User blog:Trackflacker2018/Pure Evil Proposal: Laurie Shelby

Having been watching the soap opera Hollyoaks, I'm very sure that this character is one of, if not, the most depraved and disgusting individuals to ever disgrace the show. A very interesting character, but so far has not shown a single redeeming factor, and should be classed as pure evil.

What's the work?
Hollyoaks is a British soap opera which airs on weekdays on Channel 4. It has been broadcast since 1995 and recently was voted Britain's best soap. It is set in a fictional suburb in Chester in the north of England, revolving around the lives of the residents.

Who is he? What did they do?
Laurie Shelby was introduced in November 2018. From the onset, he displays inappropriate attitudes towards both his female coworker Sienna Blake, and his wife Sinead. Laurie is also revealed to have sexually assaulted a previous colleague, as well as having raped a woman in a shoe shop.

Laurie rapes his wife twice. The first time happened when he discovered that she had kissed a another man. Although Sinead was utterly traumatised, Laurie convinced her that it was a moment of madness and would never happen again, and even began to lie about going to anger management classes. However, after Sinead accidentally implies to Sienna that Laurie has been abusing her, Laurie rapes her for the second time in an act of revenge.

Laurie also attempts to rape Sinead's mother Diane, after she confronted him and asked if assaulting and raping women is the only way Laurie can feel like "a real man". Laurie chased after Diane, and is only stopped when Sienna and Sinead tackle him, and Laurie stumbles and falls off the balcony.

Laurie survived however and was taken to prison, where he continues to plan his revenge.

Freudian Excuse/Mitigating Factors
Laurie has so far not been shown to have any kind of redeeming factors. The only kind of explanation he has given for his despicable acts is "women have thrown themselves at me". He has never had any kind of sympathetic portrayal. Although he has had some tender moments with his stepdaughter Hannah, Laurie was more than happy to use the child as a bargaining chip to emotionally blackmail Sinead and has not been shown to care for her in her own right.

Heinous Standard
Although Hollyoaks has depicted several rapists, Laurie is one of the few who has been portrayed as entirely evil. Whereas characters such as Nick Savage - while still treated as villains - were at least given some explanation as to why they acted as they did, Laurie seems to do what he does out of nothing but sadistic pleasure, and has been shown to take pleasure in the pain he causes. He is often seen taunting his victims about the fact that they have not been believed and that he has been able to get away with his crimes.