Don't get soap in your eyes.....

Soap operas.


When I was young, I never truly understood them.  When I was a teen, I didn't think anything about them.  When I was a young adult, I detested them.  Now, I don't even mind them.  Why am I writing about them?  Well, to be honest, I have actually had a chance to follow not one, not two, but three different soap operas, and honestly, they aren't so bad.  They may not be for me, but they aren't as detestable as I once thought them to be.



When I was between the ages of 4 to 6, I used to stay home with a babysitter and watch soap operas along with her.  I never really paid attention to what was going on.  I didn't even give it a second thought.  But, I do remember the shows she used to watch.  It was like a marathon, from 12 PM to 3 PM. She watched "Another World", "Loving", "All My Children", "One Life to Live", and "General Hospital". I started going to school, and I forgot all about the shows.  I never understood, as a child growing up what was the big deal, really.  I did remember some things and scenes here and there.  I even remembered who Susan Lucci was and Kelly Ripa played on "All My Children".  But, it didn't really affect me.


As I grew into teendom, I remember distinctly how my sisters would obsess over needing General Hospital taped in their room.  I understood the need, especially when it came to taping shows in our house.  My older brother wanted certain wrestling shows, television shows, and the like, taped for him whenever he wasn't around.  That went on from when he was as young as 13.   I even wanted some animes taped if I couldn't make it back in time from school, like Dragon Ball Z.  The girls wanted their soaps taped so they could catch up to them and talk shop about them all the time.  I just remember General Hospital being the major talking point.  Never really bothered me, unless I was asked to tape it for them.  Me being uninterested in them made for some trouble times when they wanted it taped and I missed a taping.


Then, I reached young adulthood.  And, I just remember me not liking any soap operas of any kind.  I thought they were shallow, wasteful, pedantic, poorly acted, and the lowest form of television I could think of.  Oh, I should mention that my opinion was very formative at the time, believing practically any stereotype about anything since I didn't really have an opinion of my own (that and I was very codependent).  So, whenever the soap opera idea came up, I shot it down as best I could since it wasn't supposed to be cool....at all.


This brings us to now.  I have sat down and watched three soap operas from where I jumped on until just recently, and honestly, they aren't so bad.  They just aren't for me.  These days, soap operas are on a downward turn as various broadcast networks are looking to put the kibosh on all soap operas or most of them.  With ABC being the channel that promoted some of the most daytime dramas, they burned out all but one soap opera in General Hospital...which was actually its youngest one.  CBS still churns out the hits, Emmy-wise with "The Bold and the Beautiful" and "The Young and the Restless".  I saw those three shows and I got into them.  I resisted them at first, but I complied with my wife and sat down to watch along with her.  I got into the shows, like I do my other favorite shows.  I mean, I really got into these shows.  My wife and I talked a lot about these shows.  I even went as far as to look up some spoilers and started to fantasize about different scenarios.  I wasn't very present those days.  I ceased watching them as of this past December for personal reasons I went into previously.  I also stopped because they can be very "triggering".  But, that's another story....


To be honest, soap operas have their place in the world.  In fact, when at their peak, they were the best and probably most consistent form of television, alongside that of sitcoms and maybe even cartoons.  I never really got into them before.  However, for the content they bring to the table, I can see why they were or are very popular.  There's a lot of drama to go around.  It seems like the innocent suffer and the wicked thrive on these shows, by a lot.  It also shows what happens when the good guy or girl is pushed to the limit and breaks, ultimately becoming bad or doing evil and being remorseful for it.  Some of the stories can get pretty far-fetched.  Also, they do draw out stories heavily, with some secrets or actions coming back to haunt certain characters later on in the series.  This definitely coerces viewers to keep watching, from beginning to end.  I equate it to that of a comic book, really.  Like you have to keep reading or go back a few issues to see what they are talking about.  So, there was definitely some interest there along those lines.


So, there's my take on soap operas.  Around this time, I thought there was nothing really good on television.  In fact, I thought finding a television show worth watching was practically impossible.  Then, I got into these shows, along with other shows, and it became a watching staple with me and my wife.  It was not only relatively painless, it was rather enjoyable.  It was also something cool to binge watch with her, too.  However, my soap days are over.  They'll be replaced with shows about comic books.