Rita/Bet

In August 1995, Rec.arts.tv.uk.coronation-st discussed Mike/Ken slash. The discussion was some what heated as slash did not seem to be a concept all participants were familiar with. One post in this discussion was made by Maria Enriquez Harris on August 8, 1995. It said:

Further to Sarah Hearne's depraved idea that Mike and Ken might get hot

for each other one day, following a row, my mind turned to the general

idea of *slash* in Coro.

*Slash*, for those who don't know (and I'm assuming it will be most of you

on this group unless you are also heavily into "Blake's 7" or "*Star *

* Trek*") is the name given among fans of "*Star Trek*" and some other cult TV

shows, to same-sex relationships between the characters, often postulated

in fan-written fiction, on the basis of subtle on-screen

homoeroticism.The pairings are usually denoted as One/Other, hence '*slash*'.

Some examples of classic '*slash*'

relationships are Kirk/Spock,

Blake/Avon, Bodie/Doyle. The whole phenomenon has been quite extensively

written about by academics, too (try searching the on-line journal

"Post-Modern Culture" for references to *slash*).

Now, turning back to Coro. Is there a homoerotic tension between Ken and

Mike? Myself, I think not; what most *slash* relationships seem to have in

common is that even though they may be deeply opposed in their personal

philosophies, the two characters are, at least, very close friends.

There can be very little doubt that Ken and Mike's

antagonism is

genuinely deep-rooted. In my mind, actually, there's very little scope

for *slash* in Coro (but then, I'm usually the last person I know to see it

in anyone, including K/S, B/A, B/D.). Perhaps one could make a case for

Rita/Bet? Alma/Gail? Des/Curly? Des?Andy? Mike/Steve? (Mike and Steve

would have been lovers in Ancient Greece, natch, since an older man would

teach his chosen, younger protege many things other than business etc!).

Any other twisted ideas???