I have a bit of a departure from my normal marriage blogs – though since this is an ever changing, ever evolving blog – I guess it wouldn’t necessarily be a departure from the “norm” so much as treading into new ground. Over the years, I’ve observed how our culture views marriage both in our literature and in our entertainment through movies and television.
The one model of entertainment that addresses marriage over and over again is the soap opera. For more than 50 years soap operas have been among the dominant forms of daytime entertainment and even rising to rule the primetime. One of the breakout shows of the last couple of years includes a show labeled Desperate Housewives and while I’ve never actually watched it – the title is indicative of discussing marriage or at least using marriage as a device.
Soap Opera Couples
While not citing characters like the much married Erica Kane or the interfamily marrying Brooke Logan, there are plenty of marriages that occur in daytime that range from the fairy tale to the super couple unions to the more ordinary characters and foundation marriages. For Days of our Lives that foundation marriage existed between Alice and Tom Horton – a marriage that many others aspire to. Another is Shawn and Caroline Brady – a couple that has certainly seen its ups and downs, yet remained together because they worked hard to do so.
In the modern soap opera, the genre has taken a beating over the last couple of decades, gone are the high numbers that were the norm of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s, There are many arguments regarding the whys and wherefores of the situation – but it’s changing tastes, cable television or a generation jaded by divorce and more that could be the turn offs.
The Future of Soap Opera Couples
What does the future hold for couples on daytime? The so-called super couples are not quite the modern envisioning of solid romance on daytime anymore. Many soaps seem to be giving up on trying to recreate a formula that was popular for its time. Instead, they are basing their couples around real relationships amidst extraordinary circumstances.
Marriages like that of Nicholas and Sharon Newman who persevered in spite of marrying at such a young age. It survived infidelities on both sides; as well as illness, threats, business, changing goals and the birth and death of children. In a decade, their marriage faltered, but regained footing as they struggled to live with each other because they did love each other – and love didn’t make it all better – it just made it a goal worth aspiring too.
Similarly, the marriage of Lucky and Elizabeth Spencer on General Hospital seems to be following a similar path. Though they have known each other for more than ten years and had their own share of ups and downs including his presumed death, they are doing their best to make their marriage work. They are making mistakes that are all to real to those of us who have seen couples struggle under financial burden, seemingly endless bad luck and the little lies that begin to creep out when we want to ‘protect’ the ones we love.
What This Means To Us?
The soap opera was never meant to truly reflect real life – but to enhance it through a multi-colored filtered lens. It requires emotional investment and a sense of kinship with the characters. Do we identify more with the anti-hero and mob wars or the couple struggling with their pride, their dreams and their own sense of where they should be?
What resonates better with us? The couples so busy trying to make life perfect that they begin to disconnect from each other or the couple who venture into lost cities or magical bottles or even far off fantastical destinations? If we care about the characters – if we can recognize aspects of ourselves in them – then they will resonate.
Marriage isn’t easy. It’s not easy to live in and it really isn’t easy to portray – just ask any viewer – they all have their opinions. They see the different sides. They agree with motivations or they don’t. Just like we bring our own personal experiences to our marriages so to do the soap operas offer us another perspective or viewpoint.
What truth of marriage have you seen played out on a soap?