Soap Operas and Talk Shows

Their Unfortunate Usefulness*, by Geoff Ryan

A

friend told me about the small village of 35 homes in Crete that where she grew up. In those days it was isolated and bound in traditions stretching back centuries. Roles of men and women were well defined. The men would congregate in the only café in the village where they would drink and converse and argue. The women rarely got out. It was not encouraged. Actually, it was frowned upon. Besides, they were far too busy with household chores and raising children. Social interaction was limited and the horizons of the women’s lives were the four walls of the house. There was neither time, nor the place, nor the opportunity even to gossip. The men’s world was a little larger, extending beyond the walls of their homes to the edge of the village. The village remained virtually untouched by any knowledge of current world affairs or awareness of social trends or societal shifts.All this started to change about twenty years ago when the women of the village began watching soap operas. Gradually the world became larger, more complicated and more interesting. Issues such as adultery and divorce, abortion, plastic surgery and breast cancer, feminism, homosexuality, anorexia, all played out before their very eyes. Such things as could not have been imagined before! The mores of the community started to change imperceptibly but inexorably. For better or worse, life was never the same.

The people in the community where I live generally do not watch the TV news. They do not for the most part read newspapers or magazines either. The horizons of their daily existence is small, bounded by a few streets in either direction of their homes. The larger world, nationally and internationally, does not interest them much. Global events churn away without causing a ripple. Societal trends pass by seemingly unoticed. Yet, they know about these cultural trends and are aware of societal shifts, though they never watch the news on TV or read a newspaper. Someone is keeping them informed.

…they know about these cultural trends and are aware of societal shifts, though they never watch the news on TV or read a newspaper. Someone is keeping them informed.

Due primarily to the effects of generational dysfunction and poverty, valuable life skills that would be considered by most of us simply common sense, have never been passed on. There has been an interruption or imparted wisdom and experience, sometimes stretching over generations. Basic things such as the how to deal with the bumps and bruises of childhood or the rudiments of relationships have not been taught or learnt.

Somehow, though, they manage as parents and spouses. They get through life, not as smoothly as others might, but often with a remarkable degree of self-awareness and ability to analyze their issues and problems. They make great counsellors to one another and some of the best “psychologists” I know live in these housing projects. Where are they learning these skills?

They make great counsellors to one another and some of the best “psychologists” I know live in these housing projects. Where are they learning these skills?

As odd as it may sound, and as regrettable as it may be, the answers lie in soap operas and talk shows. All the women in my community watch the soaps (and the women run things around here). Any shift in societal norms from same-sex marriage to Botox is going to eventually show up in the plotline of a soap opera - guaranteed.

I know people addicted to Dr. Phil and I know people who will go to the wall to defend every word that issues from the mouth of Oprah. As they see their often broken and complicated lives played out shamelessly on Montel Williams they watch and listen and follow carefully the advice given.

As they see their often broken and complicated lives played out shamelessly on Montel Williams they watch and listen and follow carefully the advice given.

Who would have thought that ‘The Young and the Restless’, ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ and ‘Coronation Street’ might serve didactic purposes? Who would have credited Oprah, Dr. Phil or Montel with actually helping people make it through the day?

It has long been understood as conventional wisdom that the media has taken over from the Church as teacher and guide to the masses, but surely not this! I have no clue of the percentage of people watching the soaps and talk shows versus those who attend any church or watch Sunday morning TV evangelists, but I can make a shrewd guess.

So what is to be done? It is hard to compete with the lurid vicariousness of Jerry Springer. It is a losing proposition to challenge the gravitas of Oprah. Even the people who do attend church on a Sunday will have their heads stuffed with what they have been watching all week. The one thing I cannot do, I guess, is dismiss the soaps and talk shows out of hand. They constitute the teachers and healers for many, many of my people. It is these values, these worldviews and this advice that guide, shape and inform my people. Maybe I should start watching ‘As the World Turns’ or Judge Joe Brown in order to know what I’m really up against.

The one thing I cannot do, I guess, is dismiss the soaps and talk shows out of hand. They constitute the teachers and healers for many, many of my people.

Co-Founder and Co-Editor of theRubicon and Co-Ordinator of the 614 Network, Geoff and his wife Sandra minister to Corps 614 Regent Park in downtown Toronto. He has written and published widely on the roles of belief and church in contemporary society.

NOTES

*Originally published in ChristianWeek Magazine, as part of the Iona Diaries series.

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Monday, June 26th, 2006 Belief, Ephemera, Thought