Soap Operas Essay Example for Free

Soap Operas Essay Soap operas use issues from everyday lives to attract an audience. In this study I will be researching the issues and topics from which soap operas create storylines, for example marriage, divorce, death and teen pregnancy. I will look at the way different soaps look at these issues from various perspectives because the hypothesis is that the soap Coronation street will tackle issues in a more older perspective but the soap Hollyoaks will tackle issues in a younger view. Audiences have many reasons why they watch soap operas. Escapism is a big reason; people choose to watch soaps to look lives other than their own. It helps viewers to see that their lives may not be as bad as the characters on television. In addition, sometimes people need to fantasise about the good things in life, and it gives them hope that it might happen to them. Soap operas also make audiences feel happy and enjoy the storylines, they get involved in whats happening, so they watch more and more. Every soap opera needs an audience: without an audience there would be no need for soap operas, so their job is to make sure they keep their audience interested. Soap Operas have to keep them interested by writing storylines on everyday issues, similar to those which audiences have to deal with in their own lives. These issues help people to consider what to do if they need to deal with them. Soaps look at these issues differently, in different ways, in different environments, and with different ages, in order to react to reach their target audience. Looking at Coronation Street and Hollyoaks, both have completely different settings and characters. Coronation Streets is the longest running television soap opera. The first episode was released in 1965, 40 years ago. It is set in Manchester, Weatherfield in fictional industrial town, it has a middle and lower class setting for that particular audience. It is aimed at middle and lower class people because that is the biggest population in that area, as upper class are just a minority group. The programme is broadcast at either 19. 30 or 20. 30, 5 times a week. This is when families get home from work and sit down and relax in front of the television together. But the target audience are more late teens to old pensioners. So with this type of audience issues need to cover different ages, to interest different generations; children, teenagers, parents, and grandparents, but also both genders and Coronation Street try to cover this. On the other hand Hollyoaks is set in Chester; it was first begun in 1995. It is broadcast at 18. 30 5 days a week and with an omnibus on Sunday at 9. 15. This is called the Hangover Zone, the morning after a Saturday night, most people that occur in this zone tend to be 18- 30 years old so again the issues need to cover for this range of audience. The Omnibus is significant because teenagers and older people may miss the episodes in the week as it is at 6. 30 when people are still at work. The soap is at 18. 30, this is a time when older people are still at work or travelling home so the soap needs to tackle issues very differently because it looks at young teens young adults rather than the older generation. However some people do not consider the show to be a serious drama when compared with the bigger soaps such as Eastenders and Coronation Street, partly due to its reputation for hiring numerous attractive, blonde, ratings-grabbing actresses. The settings of both soaps are very different too. Coronation Street is set in a traditional street with a corner shop, a pub, a very local neighbourly place where everyone knows everyone and their business this is where all the conflict comes in, and the audience become familiar with the characters. Whereas Hollyoaks, Chester is a bigger setting of a village not just a street. It includes a pub, a shop, a nightclub, a school and most important a university. The characters are mostly young and beautiful, so there is many two faced people, where most of the conflict happens. Looking at different characters from both soaps, you see how different some characters are and some similarities there are. Two characters a have been looking at are coronation streets Sally Webster and Hollyoaks new character Kathy Barnes. Both characters are mothers of two teenage girls, and push their girls into doing things that they want, not what their daughters want. Sally Webster is a very pushy person who always wants things to go her way. A big story line recently is between her and her14 year old daughter Rosie. After finding out her daughter was sleeping with boyfriend Craig Harris, Sally forces Rosie to take the morning after pill, she also insists that Rosie and Craig split up. Being teenagers, they disobey and continue to stay together without Sally or husband Kevin Webster knowing. This storyline is very dramatic and covers an issue which concerns a lot of parents today. As an audience you see different views of the parents and the children and it shows a way of dealing with this kind of issue, or not choosing this way of dealing with the issue in the way characters have. Both Sally and Kathy have similar roles being parents of two girls and wanting the best for them. Kathys recent storyline in Hollyoaks has shown similar way of wanting the best for her children. She has recently been pushing her daughter into training extremely hard at swimming. Daughter Sarah loves her swimming but her mum has been making her hobby into something she doesnt want to do. This storyline may show people that pushing your child hard into doing something can push them away from you. This shows that even though both soaps are very different they still have similar storylines and characters. This is because of the audience, even though the audiences are slightly different they both use these storylines towards the younger audiences and both soaps deal with everyday issues and both have shown this. Another two characters I have been looking at are soap star Leanne Battersby and Mandy Hutchinson. Both characters are a similar age but live two very different lives. Leanne is a troublesome girl. Ever since she was a teenager she was mouthy and still hasnt changed. She has been married but that ended and she has also been in the wrong crowds, fleeing coronation street but returning in 2004. She then got into a relationship with newcomer Jamie Baldwin but later started sleeping with his father Danny behind his back. After him finding out and leaving Leanne she is now in a relationship with Danny Baldwin and trying to still be devious and ruin peoples lives. Comparing Leanne to Hollyoaks character Mandy Hutchinson, we can see that she is quite the opposite. Mandy is wife to Tony and mother to Antonia. Mandy owns the nightclub The Loft and with her degree in business studies from HCC, she and Tony own a lot of businesses in Hollyoaks. In the past, Mandy has been with many different guys and with the loss of her father, brother, mother and step father, she became quite alone but with the help of her husband Tony she is now back on her feet with her own new family. Even though both characters are the same age they lead very different live. Audiences see both soaps very differently in the different actors for both soaps. Some people do not consider Hollyoaks to be a serious drama when compared with the bigger soaps such as Eastenders and Coronation Street, partly due to its reputation for hiring numerous attractive, blonde, ratings-grabbing actresses.