Media Studies Homework – Positive and Negative aspects of soaps (Page 149)
POSITIVE:
Soaps reflect the society in which we live and encourage us to reflect on our own lives and attitudes.
An example of this would be the affair involving Kat in Eastenders. During this story it is revealed that she has had an affair with an unknown person and we see the effects it has on Alfie. Because of this we see the harm it can cause people an can make people re-think what they are doing.
Soaps are hugely popular because they are relevant to the lives of the audience.
An example of this can be seen in Eastenders’ story-line where Lola becomes a teenage mother and is constantly visited by people representing social services. This relates too many of the viewers as they themselves may have had some trouble with social services.
Soap scriptwriting is very skilled, gripping audiences and leading to conversations about soap events in our daily lives.
An example of very skilled soap writing which generates conversations can be seen in Coronation Street. It is the story of the old police woman beating her husband on several occasions and has recently lead to them believing their new born baby had been injured.
Soaps reflect social issues in a topical, challenging and responsible way, maintaining a balance between drama and realism.
An example of this can again be seen in Eastenders during the Ian Beale story. Through several months he went missing later to be found living on the streets. This backs up the point as although he is on the streets there is some drama to it as he went from a successful business man to nothing within a matter of weeks.
Soaps deal with issues such as euthanasia and homosexuality in a responsible and positive way, leading us to be more enlightened in our views.
An example can be seen during an Eastenders story involving Christian and Syed. During this story Syed is disowned by his family as it goes against his religion but after explain their reasons as to why they were together his family accepted them back.
Soap acting is at times very good, and some of the best television drama can be found in this genre.
Ian Beale. During his recent story (living as a tram on the streets) he is made to look terrified about being back at home around friends and family.
NEGATIVE:
Because soaps are “easy viewing” they do not demand any intellectual activity on the part of the viewer.
In most soap’s the story lines are kept simple so that the audience don’t become confused and lose interest.
Soaps trivialise social issues
An example of this point is during the story involving Kat and Ronnie’s baby a while back. During this story, Kats baby is kidnapped after Ronnie’s died of cot death. Because of this story Eastenders received many complaints as the viewer’s found it hard to watch which lead to the producers cutting the story down to deal with the complaints.
Soaps are ridiculously far-fetched, with an incredible number of incidents constantly happening to a small number of people within a small community.
An example of this point can be seen during a storyline on Coronation Street. During this story line Tommy is put into all kinds of situations including and car crash, being conned by his own dad, being in debt, losing his friends and his girlfriend becoming a surrogate to earn the money he owes people.
Because soaps are on several times a week and there are many of them, they encourage TV addiction. People should be doing more worthwhile things with their spare time.
An example of soaps being on several times a week can be seen on nearly all of them as they seem to be a daily thing. The best example of soaps encouraging TV addiction is Eastenders as they are trying to hook people during their long running story about Kat’s affair with an unknown man.
The tabloid press focus so heavily on events in soaps that people lose sight of the distinction between reality and television, characters and actors/ actresses.
An example of this is the Olympic storyline with Billy Mitchell running with the torch in Eastenders. As this was filmed live as the torched actually passed through London, the viewers may have been interested in whether he was actually running with the torch or if it was all staged but still shot live.
