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The 'duty' of soap's.

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 577
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in Soaps #1
With the current Alicia storyline in Emmerdale, and other storylines, there has been debate over whether or not soaps have a 'duty' to the public or not.

The argument has been whether it is right that ED are showing that a victim of sexual assault has had her case dropped by police due to lack of evidence. Some people think that this being shown in a soap will deter victims from reporting such crimes. Some people think soap's should reflect real life and that this storyline does that. Some people are stuck between the two and don't know either way.

So, in soap's in general, not just ED and not just this storyline, the question's for this thread are

What do people think?
Do soaps have a duty to portray thing's in the way they are likely to happen in real life?
Do they have a duty to encourage people to report crimes rather than deterring them?
Do soaps have a duty to the viewers at all? What is it and where does it stop?

Comments

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    samcains90samcains90 Posts: 4,566
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    #2
    Soaps are there for entertainment purposes. Mostly light entertainment at that.

    I think people who would report it to the police immediately will always do so and those who wouldn't never would. I know that if it happened to me I would report it immediately, and watching Emmerdale certainly wouldn't change my mind. I know what is right and what is wrong, I don't need a soap to tell me.
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    ofthenightofthenight Posts: 1,382
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    #3
    Soaps are purely for entertainment purposes. They can educate people on serious issues. Although they do occasionally help people but I think they do overestimate the impact they make.
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    Joey15811Joey15811 Posts: 15,426
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    #4
    samcains90 wrote: »
    Soaps are there for entertainment purposes. Mostly light entertainment at that.

    I think people who would report it to the police immediately will always do so and those who wouldn't never would. I know that if it happened to me I would report it immediately, and watching Emmerdale certainly wouldn't change my mind. I know what is right and what is wrong, I don't need a soap to tell me.

    You never know for certain, you might be unable to talk about it like Linda Carter. :/
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    Mark_Washingto1Mark_Washingto1 Posts: 19,273
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    #5
    This is an interesting topic. I know that Agnes Nixon, creator of All My Children and One Life to Live said that is was the soaps job to educate first and entertain second. Given that I think Emmerdale is handling the story well and true to life. There is no way Lachlan would be found guilty given the fact that Alicia was drunk at the time, that alone gives room for reasonable doubt. If they were to show Lachlan being charged and sentenced it would give off a false sense of reality.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,190
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    #6
    Treating a soap as anything other than a light entertainment programme is an exercise in futility.
    They are not there to preach,inform,elucidate or educate.
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    rollockingbatrollockingbat Posts: 1,038
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    #7
    I think it's pretty daft to treat soaps as educational material to be honest. For me, they're nothing more than entertainment. If they help you along the way then that's all great but they should never influence your life. Especially nowadays as they're under more pressure to attract people with sensational storylines. I prefer it when they make things as a realistic as possible which inevitably is always going to feature elements that annoy/offend people.
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    AndybearAndybear Posts: 11,287
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    #8
    I also think soaps are for entertainment. Some of the storylines are harrowing (this ED one being one of them) but I don't think they have a duty to the viewers. They are after all fictional TV programmes and not documentaries.
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    CollieWobblesCollieWobbles Posts: 27,290
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    #9
    No they don't. Soaps are there to entertain, like any other made up tv show and nothing more. If someone is going to do/ not do something/ report/ not report something/ commit a crime, their going to have thought about it/ done it regardless of a storyline on the box in the corner of the living room. Why do people think what they see in a soap is going to infuence viewers? Does watching Superman influence viewers to try leaping off tall buildings in an attempt to fly? No. Does Midsomer Murders influence people into bludgeoning their neighbours to death? No. Because viewers know it's not real, it's just a story and it isn't true to life. So why then should Alicia's case being dropped by the police have people claiming that it'll influence people not to report real incidents? That too is just a story. Why should sane rational viewers who aren't influenced by one tv show suddenly be influenced by another? If you've got the brains to know one isn't real, you know none of them are and just take them for what they are - a source of entertainment.
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    melloncollie06melloncollie06 Posts: 2,525
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    #10
    The same people who complain about the Alicia storyline and say it's a "disgrace" that the charges have been dropped are quite possibly (from the people I know who have said it) the same people who want realism.
    well...real life isn't always how we want it to be. simple as that.
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    Get Den WattsGet Den Watts Posts: 6,039
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    #11
    If DTC, Birkwood and other soap producers are going to piously blather on about how they are "raising awareness", "telling an important story" and "tackling an issue" and are going to give us the helpline ("if you have been affected by the issues in this episode..."), then YES they have a duty to do it in a responsible, realistic, informative manner and not fill it with ludicrous twists and crass sensationalism.

    God knows what the charities and lobby groups that HO worked with on the domestic abuse and male rape storylines made of how the Patrick/Maxine and Finn/JP stories played out on screen.
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    Pink_SmurfPink_Smurf Posts: 6,883
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    #12
    Hollyoaks treats serious issues in a ridiculous fashion for example incest between Dodger and Sienna. Unfortunately with rape and sexual assault there often isn't evidence to prove or disprove what happened. I think Emmerdale treated the sexual assault realistically. What I didn't like was the emphasis on Alicia's clothes somehow "being to blame". Only the person raping or sexually assaulting should be held responsible. I think the soaps do try to be responsible on the whole apart from Hollyoaks.
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    ryanr554ryanr554 Posts: 4,013
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    #13
    Wouldn't it be just as bad if they always (and incorrectly) portrayed it as the person who committed the sexual assault go to jail? That isn't really realistic and misleads people.

    I don't think Soaps are going to influence anyones actions any time soon anyway.
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    dee123dee123 Posts: 46,268
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    #14
    The duty of a soap is to entertain.

    THAT IS ALL.
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    dd68dd68 Posts: 17,841
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    #15
    The soaps are entertainment, anything complex shown offers a helpline, the shows are all responsible
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    norbitonitenorbitonite Posts: 8,678
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    #16
    The duty of soap's to clean things, the duty of soaps is to be a serial drama and, within broadcast guidelines, provide entertainment.
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    jsmith99jsmith99 Posts: 20,382
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    #17
    ryanr554 wrote: »
    ..................I don't think Soaps are going to influence anyones actions any time soon anyway.

    That's what the TV companies always say - but they still keep selling advertising time.

    However, I agree with those saying that a soap has a single duty : to entertain.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,734
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    #18
    ryanr554 wrote: »
    Wouldn't it be just as bad if they always (and incorrectly) portrayed it as the person who committed the sexual assault go to jail? That isn't really realistic and misleads people.

    I don't think Soaps are going to influence anyones actions any time soon anyway.

    Eastenders' Whitney Dean/Tony King sexual abuse storyline is an example of how soaps can influence the actions of viewers.

    http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a232445/enders-plot-sparks-paedophile-conviction.html#~p63RyDRAFkpnnW

    If EPs choose to work with charities dedicated to whatever social issue they're addressing and the actors talk to victims and survivors they do have a duty to portray the issue realistically. If not they have used a charity to legitimate and publicise their storyline and exploited people who were kind enough to talk about their ordeals and experiences.
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