01 May 2010
The appeal of the Soap Opera
Home and Away, Eastenders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street. These are just a few of the countless trashy soap operas that fill our television each night. I am not an avid viewer of them nor am I stuck up and deem myself better than them, I just don’t like watching them. But what is that attracts young women primarily and a number of men too, to up to four hours of television a night? They tend to have a pattern of story lines that is usually set on repeat. AIDS, a gay character, murder, theft, adultery, a wedding and then back to AIDS. Every now and then they make the headlines for what is seen as a controversial plot, but when you flick the channel, you soon see that not only did another soap have that particular story line, but yet another one is taking that direction the following week. Yet people still watch them, newspapers are still sold over insight magazines on them and Facebook groups pop weekly for people to show their support for a particular character or plot.
The reason why I am not a fan of soap operas firstly is their grand title. A soap opera, usually shortened to a ‘soap’ is an episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in instalments through the medium of television or radio. The term soap, refers to the old sponsors who were usually soap manufactures. I do not have a problem with sponsorship, as I believe nothing charitable would be done if companies did not believe their logo would be visible. What annoys me about this title, is that of opera. An opera is typically a grand, spectacular presentation of an epic proportion. Think Madam Butterfly and such. Opera is described as an art and I would hate for the two to get confused. The people who watch both operas and soap operas are polar opposites. Jeremy Kyle versus Jeremy Bentham. The founder of utilitarianism and a man that shouts at chavs on a television series midweekly. I’ll let you guess who’s who. But these shows also offer an audience a chance to escape the mundane life they find themselves in. The plots are typically so outrageous they are unbelievable. Yet they attract hundreds of thousands each and every night. People want to distance themselves from their world and find compassion for a complete stranger. Why else would the Christmas episode of Eastenders have higher viewer rates than the Queen’s Christmas message and the Pope’s Christmas greeting combined. The soap opera is the religion of the masses.
Soaps seem to dominate across the viewer boards. They are not for the working class or for the elite, everyone watches them. Through soaps, they bring together a nation. They bring us closer so as much as I loathe them, I think they are necessary for human happiness. Soaps also have the ability to raise awareness of serious issues. Anorexia, suicide, drugs. All these issues and many more have been dealt with through Mark in Eastenders, Hannah in Hollyoaks and Aaron from Emmerdale . Thus creating a common ground for people to deal with their emotions. They do not want to admit the problem is theirs, but they may talk about a fictional friend and then get help. Soaps help people relax, confront our own issues and also entertain us. Of course the most obvious purpose of a soap is to entertain us. But how is this achieved? For me, it’s the ham acting of Fair City. For others is the comic value of a character, the ‘will they or won’t they’ love story and the banter that seems too rehearsed in a local coffee shop.
Another thing I don’t like about these television programs, is they cannot be original because there is too many of them. If I was a TV. Producer and wanted to create a new show, my options on where to base it would be under water or in space, and even then I think they might have been chosen already. The setting of a small quaint village has been achieved by six different soaps. A show based on a medical background, done. One where all the characters are teachers, already been achieved and cancelled by Channel 4. Focus on the life of students? Done, it’s called Hollyoaks. You cannot be original in this area of entertainment which reaffirms my frustrations of the plots of these stories, everything has been covered.
I cannot stress enough my loathing for these shows. Truthfully, I don’t really know what the appeal of them is. My own Mother won’t speak to me from 6.30 pm until 9.00 pm typically each midweek day. I also know that the majority of girls in my year watch them religiously, hence why I wrote this. They are unoriginal, ham acting, inexpensive to make. Those are all reasons for a TV. Executive to make them, but why do we watch them? I think the only reason is escapism. But I personally can think of at least six other things that will also achieve that result and drugs is only one of them. I do not understand soap operas, I do not want to understand soap operas and I do not watch soap operas, but maybe I should start. Then the world might seem a bit more normal.
P.S. I really don’t watch them, I had to go on the internet to find character names and such.