What is a soap opera serial#

The influence of the American formula is especially vividly felt on the depiction of women in вЂњCoronation StreetвЂќ: вЂњthere are a number of older single women who are active and independentвЂќ (Tamar Liebes & Sonia Livingstone, 1998). The British soap opera lost its primary character initially presenting people with good intentions and giving their life as an example for the others and this can be traced in вЂњCoronation StreetвЂќ: вЂњIn the modern world of capitalism and materialism, it tells us that the good old values of hard work and loyalty to friends are lostвЂќ (Tamar Liebes & Sonia Livingstone, 1998). The influence of American formula is felt in вЂњCoronation StreetвЂќ since it, like American soap operas concentrates on the complexity of relations between young people who are constantly getting married or divorced, planning weddings and suffer because of the plans ruined by a third party who once has been in love with the fiancГ©e and things like this. It is necessary to mention that typically, when presenting the stories of women, British operas concentrate on the motherhood вЂњwith various mother figures at hand dailyвЂќ (Tamar Liebes & Sonia Livingstone, 1998) whereas American soap operas present women as independent identities ready to fight for their rights, which is a typical American representation of a woman. What else has been traced is that the European audience finds American soap operas more alluring thus dooming the soap operas produced by their own country to failure and making American soap operas predominant.Дiscussing the changes in British soap operas would be more convenient by means of a separate example, namely вЂњCoronation StreetвЂќ.

The influence of the AmericaвЂ™s formula does not end with simple redirection of the European soap operas. Not only British but French, German and other European television has been affected by America, at this soap operas have particularly changed in the meaning they used to convey initially, thus, in their original subject of concentration taking after вЂњthe American formula, focusing less on community issues and more on illicit sex and romanceвЂќ (Tamar Liebes & Sonia Livingstone, 1998). It is not a secret that America influences not only other countriesвЂ™ economy by saturating the markets with the goods of its own production but media of each country as well profoundly affecting music industry and television in the first ranks.

What has to be found out first of all is the reason of changing the initial orientation of the British soap operas. However, the contemporary British soap operas seem to have stopped paying attention to the issues of family and community that is why there emerges a necessity to find out why the subject of concentration was changed and what they centre at in the modern world.

The first soap operas used to concentrate more on family and community issues since this was basically what they were meant for вЂ“ the entertainment of families by means of presenting the ordinary situations from a slightly different perspective: вЂќWe try to keep everything as simple as possible and direct it at the ordinary things that occur in every household and within every neighbourhoodвЂќ (quoted by Robert Clyde Allen, 1995). The вЂtrivialisation of public affairs, the usurpation of public discourse by soap opera, the apparent breakdown of mechanisms for forming a public will and making it effectiveвЂ™ (Graeme Turner, 2004) is the least what the soap operas are very often charged with. It is difficult to say whether the soap operas are useful or whether they, on the contrary, distort peopleвЂ™s perception of reality as once a person starts watching it on a regular basis it is not easy to stop following the continuously unfolding events as the time passes and some people, especially those who are older, live in the world of soap operas and find all answers to their questions in them. According to Jonathan Bignell (1997), soap opera is a fictional genre based on a continuing narrative of a group of individual characters. Soap operas are enjoyed by a number of people of different ages and occupations each of them finding something interesting particularly for him or her. It is impossible to deny that the soap opera has probably been the most popular genre on British television (Dominic Strinati 2000).

What happens is a mere switching to the problem of a fictional person resulting in forgetting oneвЂ™s own misfortunes.

What is a soap opera serial#

A radio or television serial broadcast weekly, daily etc, especially one that continues from year to year, that concerns the daily life, troubles etc of the characters in it.Soap operas are what people resort to when having free time as their unobtrusive, unreal and sometimes amusing topics help forget about personal problems for at least an hour.