A Deep Dive Into Soap Operas
While I don’t really believe in “guilty pleasures,” most people have a television show or movie that they would perhaps refer to as one, whether it’s The Bachelor, Adam Sandler comedies, or anything else. Well, in that case, my “guilty pleasure” is the daytime soap opera. While other four year olds were watching cartoons (aka doing normal things a four year old should), I was being introduced to sex and other mature content by watching General Hospital with my mom. Ever since then I, along with millions of mostly forty-something year old moms, found myself constantly tuning in for an hour of secret love affairs, baby switches, and whatever other over the top drama these shows come up with. While what people watch and how people consume television has drastically changed over the years, soap operas have somehow managed to stand the test of time, with some the most well-known running for more than thirty, forty, or even fifty years. So, what makes them so popular?
Initially soap operas began as radio broadcasts that started airing from as early as the 1930s and were sponsored by soap manufacturers, hence the term. Starting around the fifties and mainly in the sixties, many of these programs transitioned from radio and hit television screens primarily across the United States and the U.K. Although many countries have their own soap operas, it is predominantly American and British audiences that consume these shows, with the former usually airing their programs in daytime and tending to focus on the glamorous, complicated lives of the elite (an example is The Young and the Restless), while the latter usually airs primetime and typically depicts the lives of working class, everyday townspeople (an example would be Coronation Street). Given the longevity of many of these shows, it is apparent that they have an extremely loyal fanbase — a main reason as to why the soap opera genre hasn’t died out over the years, particularly in the time of popular streaming services such as Netflix.
There are key stylistic elements that set a soap opera apart from other television dramas. Firstly, soap operas run on a continuous and open-ended style of narrative. Storylines tend to take place over a long period of time and are almost never wrapped up in one episode, let alone a week of episodes. As a result, the soap opera thrives on ongoing intrigue, usually employing cliffhangers for the end of the week’s episode to keep viewers hooked. Furthermore, soap operas usually have multiple storylines running at the same time and jump between those different plotlines over a week’s worth of episodes. Normally these shows focus on a few characters one day and others the next, so while the viewer may not be as interested in one particular storyline, they continue to be drawn in by another. However, many soap opera storylines do end up coming together and ultimately affecting one another.
Soap operas are known for their focus on domestic situations dressed in heavy melodrama, namely familial and romantic relationships. It’s no surprise that audiences enjoy watching dysfunctional families fight and anticipating who will hook up with who, as these are elements seen in numerous shows ranging from dramas to reality TV. However, the pacing and slow burn nature of a soap opera allows for the development of characters or the building of a relationship to span over years — which is also a recipe for the creation of loyal and die-hard fans of such relationships. A notable example of this can be seen with General Hospital’s Luke and Laura whose eventual wedding in 1981 was watched by over 30 million people and is still considered one of the most iconic moments in television history. While soaps mainly focus on family and romance, don’t be surprised to see a high stakes hostage crisis, an outbreak of a mysterious illness, or exploding houses from time to time. Oh, and if I’ve learned one thing from soap operas, it’s don’t expect the dead to stay dead. But amongst all these wildly dramatic situations, it is also worth noting that many soaps have also tackled serious social issues such as abortion and the AIDS epidemic. No matter what the story may be, universal themes such as love and hate, good and evil, and family and friendship all make up the formula for a typical soap opera.
As a child, watching soap operas with my mom made me feel like a grown up, like I was let into a world made only for adults. As I got older, it not only was an afternoon tradition I shared with my family, it also became something I would do to turn off my brain for an hour, while also scrolling through soap twitter (the presence of which is indicative of the genre’s continuing popularity in this day and age) to get a kick out of what others had to say about the day’s episode. Although the storylines are often exaggerated — sometimes even laughable, many take interest and find comfort in watching these characters argue, fall in love, and get into the stickiest of situations which makes for entertaining and ultimately addicting television. While the soap opera has evolved over decades, at the end of the day the purpose of these shows is for the viewer to find entertainment in the lives of others which can add excitement and provide a brief escape from one’s own (perhaps mundane in comparison) everyday life.