 memories of characters with dyslexia (Seb and Casey). But this storyline is the first I've seen in just over ten years of watching Home and Away full-time in which a character has had an anxiety disorder (although it seems that both Dex and Casey have had panic attacks before). When I was younger, Home and Away was my first time of learning about some things (when Kit was heavily dependent on alcohol, I was at an age young enough to not know about the dangers of alcohol), but it's not been that good for learning about other things. Maybe Lucy and Louise should stop with the Braxton/Barrett focus, drugs/alcohol focus, and bring some more focus on mental health. Teach to a new generation perhaps?

End of rant.