Noticing how people talk about soaps, get so serious and involved like they are actually real people and it's all real..

Anyone think soaps are a great way to escape the Real World? and they are on EVERYDAY for people to forget their problems..

Sometimes I watch the soaps for escapism but end up being reminded of my problems if they are covering a similar topic to what's going on in my actual life. Doesn't help when soaps have a happy ending to the problem and I don't lol.

Yes, I suppose they can be. For me they're like fictional books, they're like another world that you "jump into" to watch what's going on. I suppose this could be said for anything on TV where there's acting.

I think you could class Hollyoaks as escapism, due to its over the top/sensationalism style. How many villages apart from Midsomer do you know consist only of serial killers?

I feel recently that Casualty has even come under the escapism route for its melodrama style of writing.

In the whole they' re escapism. Especially in ED, the scenarios tend to be larger than life. Thanks said when they do address real issues, if it's s something I' ve experienced I can find it very hard to watch.

I only watch Emmerdale and do look upon it as escapism on the whole. However occasionally a storyline hits a nerve, eg mental health problems (I have them) and the current Ashley dementia storyline (my grampa had Alzheimers and there are similarities between that and vascular dementia). They're done so realistically that I do find them difficult to watch - it just shows how well they're done.

Yes, Hollyoaks is the best soap IMO!

Yes, but only when they find that pleasant balance of realism. Not too unrealistic (like murderers living in every 2nd house) but not too realistic where its like watching the news (cue storyline on the latest disease or social issue). When they are somewhere between those its a really nice escape to get involved in for 30 mins, especially Emmerdale due to the picturesque backdrop.

I should've mentioned Home and Away.... As much as I love it, it isn't the family, love and warmth serial it once was.. Now its full of guns, drugs, gangs and families with secrets.. but it's our escapism haha

I had this exact discussion with Shrimpy down Bridge Street market the other day.

Thanks.

Yeah Emmerdale is great

I think they are a form of escapism but also try to relate to real life. For example, depression - most people know of someone who has struggled with depression, if not themselves.

The fact that soaps often offer helpline phone numbers at the end of an episode, relating to issues covered, tells me they are trying to be realistic to some degree.

Part escapism and part I'm glad my life's better than theirs these days. I used to love the daytime USA soaps for real escapism, turkey baster pregnancies, twins back from the dead, evil conniving people v complete innocents, fortunes made and lost in two episodes, those were real soaps

It's much better when soaps are being a bit escapist with nonsense storylines rather than getting bogged down with boring real-life issue box ticking storylines.

Yeah it's escapism but I wouldn't bother watching a programme about the lives of everyday people if I didn't want to become invested in at least some of the characters' lives/problems etc!!
For me, I never confuse soap with reality but I want to be taken on the same emotional journey that the character I am watching is taking, at least for the half hour while I'm watching, otherwise I don't see the point watching at all!!