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Home and Away- Diversity Free Zone?


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Old 31-08-2014, 01:26
vaslav37
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Why is Home and Away ignoring diversity?

No LGBT characters or non white characters, is there a reason for this?
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Old 31-08-2014, 04:15
GracieL
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I think why they current don't have any gay characters could be something to do with the fact that the gay relationship between Charlie and Joey back in 2009 caused a lot of outrage with complaints in both Australia and New Zealand, also the viewing figures dropped big time in Australia and I think H&A have been to scared to try it again.

H&A has never been that big on diversity especially as Australia isn't as diverse as the UK. H&A had a couple of non white sort of permanent characters back in the 90s but I don't know why their isn't anymore. At least H&A don't have a ridiculous amount of diverse characters like CS.

I've always wondered why no one smokes!
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Old 31-08-2014, 04:16
Keeki
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Yes. The reason is no one cares enough to take a critical look at the show and ask for it. Soaps are not taken seriously in Australia. They're light entertainment for teens and young adults. Why do you keep making threads about this?
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Old 31-08-2014, 04:37
vaslav37
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Yes. The reason is no one cares enough to take a critical look at the show and ask for it. Soaps are not taken seriously in Australia. They're light entertainment for teens and young adults. Why do you keep making threads about this?
Why? I think it's important that's why.

I don't actually watch H & A but soaps are watched by millions of people and representations of society should be reflected in soaps.
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Old 31-08-2014, 04:54
Keeki
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Why? I think it's important that's why.

I don't actually watch H & A but soaps are watched by millions of people and representations of society should be reflected in soaps.
You want Australian soap operas to have the same values as British soaps. In Australia no one expects soaps to represent Australian society or tackle social issues. Like I said earlier they are entertainment, that is all. No expects them to be any more realistic than the Bold and the Beautiful. Home and Away is set in a small coastal community and small towns are usually not very diverse.
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Old 31-08-2014, 05:18
vaslav37
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You want Australian soap operas to have the same values as British soaps. In Australia no one expects soaps to represent Australian society or tackle social issues. Like I said earlier they are entertainment, that is all. No expects them to be any more realistic than the Bold and the Beautiful. Home and Away is set in a small coastal community and small towns are usually not very diverse.
I see your from Queensland so you will of course be correct on the diversity of small costal communities in NSW or Queensland.

Out of the Aussie Soaps i prefer to watch Neighbours as it resonates more with me.
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Old 31-08-2014, 06:13
Keeki
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I see your from Queensland so you will of course be correct on the diversity of small costal communities in NSW or Queensland.

Out of the Aussie Soaps i prefer to watch Neighbours as it resonates more with me.
Yes, I am from Queensland (go Maroons!). Most of the postwar migrants chose to settle in large urban areas rather than small towns so places like Summer Bay are usually less diverse.

I prefer Neighbours too. There have been a lot of commercials for upcoming storylines recently when there used to be almost nothing so it may be getting more popular.
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Old 31-08-2014, 09:00
vaslav37
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Yes, I am from Queensland (go Maroons!). Most of the postwar migrants chose to settle in large urban areas rather than small towns so places like Summer Bay are usually less diverse.

I prefer Neighbours too. There have been a lot of commercials for upcoming storylines recently when there used to be almost nothing so it may be getting more popular.
Neighbours has always been more popular here than H & A.
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Old 31-08-2014, 09:43
Deschanel
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You want Australian soap operas to have the same values as British soaps. In Australia no one expects soaps to represent Australian society or tackle social issues. Like I said earlier they are entertainment, that is all. No expects them to be any more realistic than the Bold and the Beautiful. Home and Away is set in a small coastal community and small towns are usually not very diverse.
I think H&A used to be more realistic than what it is now. And while no-one may expect the show to tackle social issues, they still do, so maybe they could have a go at representing Australian society whether people expect it or not. But, I think you're right about it not being an issue the show feels it needs to address. And I don't think Seven feels it's an issue either. Either way, I think H&A has more pressing problems, like rediscovering its identity.

They used to have a penchant for having female characters randomly dabble in lesbianism (Shannon/Mandy, Gypsy/Shelly), and the Summer Bay Stalker was gay.

I think The Bold and the Beautiful is more diverse than H&A is these days (regular black characters, as well as Caroline and her gay mums). And probably slightly more realistic with some of their characters (like Quinn talking about the difficulties of being a woman in a corporate world and how that social stigma has partially shaped who she is today).
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Old 31-08-2014, 10:21
dee123
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I've always wondered why no one smokes!
I've always wonder why nobody ever owns a pet!
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Old 31-08-2014, 10:29
Keeki
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I think H&A used to be more realistic than what it is now. And while no-one may expect the show to tackle social issues, they still do, so maybe they could have a go at representing Australian society whether people expect it or not. But, I think you're right about it not being an issue the show feels it needs to address. And I don't think Seven feels it's an issue either. Either way, I think H&A has more pressing problems, like rediscovering its identity.

They used to have a penchant for having female characters randomly dabble in lesbianism (Shannon/Mandy, Gypsy/Shelly), and the Summer Bay Stalker was gay.

I think The Bold and the Beautiful is more diverse than H&A is these days (regular black characters, as well as Caroline and her gay mums). And probably slightly more realistic with some of their characters (like Quinn talking about the difficulties of being a woman in a corporate world and how that social stigma has partially shaped who she is today).
You're right in that it used to be more realistic. I saw a rerun last week and the characters looked and dressed more like average people than the models we have now. I think they've moved away from realism and rebranded Home and Away as a beachside fantasy soap with brighter sets and prettier people probably to appeal to overseas viewers. When it comes to social representation I do think that Home and Away represents a small beach town reasonably well albeit extremely beautified. The Bold and the Beautiful may be more diverse but it is set in LA.
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Old 31-08-2014, 10:31
Towie1977
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I have been to Australia twice and was shocked by how diverse it is, growing up on the soaps I never would've known. H&A is really behind the times and it's just a bit sad really that they don't feel the need to move the show forward in a representative way . Neighbours with a smaller cast has managed to.
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Old 31-08-2014, 11:10
Danny_Francis
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Neighbours has always been more popular here than H & A.
In the UK yes, but in Australia Home and Away tends to be the more popular of the two. Fair point made about diversity in H&A it should be looked at.
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Old 31-08-2014, 11:31
Deschanel
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You're right in that it used to be more realistic. I saw a rerun last week and the characters looked and dressed more like average people than the models we have now. I think they've moved away from realism and rebranded Home and Away as a beachside fantasy soap with brighter sets and prettier people probably to appeal to overseas viewers. When it comes to social representation I do think that Home and Away represents a small beach town reasonably well albeit extremely beautified. The Bold and the Beautiful may be more diverse but it is set in LA.
BIB: That's exactly what they've done. Not sure it's to appeal to the international market, considering they don't really seem to air in many countries (but Wikipedia could be wrong), and they don't really have to as the show does well on Seven.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they it wasn't crime and dull romance stories all the time, with characters who lack emotional depth - that's not really good fantasy IMO. But clearly Aussie's are loving the show, as its popular and brings in decent ratings, so it's doing something right.
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Old 31-08-2014, 12:18
BadRomance
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How many times does somebody start one if these threads? H&A has had gay, lesbian and black characters through the years. I wonder if the OP has visited a rural NSW town? If you had you would discover that these towns don't generally have black, Asian or gay people there.
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Old 31-08-2014, 12:29
Brummy Girl
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I think why they current don't have any gay characters could be something to do with the fact that the gay relationship between Charlie and Joey back in 2009 caused a lot of outrage with complaints in both Australia and New Zealand, also the viewing figures dropped big time in Australia and I think H&A have been to scared to try it again.

H&A has never been that big on diversity especially as Australia isn't as diverse as the UK. H&A had a couple of non white sort of permanent characters back in the 90s but I don't know why their isn't anymore. At least H&A don't have a ridiculous amount of diverse characters like CS.

I've always wondered why no one smokes!
Only a few years ago (about 5yrs or maybe less) there was an non-white male character who was a reverend who had a relationship with Leah. The character was a bit boring and apparently the actor left the show under a bit of a cloud. If I remember he gave an interview where he was not very complimentary about the show. (Edit: I found the article it was apparently a twitter rant where the actor accuses Home & Away of being racist http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/cele...tter-rant.html)

Also as somebody else mentioned they have had times in the past where they have made existing long term characters who have previously been straight dabble with being a lesbian (Shannon, Gypsy, Charlie) but they very rarely if at all introduce a long term character who is already gay. Once the publicity and the controversy over the existing characters dabbling in lesbianism subsides the show seems to run scared and backs off the storylines.
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Old 31-08-2014, 13:02
vaslav37
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How many times does somebody start one if these threads? H&A has had gay, lesbian and black characters through the years. I wonder if the OP has visited a rural NSW town? If you had you would discover that these towns don't generally have black, Asian or gay people there.
I have actually yes and sadly it is very white and devoid of diversity so in a sense H & A is portraying reality.
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Old 31-08-2014, 13:03
vaslav37
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How many times does somebody start one if these threads? H&A has had gay, lesbian and black characters through the years. I wonder if the OP has visited a rural NSW town? If you had you would discover that these towns don't generally have black, Asian or gay people there.
I have actually yes and sadly it is very white and devoid of diversity so in a sense H & A is portraying reality. I wouid say that there are gay people but more than likely they are closeted.
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Old 31-08-2014, 13:57
BadRomance
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I have actually yes and sadly it is very white and devoid of diversity so in a sense H & A is portraying reality. I wouid say that there are gay people but more than likely they are closeted.
I would say that most gay people would move to Sydney, especially the younger ones. Just as immigrants would mainly go to a bigger city
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Old 31-08-2014, 14:03
vaslav37
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I would say that most gay people would move to Sydney, especially the younger ones. Just as immigrants would mainly go to a bigger city
Or Melbourne.
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Old 31-08-2014, 14:09
lou_123
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Why is Home and Away ignoring diversity?

No LGBT characters or non white characters, is there a reason for this?
I noticed this, pretty poor!
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Old 31-08-2014, 14:15
BadRomance
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I was talking in a New South Wales context as that where H&A is set, but he's if it was Victoria then Melbourne.
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Old 01-09-2014, 03:37
Keeki
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Queensland is Australia's Texas. Big but full of idiots, racists & homophobes.
That is not true. What a horrible thing to say about Texans and Queenslanders. You're way out of line.
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Old 01-09-2014, 08:38
MARTYM8
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I have been to Australia twice and was shocked by how diverse it is, growing up on the soaps I never would've known. H&A is really behind the times and it's just a bit sad really that they don't feel the need to move the show forward in a representative way . Neighbours with a smaller cast has managed to.
Like the UK it depends where you go. If you visit London or Sydney you might think 50 per cent of the population was non white British or Australian. In reality in the UK nearly 90 per cent are of white British origin. You would expect more diversity in Eastenders but not in Emmerdale - although in east London communities are actually quite segregated!
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Old 01-09-2014, 08:54
dee123
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That is not true. What a horrible thing to say about Texans and Queenslanders. You're way out of line.
QLD is decades behind other states. Get back to me when the state has something as basic as daylight savings.
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