Stupid Myths and Misconceptions about our Genre

[ian]

You as well as I have probably gotten the condescending stare-down-the-end-of-the-nose we usually get when non-soapers say "You watch those?" All people associate the genre with is evil twins, back-from-the-dead and of course Susan Lucci . Some of the stupidest I've encountered:

People not really knowing there are different soaps. Oh, I thought all the soaps were the same. Give me a break. I guess you've seen one tackily lit set with hairmodels, you've seen 'em all.

"Don't you get the different shows mixed up?". No... lol each show is its own different universe (except for crossovers and what not)

The best one, is when my sister told me I was gay for watching soaps. I promptly countered that I thought being gay meant loving someone of the same genre, but if it meant watching soaps, then I guess I was.

Of course there's the stupid misconception soaps are the fodder of boring housewives, equally stereotypical and off-base. Actually even YEARS ago, soap writer Jean Reuverol (sp?) wrote a book on writing for the soaps. She said she was working on GL at the time, and she called the Coast Guard in order to do some research, ask a few questions about search and rescue. She mentioned she worked at a soap.

"Which one?" They'd asked, "Guiding Light", "Oh. We don't watch that one." (but implied they watched others)

What other main-stream misguidedness have you run into?

[koos]

That all the acting is bad. Sadly, this stereotype is true more often than not, these days; even talented actors have a hard time with poor scripts.

[Paul Raven]

Only dumb housewives and trailer trash watch the soaps.