Evolving Themes - Changing with the Times

By: Laura Onofrio

A dominant storyline that was present in radio soap operas and continues to persist in television dramas is that of the poor serving the rich. Despite the prominence of plotlines based on conflicting social status there have been several efforts towards better representations of each economic class. The humanization of socio-economic classes began with Agnes Nixon's creation of One Life to Live in 1968. Nixon used ethnic, economic and social diversity to develop her characters (Matelski: 1988:26). The success of this formula resulted in new and established soaps to incorporate it to give a more realistic representation of ethnic and social class groups. In early radio, most characters were considered middle class. Announcers described their homes, dress, and communities as simple and not overly impressive (Matelski: 1988:21). Audiences responded most favorably to middle class characters as they were able to identify with them, their goals and their ambitions. In television soaps most characters belong to the middle class although it is not uncommon to have families or characters of extreme wealth and power as well as characters at the other extreme of the working or lower class. The soap an opera genre has always incorporated the theme of class and has always emphasized their character's class position as well as the amount of power they hold. Class is a device that is used to develop a character's profile and help familiarize the audience with the personality of the character.