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In soaps, why are cancer plots high-profile, and stroke plots always sidelined?
Lucy_Reiss
Posts: 63 Forum Member
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A recent example of this being Carol's cancer, which was at the forefront of the programme for months and months. Then Patrick had a stroke a few months later, which had literally one or two episodes of domination, and then was sidelined for ages, with Patrick only making one-off appearances every couple of weeks.
Why don't soaps ever have a dominating storyline revolving around a character having a stroke, like they do with cancer?
Why don't soaps ever have a dominating storyline revolving around a character having a stroke, like they do with cancer?
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He is clearly afflicted when he's in scenes
Strokes are more common with elderly people, yes. But it is possible to have one in your 30's and 40's. It does happen
Oh definitely, what I meant was the fact Patrick is an elderly character may be the reason his stroke storyline has been 'sidelined' in comparison to Carol's cancer storyline. Elderly characters rarely get to carry big storylines on soaps.
You make a good point. I think the reasons you note are also why soap characters rarely suffer from mental illnesses like schizophrenia.
Most health conditions on soaps are either caused by some dramatic accident or are cancer because the former obviously facilitate visually explosive scenes and can be forgotten about shortly after a character's recovery (if they survive, that is) and the latter the drama comes from the 'Will they/won't they survive?' question.
Soaps are so visual in their interpretations that there seems to be little room for medical conditions where we won't see someone lying under debris of a building or a mode of transport. I think first and foremost soap producers need to start having more respect for their viewership and get the message that we can appreciate nuance.