“The Bold and the Beautiful” Explores an Especially Timely Issue

“B&B” is written and produced weeks (or sometimes months) in advance, so it isn’t too far off the mark to assume that this story was conceived and taped some time ago, likely before Jenner’s primetime interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC, which took this very intimate development in the life of the Olympian and reality television personality from the tabloids and gossip sites and propelled it into the national conversation in a dignified, straightforward manner. Those of us who remember watching when Jenner at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games famously won the gold medal in the decathlon (setting a new world record at the time) could only experience a quiet fascination at his revelations during his interview with Sawyer. And when it was over, as is often the case when people (especially celebrities) put into the spotlight private matters that had prompted much speculation (and salacious tabloid quasi-coverage), there was only support and respect for the bravery of this person not only in accepting her true identity but in sharing her struggle with the world.

Concurrent with Jenner’s real-life situation has been that of a fictional character named Maya Avant on “B&B.” In recent weeks viewers have learned that Maya (played to pin-point perfection by Karla Mosley) was born Myron and transgendered into the beautiful woman she is today. (Her powerful conversations with her sister Nicole about the person she has always been and has finally embraced were beautifully written.) Maya is something of a super-model, having become the face of Forrester Creations, the fashion house that is the setting for much of the romance and melodrama on this long-running soap. Even more, Maya has captured the heart of Forrester’s often ruthless CEO, the dashing and manipulative Rick Forrester (Jacob Young, pictured below with Mosley), but has never revealed to him this information about her past. Rick is deeply in love with Maya, who now lives with him.

Rick’s life, like that of most characters on this show (and all soaps), has been filled with heartache, heartbreak and general perpetual misery. So it meant a lot in a recent episode when his father, Forrester Creations co-founder Eric (John McCook), declared with dismay upon learning Maya’s secret, “[Rick’s] finally happy in his life!”

As is true when a dreaded secret comes out on soaps, the person who is certain to be the most shaken by it is the last to know. Maya for years kept hidden the truth about her former identity. (“I wish we lived in a world where it didn’t matter,” she wistfully told her sister. “I may lose [Rick], but I won’t lose my self-respect as long as he hears the story of me from me.”) Now it is suddenly spreading like wildfire, and it seems that everybody but Rick knows – including Rick’s combustible and combative mother, Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang).

This is the tricky part: Once upon a time the exposure of a “secret” like this one would have been the stuff of high melodrama on a soap opera, but that doesn’t feel accurate at the moment. That’s not to suggest that members of the transgender community, or those who are coming to terms with their true gender, or those who are questioning, or those who have chosen to become the person they know themselves to be, suddenly have it easy just because Jenner has made his own situation public. But it certainly helped to put the issue in a bright new light, and so for “B&B” to treat it now the way it might have been handled in the past could make the show look bad, or as if it is on the wrong side of history, to use a currently popular expression. (The writers also had to keep in mind the great critical acclaim and increasing popularity enjoyed by Amazon’s smart scripted comedy-drama “Transparent,” the first season of which has been available since September 2014.)

Maybe there is nothing to be concerned about. After all, “B&B” has in recent years distinguished itself with its uncommonly respectful and insightful handling of contemporary issues, especially the shameful crisis of homelessness that continues to grow in this country, the horror of spousal and child abuse and the challenges people endure when diagnosed with terminal cancer. “B&B” has even taken on the overpopulation of cats and dogs in a sensitive and informative manner. Throughout, it has accomplished the seemingly impossible, plunging headlong into the heart of these weighty issues while making the stories built around them entertaining and enlightening.

But in this situation a real-life story is playing out on television (on E!’s “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and that network’s upcoming observational reality series about Jenner’s transition) even as a scripted series that exists to generate exaggerated high drama explores the same territory. “B&B” in the weeks ahead will be fascinating to watch.

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