Eastenders 30th

[Julia]

My girls are so excited! My son & I are not!
I KNOW I'm going to sound like Karl Marx here but soaps are like an infestation or a fungus, which if goes unchecked threatens to consume the networks. You can already see the effect they've had.
The complexities of life are glossed over in favour of an orgy of bitterness, hatred and infidelity.
Many viewers and producers of soaps will argue that they are a true reflection of life. This can be easily discredited, simple ask yourself when was the last time anyone in a soap talked about football? Last night's television?Music? The weather? House prices, war or even a soap? Get my point??
We used to laugh at the absurdity of American's super soaps Dallas and Dynasty, but our own soaps now closely mirror our American cousins.
Producers of soaps are laughing all the way to the bank - this is the voyeur's charter which takes no effort for maximum profit.
I find the current trend towards more and more soaps and their general content, both pitiful and disturbing. The story lines become increasingly bizarre in an attempt to attract or retain viewers.
More worryingly, what does it all say about the perceived mentality of the viewing audience? A number of random points:
- How can children, fed on a diet of appalling cockney accents in Eastenders, not to mention the equally appalling use of grammar, be expected to grow up with a proper idea of "correct" English usage?
- Why are scriptwriters so fond of trotting out the same tired scenarios? E.g. one person has some really bad new to impart to another - the proposed recipient won't stop yapping, or a third party comes in to the room at the crucial moment....etc.....etc...
Their enormous popularity, meanwhile, raises the dread thought that our former government leader (Mr Major) fulfilled his ambition after all - the creation of a classless society (i.e. one without taste or style).
We're just too dumbed down to realise what's happened, at least where our viewing habits are concerned.