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The day has come. The day when I’m finally ready to say goodbye to Carla von Lahnstein as she and Stella Mann leave Königsbrunn to go on a worldwide trip together. It is certainly a moment of sheer catharsis for me, with a touch of melancholy as I watch Carla and Stella
"ride into the sunset together" happily ever after. I'm still getting used to the idea that there was no hoopla, no apparent suicide, accident, separation or death that could've easily befallen either one of those 2 enduring characters. Yet, it was one of the simplest exits I’ve ever watched which at the end of it, I truly appreciate that it wasn’t done in an extravagant way. At the end of the day, I wanted Carla to be treated equally as the others who’d left before her.
Six years. The highly rated German soap,
“Verbotene Liebe,” gave 6 years of life to Carla von Lahnstein. It has truly been a great ride for Carla
(I’m sure for Claudia Hiersche as well!). I applaud the writers for sustaining and maintaining what could undoubtedly be one of the most interesting and provocative 3-dimensional characters on TV. The Carla character was never boring. Her story arc continued to grow, stimulate, move, and provoke audiences in every journey she made, be it privately or professionally. Making the character 100% gay was just an icing on the cake that we’ll always treasure and cherish. The fact that the creators and writers of
“VL” treated Carla and her love life the same way as the others, is enough to make me raise my hat in awe and appreciation, which I will never forget. As most TV shows continue to dodge the subject of the normality of homosexuality, or play into negative stereotypes against homosexuality, I applaud
“VL” for not following the same destructive and shameful path of the others. I hope that
“VL” will continue to educate, inform, and shed light on the normality of being gay in any society so that in the near future, we no longer gasp or start to whisper when we see a gay character being depicted on TV. Just like when the time came
(finally!) where it was ok to see minorities being represented on TV and nobody would even care to raise any eyebrow about it. I certainly hope to live the day where we see this kind of normality in every region we live in.
I wish to also express my gratitude and appreciation for Claudia Hiersche’s role in making the Carla character ever so realistically relatable and sympathetic. It is from Claudia’s own commitment to depict the truth through her emotional and intellectual performance that we see so many enduring fans for this character. She literally breathed life into the character, that’s no doubt about it. Having seen quite a lot of gay characters on TV and film played by actors who are gay or straight throughout the year, I can say definitively that Claudia’s performance is by far, one of the best and most realistic that you can’t help but root for Carla in whatever journey she’s in. And to have played this role for 6 long years – that I’ve yet to encounter on TV as it’s a very long time, particularly a character who happens to be 100% gay. I mention the “100%” because there have been gay characters on TV but somehow, perhaps through fear of alienation and loss of ratings, they’d switch teams, from being gay to suddenly….not!
So, as Carla’s life on
“VL” has drawn to a close
(well, at least for now…who knows), I hope everyone joins me in celebrating this endearing, lovable TV character that we had invited into our living rooms for these past 6 years, thanks to
“VL” and Claudia Hiersche.
To
“VL,” I hope the creators and writers continue to carry the torch of progressiveness. To Claudia Hiersche, I wish her all the best and success and I simply can’t wait to see what she does next, be it hosting again or playing another role, which I’m sure would be equally exciting for her as she continues to explore her natural acting skills in various genres.
Thank you,
“VL.” Thank you, Claudia Hiersche. For everything that you’ve given us as TV audience members.
And thank you, Anne Wis – the newcomer who had grown so much in her performance in just one year. I wish her all the best in her next project(s). A comedy, perhaps? Which she’d really be good at!