2. HISTORY
• Originated 1920’s USA
• Broadcast radio
• Advertise soap powder to American housewives
• Soap is a feminine genre – this genre is primarily aimed at women
• This affects scheduling because traditional female roles are based in the home soaps are aired after mealtimes when there is a lull in
the day
• Target audience also affects storylines, settings, narrative perspective, characterisation, costumes.
• Soap operas run continuously, in the same time slots, on the same days, broadcast by the same institutions, for years. As th ey are
repeated so often, they become part of the cultural psyche. They become part of who “we” are
• The characters become “people”
• Storylines are relatable – audiences can watch and understand what is happening, and empathise with characters or hate them
• Some storylines can be outrageous- e.g. Baby swapping in east enders
• Most soaps have 10-15 main characters, with overlapping, interweaving storylines to keep audiences interested
• Different strands can run alongside each other but develop at different times
• Catharsis: emotional cleansing. The purging of negative emotions by someone going through something similar or worse
• Soap becomes therapy when it is cathartic – people deal with their problems vicariously
• Soap operas become a form of escapism for certain audience
3. AMERICAN SOAPS
• 90210
• Days of our lives
• General Hospital
• Gossip Girl
• Make it or Break it
• The young and restless
• Wealthy families “beautiful”
• Characters have defining traits
• Glamorous
• Big storylines
• Syndicated – spread across the country
• Different kind of catharsis
4. DALLAS
• Aired April 1978 – May 1991
• Set in Dallas. Texas USA
• Main charachters – John Ross Ewing – eldest son of jock and miss ellie
• Bobby Ewing – Youngest son of Jock and Miss Ellie
• Sue Ewing – JR’s long suffering alcoholic wife
• Pamela Ewing – Bobby’s wife who acts as a peacekeeper between the two families
• Opening credits
• Uplifiting theme tune – winning
• Establishing shot of city surrounded by fields and wasteland – shows what is funding the large skyscrapers
• Split screen shoes juxtaposition of the wealth and busyness with poor and emptiness
• Uses iconography to indicate where it is set – Dallas
• Development of opening credits with each season shows more oil/oil rigs and explosions to imply much more greed and
power
• Cut away shots that fit in with the beat
• Family own mansion and helicopter which shows wealth
• Younger more attractive cast to widen the audience to a younger target market/ refresh the genre
5. SKINS – LINKED TO SEX AND DRUGS (RIZLA)
JUST IN THE NAME
• Looks like a house party in the poster
• Bright colours
• Cultural fears of what teenagers are up to
• Second series – world falling around them
• Different representation of charachters
• Refers to previous series
• Has a lot of conflict – cracks appearing in the walls
