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Sonny and Connie Falconeri (aka Kate) planned to run away together when they were teenagers in Bensonhurst; the neighbourhood where the two characters grew up in. They were supposed to meet at the street corner in Bensonhurst, but Connie never showed up to their meeting place.

Connie Falconeri then left Bensonhurst and changed her name to Kate Howard, hiding and denying her background.

Until about 25 years later when Kate reappeared in Sonny’s life. Something that at that time was written as a “coincidence”. Her phone was broke. Her car was broke. And she needed to make a phone call bringing her, “coincidentally”, to Sonny’s office.

This was in the summer of 2007.

Sonny and Kate had many struggles in their relationship in 2007. At the beginning, their interactions were lively and full of wit and humor but towards the end of the year in 2007 it became clear that there might be a reason for them staying away from each other. The hints indicated that Kate might have had a secret. A secret that she had held since she was a teenager in Bensonhurst. Or a secret that she had held after she left Bensonhurst to recreate herself. The implication being that Kate could not make a commitment because of that secret.

Yes, it was a soap. But in this case, this was more than a soap.

In my naïve thinking, I took the story at face value believing that it was just fiction. I drowned myself in its turns and twists dealing with the complications that come with love.
It was later in 2008/early 2009 that I had the realization of my life. That the story had real life implications. After I learned about Operation Cast Lead. The war that broke out between Hamas and Israel in December of 2008 to January 2009. If you study the events leading to war, the events of the war, and the story of Sonny and Kate during that time, you will realize that there is something behind the surface of this so-called story. As a human being, I give myself and others the right to ask questions about this saga.

The story arc leading to Operation Cast Lead began in June of 2008. The episodes that aired from June 18, 2008, to June 25, 2008.

Two storylines were initiated in these episodes. The first was Kate’s conflict with Carly. It was a few weeks since Michael, Carly’s son and Sonny’s stepson, was shot in the warehouse. Carly partially blamed Kate for the tragic event because Kate had taken Michael to the warehouse without Carly’s permission. In the scenes that aired in June, the two women stood their grounds against each other.

The rivalry between Kate and Carly on the one hand and between Kate and Claudia on the other hand made this story somewhat precarious instilling in me the idea that “payback” could be awaiting Kate in the future. “Payback” in the form of humiliation.

Kate was wearing a black and white outfit in those episodes tying the theme of the episodes to other scenes in the past where Kate’s attire was in those colours. One was the scenes on November 5, 2007, in the black and white ball, coinciding with the anniversary of the hostage crisis and the conflict between Iran and the United States. The other was the scenes between Kate and Claudia in March 2008 when the two characters had an argument and a showdown. Kate told Claudia off and the scenes were referenced time and time again by fans of Kate Howard creating enmity and friction among fanbases. The conflict that never healed and the roots of which were never addressed.

But what could black and white mean? What did it mean? Was it the internal conflict of a woman, was it symbolic of two people who fell in love despite their differences, or was it a symbol of humiliation?

The second storyline that was initiated during the scenes in June of 2008 was Sonny’s second proposal to Kate. After Michael got shot, Sonny gave up the mob to Jason and this paved the way for a breakthrough in Sonny and Kate’s relationship. Because one reason Kate always stated for distancing herself from Sonny was his involvement with organized crime.

Sonny proposed and Kate said yes this time part of the dialogue being:

“Sonny I believe in faith. A spring storm drove me into a stranger’s office. My phone was broke. My car was broke and I stood there and said to you that my entire future depended on you. Little did I know how true that was because here I am ready to give you my heart and once again put my entire future in your hands”

These words were spoken by Kate wearing the same black and white clothes.

The story had become my refuge as an escape from reality. The harsh reality of where I came from which was the Middle East. The turmoil caused me to leave that world and to instead follow and speculate about the story of Sonny and Kate. Often with other fans. It’s quite an irony given what was happening in the world of politics during that same time period.

Israel imposed a siege on Gaza in the summer of 2007. On June 19th, 2008, a six-month truce came into effect between Hamas and Israel. A day coinciding with the two storylines described above. This is not the only piece of this puzzle. There are many other connections that if examined will bring one to ask “why”?

The answer to this question would also reveal Kate’s true secret. The true reason why Kate and Sonny’s relationship could not move forward. What was it in Kate’s life that made this situation so difficult and precarious? What was in her past that had hunted her all of her life?

This was also the context within which it was alluded that the story of Sonny and Kate was somewhat similar to the story of “An Affair to Remember”. An allusion made in scenes that aired on December 31, 2007. What would happen or could have happened on the anniversary of this day in 2008?

This secret might have been the reason why Kate did not accept Sonny’s proposal in January in Bensonhurst. The same secret could also explain why she accepted his proposal later in June 2008.
Further, as will be discussed in the next few months, this story had a connection to the story of Robin and Stone and the HIV story. A legendary story of how one might stay on the path of love and honour despite difficult and trying circumstances.

At the most fundamental level, the scenes that aired in June of 2008 were ambiguous. The ambiguity being in the meaning behind Kate’s attire in the scenes. The ambiguity continued in the story arc intensifying in the autumn of 2008. The story became so sneaky exploring the subconscious mind of the fan who could have been the villain just as easily as she could have been the hero. In the autumn of 2008, a rumor emerged that a story on General Hospital “had turned into a full-fledged dangerous liaisons”. Again, an inherent ambiguity present. What was the implication here and why did this rumor emerge?
The fateful scenes aired on December 12, 2008, towards the end of the six-month truce between Hamas and Israel. Scenes in which Kate’s dress were, once again, in black and white. Was this the representation of the “promise” that Kate might have had made to Sonny during the scenes that aired in June 2008? What was the promise? Was Kate really aware of the promise that she was making? Did she eventually keep this promise?

On June 24, 2008, Sonny and Kate had a love scene. December 12, 2008, was the anniversary of their love scene on December 12, 2007. The truce between Hamas and Israel ended on December 19, 2008.

In the months to come that summer, there were hints to a possible story that could emerge down the road. These scenes will be explored leading to questions. Open questions that if we persist, we might get an answer to. Not only the answer to the secret of the story but the answer to the whys and hows of how the events in the world of politics evolved. And possibly, how they continue to evolve.

Operation Cast Lead might not have been the only political connection to this story.

Michael’s shooting in 2008 might have been the representation of another political event that had taken place in the past; the bombing of AMIA, a Jewish community centre in Argentina.

One interpretation could be that Michael’s shooting emerged because a man loathed and abused one woman and put the other on a pedestal. Was there a connection here to the outside world of reality?

June 24, 2024
Banafsheh