Condescending Mainstream people who bash soaps

[robbwolff]

I'm not sure why you say that the networks never promoted the soaps during prime-time and other avenues. That's simply not true. Do you mean historically or recently? Historically, soaps have been promoted during the prime-time line-ups. And some have even had episodes air in prime-time (e.g., Return to Peyton Place, Another World, General Hospital, Capitol, Days of our Lives, Port Charles, Loving). And the soaps have and continue to be promoted via other avenues. I've seen billboards promoting soaps. There are book tie-ins.

[koos]

I can't think of anything I mocked more than Days of Our Lives back in the '90s. Maybe Power Rangers. I was just a kid, but the mindblowing shift of direction turned Days into the campiest, baddest, hardest to watch thing on TV by '96. I only watched it with my sister to make fun, but I could only take it in small doses. IMO, they're ALL like that now, if not so campy and insane. I watched Y&R, ATWT (my then-favorite, until Carly appeared), GL... they weren't like that. My mind wasn't warped by the badness. Then, the '00s happened.

[EricMontreal22]

I admit, I'm kinda with Marceline on this. When I was younger, it DID bug me, and as a teen for a long time I was embarrassed to admit AMC was my fave show--but that had more to do with perceived stigmas about being a guy who watched soaps, as well as issues/worried as a 13 year old about my own sexuality and if it would be one step closer to admitting I was gay (I went to a performing arts based school where, actually, the stereotype that any guy who liked doing musical theatre didn't really exist, due to how large the school was--shockingly when I finally did start to come out people seemed surprised.) That said, I think her points are all valid, and now as a 30something year old I just kinda own it. Sure, every so often I might argue a point if someone brings something up--but frankly they don't usually. The last time someone mentioned how much I liked soaps the general consensus amongst the non-soap opera fans watchers at the dinner party was a brief talk about how hard it must be to act on a soap and memorize so many lines and... then we moved on. (A few people had teenaged memories of watching soaps--mainly Days and AMC--I guess Natalie in the well really was a big event for a lot of people my age even who didn't watch soaps.)

I'm not sure I have a point. I DO think the stigma--again in my limited experience--is less with the younger generations. They seem more willing to embrace the facts that most of their favorite shows have a soap type element, at least. I was going to say this is different even from a generation up with someone like Chelsea Handler, but frankly, what she (and The Soup) have mocked soaps for *mostly* have been specific, AWFUL scenes and not the fact that they're a soap. Some of this may be that, despite shows like Big Bang Theory which is a (to me) uncomfrotable combination of celebrating nerd (male) culture and completely mocking it, geek culture in general is more embraced than ever before. I may depend on who I hang out with as well--I work as a TA at the university here and also am getting my English grad degree. Though my focus is on Edwardian literature and mid 20th Century American Theatre, it's the norm to find that most of the students or the professors--whether they appear nerdy or not--watch, say, Game of Thrones or even will discuss growing up watching Melrose Place. I think it's all starting to change--thanks to theinternet and fan communities, cable, etc in a positive way (mostly.) A few years back I took a specialty course based around comic books (and "graphic novels" as the better ones are pretentiously called.) The class had a waitlist of over 100, and it was at least 2/3rds filled with, well, very attractive and articulate women--not the stereotype at all.

San DIego (and prob other) comic-con is still mocked to an extent by late night talk show monologues, but it's also utterly mainstream now. Soaps have certainly not reached even close to that acceptance--the the media doesn't really know what tone to take when discussing them (like that recent Slate article about the online soaps where the woman who wrote it kept switching from being an old fan, to being someone who thought it was a genre that deserved *some* respect, to apologetically going on about how awful and cheap and quick it was.) But even though I think they get less respect, most pulp fiction genres are treated on some level the same way. And, I admit, I have no real interest in exploring the vast romance novel genre, but that gets far far less, and I am sure there are--like with soaps, or comics--some titles that are genuine quality.

[frequentsoapfan]

It doesn't happen on a consistent basis but it does happen. This year I did see a few Y&R promos outside of the daytime slot on other channels. And I remember them promoting on Perez Hilton and MTV a couple of years ago. And Brenda's big GH return had promos running everywhere. Even during shows that wouldn't even draw the soap opera type audience.