Why Do We Watch Soaps?

[eviana.superbo]

So, I was wondering a couple things about soap operas. I am an avid fan of many soap operas, and I am currently writing my thesis about General Hospital. Please comment--all comments are appreciated!

1) What's your favorite soap and why?

2) Why do you watch soaps/ why are an active member of the soap fan community?

3) Why are you an active member of daytime soap based websites? What is the benefit from participating in an online community devoted to your favorite shows?

Again, I would appreciative any answers you can give me. Being a soap fan for many years, it would help me tremendously to hear what you guys think. Also, privacy will be totally respected if you desire your user name or any other info to be private.

Thanks!

[Mr. Vixen]

My favorite soap opera is General Hospital. I have been watching it since I was born, literally. My mother and my sister were avid fans of the show, and watched daily. So I grew up watching it daily, and have watched it every day since. Since then, my dad has gotten into it too...So it's a bit of a family thing for us. It was always my favorite because of the character depth and the heartbreaking storytelling, as well as the adventure stuff. Sadly, those things have dwindled today. Despite that, I still love the show very much and watc it daily. I do enjoy many characters on the show, and fairly often storylines intrigue me on the show. (i.e the Scrubs/Lisa storyline).

*I watch all the soaps, but GH is probably my favorite. Y&R might just be tied though.*

I watch soaps because I grew up with them. They were a staple in my family. I grew up primarily with GH, but my mother also got me into other soaps. I love the fact that you can get to know all of the characters so well, because you see them every day. And I also love that the stories can play out over months and months, because soaps don't have "seasons". Combined with classic storytelling, all of these things make me love soaps.

I like to participate in online communities because it gives me an oppurtunity to discuss the shows that I loved and grew up with, with other avid fans of the show. It gives me an oppurtunity to look at different vantage points about the shows i watch and just gives me the oppurtunity to discuss soaps in a way only available online. What I gain would be just really enjoying and learning different ways of looking at the soaps!

Hope this helped!

[cityfan01]

1. My favorite soap changes based upon the week. I watch all of the current shows and love them all.

2. I watch soaps because of my grandmother. When i was little, she would babysit my brother and I, and we would watch the ABC line-up every single day. My first memory of life is Tad falling off of the bridge on AMC in 1990.

Also, I distinctly remember Marty's rape on OLTL and asking my grandparents what rape was. My grandpa looked at me and said "it is the worst thing that a man can do to a woman". It's those memories of my childhood that make me continue on and support the genre.

3. I like reading/posting on soap-based message boards for the community. Its wonderful to communicate with other people who love the things that i love, as well as remind me of past soap events that i have forget.

[dsvd79]

1. My favorite soap is Y&R, but B&B I think is inching up on that list.

2. I watch soaps because they relax me. I DVR them everyday, and watch them when I get home from work. I started watching them because my mom, and her mom watched them. We always watched the CBS Soaps.

3. I love message boards. I love reading what everyone thinks about their shows. I also like the spoilers.

[juniorz1]

1) What's your favorite soap and why?

Of all-time, definitely Santa Barbara. I just LOVED that show growing up & fell in love with the characters, especially Cruz & Eden. To this day, Marcy Walker is my favorite actress of any genre.

As far as recently, until it went off the air, my favorite was As The World Turns. Now mind you, I didn't become a fan until 2000 but once I did, I fell in love with it & it's complex characters. For my money, up until it ended, ATWT boasted the best cast in daytime.

Right now, though, I guess my favorite soap would be DAYS, if only because it's the soap I have the most attachment to. I grew up with it- my mother watched it, my grandmother watched it, my aunt watched, her mother watched, and we'd all discuss the daily goings on. I remember on our family vacation to the beach every year, we'd all come in & watch DAYS at lunch time. All of those that I mentioned watched it together.

2) Why do you watch soaps/ why are an active member of the soap fan community?

I got started when I was only 3- my mom tried to put me down for a nap at that time & one day when she didn't, I watched DAYS and Another World with her & I was hooked. From that day on, nap time was over. It was 1982 and I understood much of what was going on. I loved them. My mom got into Santa Barbara in 1985 and I resisted at first because I didn't know the characters. But pretty soon, I got hooked like I was hooked on no other soap before or since.

As far as being in the online community, I support the soaps and love discussing the goings on. I love the interesting knowledge different posters bring to the table, both behind the scenes and in front. Plus, I LOVE learning the history of the soaps when they aired before my time, especially the ones I never watched with my family, like Y&R, ATWT, and OLTL. It's great interacting with everyone & I love sharing my opinions.

3) Why are you an active member of daytime soap based websites? What is the benefit from participating in an online community devoted to your favorite shows?

I think I explained that above!

[Khan]

1) What's your favorite soap and why?

GUIDING LIGHT, because at its' best, it celebrated community and family, and it respected both its history and its audience. (Or, it did, until certain higher-ups decided neither fitted into their "agenda" for the show anymore.)

2) Why do you watch soaps/ why are an active member of the soap fan community?

3) Why are you an active member of daytime soap based websites? What is the benefit from participating in an online community devoted to your favorite shows?

I watch soaps - which is to say, I used to watch soaps - for their intimacy. Someone (Irna? Bill?) said soaps are like eavesdropping on other people's lives, and I think that's true. I enjoy (and miss) the pleasure of watching stories that are timely and rooted strongly in character and history unfold in "real time."

And I participate in the online soap fan community b/c that's really the only place where I can indulge in conversation about these shows w/ others who care as much about the genre as I do. Aside from my mother, who "introduced" me to soaps at a very early age, no one in my personal life watches or even cares about them.