Are there just some stories that are just too sensitive for Soap Operas to cover?
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4. TV personality โAnne Diamond,โ who lost her own baby in 1991, said the storyline was a โcrass twist to an otherwise credible storyline. It has not done one iota of good in educating a young audience about cot death.โ โthe story in Eastenders is sick to let them say good bye to there son , then months later find it was living in the street all the time bad taste , well I to say goodbye to the showโ โI think people should boycott Eastenders it's a sick storyline. The fact that we have to wait till spring for it to be fixed. No one should vote for them at the national TV awards this month โ
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8. โSoap operas on British televisionhave consistently been criticized for not Representing ethnic characters.โ (page 126 โDorothy Hobson) โOne criticism of British Soap Operas has been the representation of community as, on the whole, exclusively white, heterosexual and working classโ (page 268 โ Chris Barker)
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11. EBSCO. (2009). Soap Opera. Available: http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=103&sid=9bafb7a3-3ab6-44f2-a2b8-2fc6a34c1e2a%40sessionmgr112&vid=4. Last accessed 26th February, 2011 Chris Barker (2007). Cultural Studies: Theories and practise. 3rd ed. London: Sage Publications. p268. Dorothy Hobson (2003). Soap Opera. London: Blackwell. p1 - end.
Editor's Notes
The Soap Opera is a form of dramatic fiction which has been entertaining audiences for generations. Presented through the medium of radio, or more recently television, the โSoapโ has become a source of escapism, gratification and intrigue. Produced in a serial format, the audience is set to revisit a core group of reoccurring characters and domestic locations, at least three times a week. The slowly unfolding story arcs and enthralling cliff-hangers have kept viewers and listeners snared for decades. Although often unintentional, Soaps have become a source of education and disposition.
So what happens when a storyline meets controversy? Are there just some stories that are just too sensitive for Soap Operas to cover?
Soaps are intended to offer a reflection of reality which only extends as far as their style of documentary realism. Despite Soaps not being representative of real life, audiences have developed an expectation of realism. Dorothy Hobson noted that โsoap operas may be based on a representation of reality but they are always from the imagination of their creators.โ However, the plots in Soaps often encounter conflict and controversy.
โEastenders controversial baby swap storyline, which has led to nearly 6,000 complaints from viewers, will end earlier than planned.โ The โbaby swapโ storyline presented by the soap opera giant Eastendersinvolved one characterโs child passing away due to cot death, and the mother stealing the child of another woman. This is the second most complained-about story in the showโs history. If considered an active audience, it is hard to understand why we continue to watch a show which upsets and disturbs us.
The most straightforward reason for why a fictional storyline may produce controversy is the resonance experienced by those who have been personally affected by the issue raised. Parents who have suffered due to sudden infant death syndrome feel an immediate and upsetting connection to the plot. In this instance, a couple may be offended by the characters actions. The mother portrays other women who have dealt with the same situation and uses the tragedy as a motive to commit a devastating crime. A television drama which was supposedly watched to offer escapism reminds the viewer of an event deeply traumatic in their lives.
Some viewers may be emotionally detached from the story but find the issues raised too shocking. The amount of complaints indicates that there is a large amount of active viewers. However, due to the genre and what it delivers, there is bound to be a large passive audience too. Although Eastenders claims that their stories are not issues-based and are not written to reflect reality, it is easy to believe that this is their intention. Some of the more passive members of the viewership may begin to believe what they see on screen reflects reality. Relating strongly to the hypodermic syringe model, instead of challenging the morals and ideologies expressed within the show, they accept them to be real.
In some extreme cases, viewers may copy cat the actions or principles displayed in the story. Despite shifts towards sitcoms and melodrama, soaps are the closest that a scripted drama comes to representing real life situations.
When Eastenders first began in 1985, the cast was predominately white. This was a poor representation of Londonโs East End which contains many different ethnic groups. Race is but one example of how historical and social ideologies and contexts can affect the storylines on television and the way in which they are received. Since the 1990s the amount of black actors and actresses has risen considerably. However, it was not until 2009 that Eastenders aired their first episode with an all black cast. Equality and repression has been a major worldly issue for centuries. It is only very recently that this stigma has begun to shift. Eastenders used to tackle mixed-race relationships, a plot which was once considered โgrittyโ. These were supposedly the issues opposing working-class Britain. Nowadays, a story about a mix-raced relationship would not contain the scandalous connotations that it would have thirty years ago. As society norms change and expectations evolve, something that may have once seemed unacceptable and too sensitive for television becomes inconsequential.
It is easy to understand why some people find particular stories too sensitive for soap operas to cover. The story may allow the viewer to relate personally and awaken emotional memories. On the other hand, some may simply find the story too shocking to be aired on television or radio. Passive viewers may begin to accept such stories and actions to be commonplace in reality, affecting their ideologies surrounding reality. A story may also challenge ideologies which already exist in real life.
What is acceptable in society has continued to change for centuries, what was once unacceptable may now be considered a social norm. With soap operas adopting a style which closely compares to real life, it is no surprise that they often become the centre of a controversy. The genre is always going to relate closely to the viewer, despite immersing itself in melodrama. Disregarding the complaints, their viewership in popular culture remains large and any publicity is good publicity.
