Assignment 3-1: Weekly Analysis 3

This week we are looking at rituals and stereotypes. One of the examples that Browne describes is a look at stereotypes in Soap Operas (2005). Having enjoyed Soap Operas on and off throughout the years, I think that not only can they represent stereotypes, they also feature rituals.

General Hospital is probably the Soap that has the most implicit stereotypes with the show focusing on a few core families. The Corrinthos and Zacchara families have mob ties. You have Sonny, the mob boss, who gives orders but rarely gets his hands dirty. Jason Morgan, Sonny’s protégé, often portrayed as the hit man but who also has to take the fall for his boss/father figure. It is typically the women and children used as bargaining chips in mob dealings, so of course we have damsels in distress. There are the police who keep trying unsuccessfully to bring down the mafia empire and two smart, savvy female attorneys in dress suits and heels who face off in court and in public (because you know how catty women can’t separate business from personal, right?)

We have the Quartermaines who are the poster-children for the American dream, earning a fortune in some business or another. If you’re a Q and your not part of business world, you are most likely a successful doctor. If neither occupation applies, you are cast out as a black sheep (anyone remember Eddie Maine or AJ?). There are the angelic women like Elizabeth, the nurse and mother, who always plays the martyr. Then, there are the vixens who hop from job to job, and bed to bed. Those are just a few of the stereotypes found in General Hospital, which is now centered more around the mob than the hospital for which it is named. Maybe the concept of the mob is to send more people to the hospital?!

Soap Operas often portray family rituals and society rituals. We rarely see characters in their everyday rituals, getting up, going to work, making dinner because that’s not what drives storyline. On occasion we do witness rituals that are meant to initiate, establish, or solidify relationships. For example, during the holidays on Days of Our Lives each member of the Horton family places their ornament with their name on it on the tree. For family members who are not present, someone else will place it on the tree and say something to acknowledge that character whether that character is written off or dead. It not only makes us feel closer to the current characters, but also acknowledges the history of the show and the fans who’ve stuck by it for so many years. Then of course there are the normal soap rituals: weddings, funerals, demonic possessions, and the Phoenix (Stefano) rising from the dead every few years.

References:
Browne, R. (2005). Profiles of Popular Culture: A Reader. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.

The Days of Our Lives clip is representative of the Horton family Christmas eve ritual.



Actually, this clip is typical of GH having a huge tragedy just in time to take us into Fall sweeps (the height of the ratings season), but I've never seen the Carnival theme quite like this. I did noticed it featured the characters that factor into the mob storyline.