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THE POWER OF THE SOAPS

The ceremony is about to begin. David looks handsome and in love. Renata is wearing a gorgeous white wedding dress. A look of anxiety passes over her beautiful face, and her dark eyes fill with tears. Because, as all fans of this particular soap now, Renata is pregnant and David is not the baby's father. Renata was seduced by Vincenzo, a heartless Italian nobleman, in his villa in Florence. But David doesn't know ...

Such melodrama is the lifeblood of American TV soaps. Everyday , the three big networks compete with each other for a bigger share of the television audience. Their weapons are Erica's treachery,Elizabeth's neuroses, Michelle's jealousy, Laura's heartache and Rachel's heartbreak. Adultery, alcoholism, divorce and suicide fill TV screens in living rooms all over the country. Day after day, week after week, year after year, the plot unfolds in mythical towns like Pine Valley, Oakdale or Henderson. And the fans who watch enjoy nothing more than on-screen misery.

 About 70 per cent of soap watchers are girls and women and, despite their denials, boys are just as addicted. These fans have usually been watching the same soap for years and take a very personal interest in the characters. As one soap actress, Ruth Warrick commented, "Soap fans really think they know you and own you. When they see me on the street, they come up and talk as though I was an old friend. That's fine- but I wish they wouldn't hug and kiss me!"
 

Professor of Mass Communications, Mary Cassata commented, "People love soaps because, however sad and boring their lives may be, they can say to themselves, 'Gee, aren't I lucky! I'm not half as badly off as they are!' Soaps concentre on the development of relationships. The action carries on over a long period of time so that the viewer becomes complete hooked. Fans just have to tune in to find out what happens next. It's the emotional content which is so important. They really hit you in the gut and the heart. OK, so they more or less bypass the brain. But, who cares? It's like driving around at night and peering into other people's lighted windows and being able to hear what the people are saying! You know you should mind your own business but you can't help yourself!"