Ethnicity in Soap Operas

Ethnicity in Soap Operas

Soap Operas are serial dramas set in a domestic setting; they deal

with many everyday issues in a familiar surrounding to ones which

their audience will live in. They are very character based and the

plots often rely on the actions of one or more characters. Normally

the characters are very stereotyped and are easy for the public to

label as a specific group.

In this essay I will be exploring whether the stereotypes and

ethnicity portrayed in such shows are accurate, how they are portrayed

and if it is effective. I will also be looking at whether real-life

issues are shown in these soaps, and how they are conveyed to the

audience. The two soaps I will be looking at are 'Coronation Street'

and 'EastEnders'.

'EastEnders' is a soap created by the BBC for BBC 1. It has been

running since 19th February 1985, it was originally shown twice a week

at a peak viewing time and gradually increased to four with a two our

omnibus on Sunday. The show is targeted at all ages as everybody has a

character they can identify to.

'EastEnders' is set in the fictional East London town of Walford; it

deals with real-life storylines including crime, marriage and

unemployment amongst many others. The soap is set around 10 main

families all living around Albert Square and their day-to-day goings

on. It can be anything from a comical to sad programme depending what

is going on in the square at the time, but generally 'Walford' is not

a pleasant place to live. The opening of the soap is basically a

turning overhead view of London with the title of the show on it; it

only shows you where the programme is set and the name of it, not much

else.

This soap represents views which affect us as a nation from the view

of somebody watching the events go on, it has the normal stereotypes;

there are thugs, single mothers, teenage mothers, widows and token

black and Asian families to represent a cross section of people in