The Todd Manning and Marty Saybrooke rape storylines are storylines from the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live consisting of rape, revenge, redemption and love. Created by writers Michael Malone and Ron Carlivati, the stories depict characters Todd (originally Roger Howarth, later Trevor St. John) and Marty (Susan Haskell) struggling to overcome his actions of rape and destruction. On August 17, 2011, the series revealed St. John's character as Todd's identical twin brother, Victor Lord, Jr., conditioned to believe he was Todd and to thereby assume Todd's identity, which negated Todd's "second rape" of Marty.
The original rape occurs in 1993, when Todd rapes Marty as part of a revenge scheme. In 2008, he is considered to have raped her again after the two engage in sex while she is amnesiac. The storylines resulted in significant controversy, and were subsequently heavily debated among viewers, cited in mainstream press, and studied within various academic works. The 1993 gang rape was created by Malone and is considered one of soap opera's classic, "most remembered and impactful" storylines,[1][2][3][4] and Carlivati's 2008 "re-rape" story is credited with having been "worth the tense moments" despite being "the riskiest [soap opera] storyline in recent memory".[5]
- ^ "Marty Saybrooke 101". SOAPnet.com. 2008-06-10. Archived from the original on 2010-04-27. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
- ^ "Marty Saybrooke 101: Marty's Attack". SOAPnet. Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
- ^ Branco, Nelson (September 29, 2008). "FF: Soap Malfunction Currently in Progress OLTL: Raping Marty softly with his kiss". TV Guide. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
- ^ Martin, Ed (2008-11-13). ""One Life to Live" Ignites New Rape controversy". mediabizbloggers.com. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
- ^ Branco, Nelson (2009-01-07). "Sexy Beast". TV Guide.