Soap opera questions

The term Soap opera originated in the 1930's,when US radio serials were sponsered by major soap powder companies. Those serials tended to concentrate on domestic and family dramas.
A serial format is when narratives are carried over from one episode to the next and characters develop overtime, their actions informed by the detailed histories which they carry with them. This is on contrast to the series format in which characters and situations are carried from episode to episode but the narratives remain self contained. Outnumbered is in a series format but serial forman is eastenders.
The primary audience for soaps is females.
The uses and gratifications that the audiences get from soap operas in, diversion (escape from everyday and problems), personal relationships (Subsituting soap operas for family life).
Setting is important in soap operas because it can give you information about the character. E.g Lola  living in small, old and dirty house which shows how much money she has.  It is also important for each character to have there own identity which is shown through setting. E.g houses.
The traditional concepts of family are challenged by always being different new, breaking relationships, affairs etc. The idea  that the family should have clear boundires is always stretched to almost breaking point. Its central in a soap opera but there is no clear definition of how a family should be.
John Fiske argues that the lack of central characters or a single narative view point in soap opera provides a more open experience for viewers. This allows a single narrative event to  be interpreted in a number of different ways,  allowing audiences to explore social or moral issues for themselves.
Open texts is media products whose form and content allow a large degree of interpretative freedom to the audience. E.g art films
Closed texts is media products whose form and content are arranged so that only a limited number of interpratations or reading are possible by the audience.
Women are portrayed in soap operas as gossiping and presenting a view of the world in which those qualities are privelleged or respected more than elsewhere,they also show power through there sexuality. E.g gossiping vera in coronation street. Power through there sexuality e.g Kat slater and soap operas allow women to dominate by being strong and independant.E.g peggy mitchell
Matriach is the strong female heading a unit. It is important in soap operas because it is rarely seen in other genres. E.g Fiz in coronation street is a matriachal figure as she has no husband but looks after her daughter and brother. Kirsty is also because shes in control of what happens and goes to work whilst tyrone stays at home.
Tabloid newspapers interact with soaps by having headlines advertising whats going to happen that weeks on the soaps and giving extra information on the soaps.
The male sterotypes that feature in soap opera have to show similar capabilities to female characters and have to show sensitivity and caring and perform a secondary role.
Mike Baldwin, Ian Beale and Jack Duckworth all challenge gender stereotypes.
Morally bad characters are; Phil Mitchell and Nick Cotton  and morally  good characters are Fiz, Alfie  Moon

Analysing the representation of gender roles in coronation street
In coronation street general roles are represented in a very different way between Kirsty and Tyrone.
Kirsty tells Tyrone he is not on his daughters birth certificate, therefore he has no rights over his daughter. Gender roles are represented here because the women is the dominant character which is unusual as males are usually seen to me the dominant characters. This also represents gender because it shows the woman having all the rights over the child and the man having none, this is representing gender because it is known as the woman being the caring one towards children and staying at home with the children and this is shown in the scene by the father having no rights. All the shot types used in the scene are all close ups to either Tyrone or Kirstys  face. This is to show the facial expressions the character is pulling and to make the audience focus on them and nothing else.

The balance of realism and drama in eastenders
In eastenders there is a good balance between realism and drama. A lot of the things that happen in Eastenders are things that happen in real life. Where the balance comes into it is they are things that happen in real life but they are exaggerating and made a lot more dramatic then they would be in real life. For example on a recent episode of eastenders Lolas baby got taken away from her by social services which does happen in everyday life it was just made into drama by her yelling whos  the babys father was when she had been hiding it as well as screaming in the middle of the street.

The responsibility of soap opera producers;
I think the main responsibility of soap opera  producers is to entertain the audience and provide them with good story lines that could possible relate to there lives. I believe they should have a set of moral codes and not take things to far. They should know when to stop the story line before it goes to far and think about how audiences may feel towards certain story lines and how it may effect viewership. The way they show things to be realistic by over exaggerate it by adding more drama is a good thing as long as they have the balance, this is because if it was realistic it wouldnt be as entertaining to watch and you may not always want to know what will happen next.