I have to admit to being a little bummed. They cancelled my favorite soap opera and the last day it aired was this past Friday, the 13th. Right now there are people out there shaking their heads at my confession. There are so many more worse things in life. But I enjoyed my story. That's what my grandma always called them, her "stories".
A friend of mine and I were commiserating on Facebook about our loss, when someone just had to chime in with his opinion. Needless to say it was negative. And I don't care. He's entitled to his opinion. But I'm entitled to mine. Soap operas are a guilty pleasure. None of us are tuning in for the reality. I worked in two major corporations. No young, pretty thang was ensconced in the CEO's office wearing a tight skirt, sky high heels, and running things just 'cause daddy told her to, not even in the '80's (though our hair was pretty big). We realize that the dead don't come back, and certainly never with a new face AND a twin (hello, Victor Lord, Jr., and Todd Manning). It's simply not possible to be married that many times and maintain your standard of living, even for the rich. Alimony would have its way (yep, I mean you, Mrs. Victoria Lord Riley Burke Riley Buchanan Buchanan Carpenter Davidson Banks - had to Google that just to get it right). And our children do not suddenly shift overnight from pesky teenagers to medical school students - dang it. I'm not even touching on the under the mountain golden city, or the housewife by day, hooker by night stuff.
But honestly, have you looked at television in general? None of television is reality. Even the reality is scripted and edited for maximum bang for the buck. That's why it's considered ENTERTAINMENT. I doubt there are very many law enforcement who look the way the women do on "The Closer" or any of the "Law and Order" series or the "CSI" ones. Personally, I don't go in for reality tv. I have enough relatives, neighbors and plenty of mirrors. I don't need to watch strangers be weird, for reality in my life. I want the escape. I want to see the incredible eighth wedding and KNOW that this time she really found love, and ohh, look at that dress. I want to have that hour of giggling over the sudden aging of a character or really how can a woman give birth to twins and not know it! Most of all, I want to be able to call my grandma and talk about the story one more time. But she's not around to, and we don't get soap opera reprieves in real life, and neither did One Life to Live.
Evelyn, I started watching "stories" at our maid's knee as she ironed. In high school I rushed home when possible to grab my ruffles and french onion dip to watch General Hospital. At Peace on the day of Luke and Laura's wedding I cut (okay I'll be honest @@ overcut my Biology lab) can't remember how I squirmed around that one. As a young mother I became an ABC addict ...All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital. I stopped watching faithfully about 16 years ago but I was still sad to see the "passing" of AMC and DOOL. Each show has a tribute magazine out and I have bought them for my sister.
ReplyDeleteBev, I followed such a similar path, it's downright scary (maybe we're twins, separated at birth). I remember watching while Pauline ironed and with my grandma, rushing home, and I, uh, skipped biology lab to see THE WEDDING. I've been hit and miss over the years, though the DVR helped me become more faithful. I will look for the tribute magazine. I hadn't even thought about it. Thanks, and ...stay tuned!
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