However there has been a recent debate as to whether soaps can be conveyed as a social document and rather they patronise and play down to its viewers.
The argument for this theory consists of many points, the first point is that because soaps are so quickly made, they are often consist of very basic writing and the social problems conveyed in the episodes are very generic and stereotypical of the age groups they reflect. An example being part of an extract of one of the episodes we watched, in which the teenagers are skipping school and focus more on technology than their jobs, the adults are having affairs and sneaking around behind people's backs and that elderly people aren't particularly well respected.
Some would argue that this reflects our society, and that the plots represent troubles facing the age groups. However, it often comes across as stereotypical and is considered to be "easy viewing" for the audience, requiring little to no independent thought from the viewers.
The second point in the debate is that the soaps trivialise social issues. Again, this has been seen in the extract we watched, where the teenager skipping school turns her act when given a hearty talk from her mother, whereas in reality, a similar problem would not be fixed so easily. Again, this reflects the argument that soaps often down play to their audience, convincing them that things are much easier to fix in reality, and also encourage the audience to view life in a black and white way, another argument against soaps.
The final point relevant to the representation of every day life is that soaps are quickly written and usually have poor acting, this means that when there is a tender or emotional situation in the show, the actors may not be able to portray the emotions their characters are meant to feel, and the script writing could give audiences false information in how a similar situation would happen in reality.
However, on the other side of the argument, the fans say that because soaps reflect society, the characters and writing can encourage the viewers to act and speak from our minds, and can also make the viewers reflect on their own lives. Continuing from this argument, the fans also say that because the soaps are meant to reflect society in the time period it has been made, watching one from 1960 for example can also double as an historic document and that it reflects how social taboos and behaviours have changed or expanded throughout the time.
Another argument is that soaps reflect social issues faced by real people on a daily basis and that by watching the episodes, an audience member can better understand ways of tackling different discourses, due to the way that issues are solved in a topical and respectful way on the show.
My opinion personally is that soaps aren't social documents as of such, as they are often very downplayed and the characters couldn't possibly reflect the people you know due to various idioms and characteristics, and therefore the contrast between reality and drama, whilst blurred, is still heavily weighed to drama and that people should live independently and not based off an episode of a soap they saw on TV.
No comments:
Post a Comment