Q. How has british culture changed in the last quarter of the century?
A. 20-25 years ago, the royal family dominated the media for example they would be on the front cover of a newspaper/have the first couple of pages. Now celebrity cultures take over the media, everyone has lost interest in the royal family and are now more interested about celebrity gossip. This has also affected soap operas in some sort of way such as for example 20 years ago a whole episode would be devoted to the royal family for example: the royal wedding. There is a contrast with the different plots and story lines and people who played in soap opera’s for example: people with mental disabilities, homosexual’s and a varied selection of ages, from a toddler to an elderly character.
Q. If britain is now a multi-cultural society, do we see evidence of this in british soap operas?
A. Yes, for example in Eastenders there is a common example of an british immigrant from trinidad and tobago called Patrick, his back story is a based on significant non-fiction events, for example he came over to England from Trinidad, this acts as a common stereotype of how foreign nationals immigrate to western countries to find work and provide for their families back home, this is a regular occurrence in modern day britain. However a recent study by the cultural diversity network found that people thought that ethinic minorities are under-represented in some of the main genres of UK television.
Q. Do minority cultures feel as represented in soaps as majority cultures?
A. No, because the mainstream soaps are mainly targeting the majority cultures because they are the most common, therefore meaning the audience can relate better to them, this is due to the fact that they include stereotypes that are common in modern day society. A recent survey on members of the british public found that a high percentage were of the opinion that minority cultures are underrepresented in the main british soaps. there tends to be a wide range of ethinic groups in soap operas however some are more represented than others.
Q. What impact has the development of other sub-cultures (youth culture etc) had on british soap operas?
A. Over the last few years, there has been an increase in younger characters in british soaps such as Eastenders, this is considered to be due to the development in youth culture, for example in Eastenders, a storyline enrolled some of the younger characters into a local gang, it showed how stressful it was for those who had been forced to join a gang, with the protagonist feeling guilty for committing crimes such as stealing, it also included events that were related to everyday recent events such as a murder, in the soap, a man gets murdered when he gets in confrontation with a local gangster, which linked in well at the time because there was a story in the news in which someone had been murdered, the producer used this as an opportunity to link reality with the show.
Q. What other cultural changes have also had an impact on british soap operas?
A. Current affairs have had a significant effect on british soap operas, for example the general election, some of the characters may be casted as supporters of a certain political party, maybe in some scenes a disagreement could happen between the two opposing groups. Another factor could be the characters supporting different football teams, for example in Eastenders the vast majority of characters support West Ham, where as the minor few support Arsenal, in the past this issue has arisen and caused conflicts.
