EE - social realism or didactic melodrama? Opinions gentle readers...opinions.
Red Valerian
Communications site, which I'd recommended to the media student
wanting help researching Soap Opera in an earlier post. I found this
article quite enlightening - especially the summary on EE which I'll
reprint below:
The TV Soap Opera Genre and its Viewers by Daniel Chandler
http://www.aber.ac.uk/~ednwww/Undgrad/ED30510/soaps.html#I
Eastenders
Eastenders, a BBC production, was first broadcast in 1985. It is
watched by a little under a third of the British population, by more
women than men, and more by those in lower socio-economic groups
(Livingstone 1990, p. 55). The BBC is aware of its 'responsibility' as
a public service (unlike commercial British television companies) to
be of benefit to the public, and to produce 'serious' programmes of
'quality'. The characters tend to be mainly working class. In addition
to women, young characters and men are given strong roles, so that the
potential audience is wide. It has become particularly popular with
teenagers. Buckingham notes that 'much of their fascination - and
particularly that of the younger children - arose from its inclusion
of aspects of adult life from which they were normally "protected"'
(1987, p. 200).
Set in London's East End, it is in the social realist tradition. The
programme makers emphasized that it was to be about 'everyday life' in
the inner city 'today' (in Goodwin & Whannel 1990, p. 124). They
regard it as a 'slice of life'. Producer Julia Smith disingenuously
declared that 'we don't make life, we reflect it' (Geraghty 1991, p.
32). She has also reported: 'We decided to go for a realistic, fairly
outspoken type of drama which could encompass stories about
homosexuals, rape, unemployment, racial prejudice, etc. in a
believable context. Above all, we wanted realism. Unemployment, exams,
racism, birth, death, dogs, babies, unmarried mums - we didn't want to
fudge any issue except politics and swearing' (ibid., p. 16).
Eastenders has also featured single-parent families, teenage
pregnancy, prostitution, arranged marriages, attempted suicide, drug
problems, alcoholism, generational conflicts, a protection racket, a
cot death, extra-marital affairs and marital bust-ups, sexism, urban
deprivation, mental breakdown, disappearances, muggings, a fatal road
accident and a suspected murder: it has sometimes been criticized for
being bleak! Perhaps in an attempt to attract more male viewers once
can sometimes notice a tendency to shift a little towards the genre of
the crime series. Nevertheless, much of the action remains
deliberately mundane.
Although it was part of the intention to handle 'controversial social
issues' the programme makers insist that Eastenders is not
'issues-based' (i.e. storylines are not developed simply to illustrate
predetermined issues). They see themselves as pursuing 'documentary
realism' and their dramatic use of conflict leads to issues arising
'naturally' (Buckingham 1987, pp. 16; 30; 83). They accept that the
programme has an informational or educational function for viewers,
offering a discussion of topics of concern to them, but they are more
concerned with raising questions than with offering answers.
Entertainment is seen as the main purpose. The programme makers
probably seek to avoid putting viewers off by seeming to be
patronising. However, critics have occasionally noted episodes
involving a very didactic style.
The programme does not confine itself to the naturalistic mode, but
sometimes shifts towards either melodrama or sitcom. Buckingham
observes that the camerawork and editing is in the naturalist
tradition, supporting an interpretation of the programme as a 'window
on the world': the use of the camera is unobtrusive and largely
static, with only rare use of close-ups and tracking; the editing
seeks to be 'invisible'; the background sound has a 'density of
naturalistic detail'; lighting is usually flat, with no harsh shadows
(ibid., p. 74). However, he also notes that it tends to have more
simultaneous storylines, more scenes, more meeting-places, more
characters per episode, and a faster pace than either Coronation
Street or Brookside (ibid., p. 54).
~~~~~~~
What thinkest thou, RATUEE?
Red
Ivan Davidoff
>
> On Sat, 10 Apr 1999 09:22:17 GMT, hg...@dial.pipex.com (Red Valerian)
> wrote:
>
> >I've just been visiting the University of Wales Media and
> >Communications site, which I'd recommended to the media student
> >wanting help researching Soap Opera in an earlier post. I found this
> >article quite enlightening - especially the summary on EE which I'll
> >reprint below:
> >
> >The TV Soap Opera Genre and its Viewers by Daniel Chandler
> >
> >http://www.aber.ac.uk/~ednwww/Undgrad/ED30510/soaps.html#I
>
>
> Someone should have taught Daniel about the use (and overuse) of
> quotation marks. I particularly enjoyed
>
> >The BBC is aware of its 'responsibility' as a public service (unlike
> >commercial British television companies) to be of benefit to the public,
> >and to produce 'serious' programmes of 'quality'.
>
>
> BW
A nervous tic, no doubt.
'--'
'ID'
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