Soap Opera Notes

• Originated 1920’s America
• Broadcast radio
• Advertise soap powder to American housewives
• Soap is a feminine genre. The genre is primarily aimed at women
• This affects scheduling because traditional female roles and based in the home soaps are aired after mealtimes when there is a lull in the day.
• Target audiences also affects the storylines, narrative perspectives, characterisation, settings, costume.
• Soap operas run continuously, in the same times slots, on the same days, broadcast by the same institutions, for years. Because they 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 stroylines can be outrageous, e.g. baby swapping in Eastenders
• Most soaps have between 10-15 main characters, with overlapping, interweaving storylines
• Storylines overlap 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 watching another person go through something similar/worse.
• Soap becomes therapy when it is cathartic- people deal with their problems vicariously.
• Soap operas become a form of escapism for certain audiences.