This week we were suppose to talk about the old soap cliche of coming back from the dead, but instead we'll talk about that next week. This week an interesting question was posed and I wanted to explore the topic a bit further. The question that had been posed was why do soaps shy away from having their characters be athletes.
It's a good question, for all of our talk about diversity this is one group that is over looked. Imagine all of the drama that could result from having one of the characters be an athlete. There are so many opportunities for high drama and some comedic moments that it is puzzling to understand why produces don't see it the way we do.
Imagine if All My Children's Bianca were a lady golfer. OK yes that may be stereotypical but how easy would it be for writers to say this story isn't working and send her off on a tournament until they can get together a story that works for the character. No one has to die, and no one has to move back to Europe inexplicably.
Remember November of last year? A story unfolded that captivated our nation and the world. Yep I'm bringing Tiger Woods into this. The story stated simply enough, a routine car accident it quickly turned into a scandal of epic proportions. Woman after woman came forward and admitted to having sex with the golf superstar. This could be said of any athlete, why did Days Of Our Lives opt to make Sami's new love interest a federal agent rather than a football star brought to Salem by the local team. In a timely twist maybe EJ would find out that Rafe is married and bring the wife to town.
Likewise The Young and The Restless could make one of their characters, maybe the soon to be exiting JT could find out that he is really good at tennis. When (if) he returns it could be among accusations of drug usage. In a glorious twist he tests positive for steroid use but the audience learns that ex wife Victoria has been drugging him, or paid someone to drug him.
With such a plethora of story available to them, writers and producers would be wise to look into using athletes as characters to enliven and shake up the shows.
It's a good question, for all of our talk about diversity this is one group that is over looked. Imagine all of the drama that could result from having one of the characters be an athlete. There are so many opportunities for high drama and some comedic moments that it is puzzling to understand why produces don't see it the way we do.
Imagine if All My Children's Bianca were a lady golfer. OK yes that may be stereotypical but how easy would it be for writers to say this story isn't working and send her off on a tournament until they can get together a story that works for the character. No one has to die, and no one has to move back to Europe inexplicably.
Remember November of last year? A story unfolded that captivated our nation and the world. Yep I'm bringing Tiger Woods into this. The story stated simply enough, a routine car accident it quickly turned into a scandal of epic proportions. Woman after woman came forward and admitted to having sex with the golf superstar. This could be said of any athlete, why did Days Of Our Lives opt to make Sami's new love interest a federal agent rather than a football star brought to Salem by the local team. In a timely twist maybe EJ would find out that Rafe is married and bring the wife to town.
Likewise The Young and The Restless could make one of their characters, maybe the soon to be exiting JT could find out that he is really good at tennis. When (if) he returns it could be among accusations of drug usage. In a glorious twist he tests positive for steroid use but the audience learns that ex wife Victoria has been drugging him, or paid someone to drug him.
With such a plethora of story available to them, writers and producers would be wise to look into using athletes as characters to enliven and shake up the shows.
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