Original Ideas Needed! By
Suzanne
I'm tired of hearing that couples on soap operas can't be happy because they're
boring. I think that's just an excuse for poor writing. No one wants their
couples to just be sitting around and doing nothing, but marriage can be
exciting and can have many problems without resorting to infidelity or huge lies
that can lead to divorce. Marriage has its ups and downs, and its happy and
unhappy times.
How about exploring domestic abuse, not as a 1-dimensional evil bad guy problem,
but someone with anger issues that has to learn how to control their behavior
through marriage counseling? I could totally see EJ and Sami getting physical
with each other. Heck, he raped her and she shot him in the head, so that would
be easy. There are many couples who stay together even though they might
sometimes smack each other. Not everyone who hits their spouse is totally evil.
These could be ground-breaking stories.
I loved Y&R exploring Sharon's mental problems and Billy's gambling, but they
take it too far. What about if someone who's rich decides they really like
gambling? Explore the idea that, is it a problem if they're rich and don't lose
that often, and never go to bookies? I knew a middle class man who used to go to
the race track a lot, or to Vegas to play poker, and he never was "addicted"
because he won enough and didn't go crazy on it. Was he "addicted"? If someone
is rich, I would think you would have to have quite a problem in order to lose
so much. But maybe his wife or kids would think he is addicted. Similar to the
recent storyline where Katie accused Bill of drinking too much. How about having
Ridge, after he comes back and reunites with Brooke, revealing that he started
gambling while he was away? Brooke thinks it's great when they jet off to Vegas
occasionally, but then she finds that he wants to go too often, or that he is
going to the race track a lot. Someone like Ridge wouldn't need to go to
bookies, either.
What about more mental illness? If one spouse is OCD that can be a big problem.
Say you have a young couple and one of them is very controlling and OCD, and the
other goes along with it for a while, but then it causes problems. Or how about
someone who refuses to get help for a medical or psychiatric problem?
These stories can be educational (like they used to do on soaps!). How about if
Hope and Wyatt on B&B get married and then she finds out that he's OCD?
What about if a young couple gets pregnant and decides they don't want to have
children? An abortion story where the couple is fine with it, but their friends
and family don't like it. I could see this happening with someone, like maybe
Abby on Y&R?
What if one spouse likes to go out to bars and restaurants, and the other one
likes to stay home? I've seen that happen a lot. What happens if one spouse
suddenly finds religion and the other is not interested? Or what if they
disagree on how to raise the kids? Or what if one of them is a shopaholic? What
if they have a family member who suddenly becomes very right-wing and have to
deal with them?
There are so many issues in marriage
that soaps could explore that would be more relatable
than the standard stories they always have about babies
and hopping into bed (or worse, serial killers).
We don't need to see the same stupid stories recycled
over and over. Yes, it's great when they are exciting or
sexy, but they don't all have to be so over-the-top.
Show some more romance, too. Couples can be happy
occasionally and have more date nights and romantic
times. These scenes are few and far between lately on
the soaps. Women watch soaps for the same reason
they read romance novels. We want romance and love in
our "stories".
I challenge the writers to come up with more original
and appealing stories that we can relate to! Keep our
couples together and happier!
Page updated 12/3/13
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