by Akua Hinds

Created on: May 15, 2010

As a long-time soap opera viewing fan, I have long been “out” of the “soap-fan closet.”  I make no apologies because soap operas are the closest form of story telling to mirroring real life stories.  Sitcoms can be funny (depending on which ones you watch) but they also have a very shallow element that soaps rarely posses.  Drama happens in real life and real life conflicts rarely resolve in 20 minutes like they seem to on sitcoms.  Sometimes, real life conflicts get resolved months or years later, like they do in soap storylines.  Life is not always about getting the joke and laughing hysterically with your Friends.  Life isn’t always about tears and sadness, and soap operas combine EVERY human emotion in their many fascinating plots.  There are no stupid laugh machines to distract the viewer.  Each precious viewing moment on a soap opera can be spent focusing on the story at hand, admiring the actors involved, and relating the situation to your own life or what you hope your life will become.  Being able to watch your favorite show 5 out of 7 days in a week in the privacy of your own home is a treat.  It’s better than going to the movies!  As the characters are living out their fictitious lives on television, the soap fan is falling in love with the characters and wishing they could be a part of their lives, borrow their clothes or offer them much needed advice. 

Viewers get drawn in to soap operas because the characters prominently featured are usually “legacy” characters that have multiple storylines written for them and a large fan base.  The actors who portray legacy characters are paid really good money to stay on with the soap to maintain the fans, and as a result, good stories are written for them.  Actors who play legacy characters are usually beautiful and they deliver their characters’ lines with precision and passion.  Passion is the real reason why soap opera fans watch the show;  we want more of it and we never get tired of it.  We don’t necessarily have to have a good reason to enjoy a character or hate a character; we either love them and can’t get enough of them on our screens or we despise them and eagerly look forward to when the actor playing characters we don’t like take a vacation.  Soap fans also take comfort in knowing that the story will continue tomorrow and we’ll see

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