THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504280060
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
I'M NOT GOING to beat around the bush. I'm a man in my 20s and I'm hooked on soaps.
Rarely do we macho men admit it, but I know I'm not alone. Some of my male buddies - a chef, a senior in college and a data processor - watch soaps. The retired father of three and grandfather of four who lives next door to my parents is dedicated to the afternoon lineup. And once while I was in a car shop waiting room, a 60-ish man knew more about was going on on the shows than I and three women did.
So I'm going out on a limb today, confessing my addiction and subjecting myself to endless ridicule.
I remember the exact day I got hooked. It was in May during my sophomore year in college. ``The Young and the Restless'' came on after I watched the news. A woman (Lauren) was bound and gagged in the back seat of another woman's (Sheila's) car.
This was action, I thought, not a mundane love scene. I watched that episode and then the next to see what would happen with these women. There was a cliffhanger on Friday. I was hooked.
When Sheila moved from that soap to its sister show, ``The Bold the the Beautiful,'' I followed. Now I was up to two soaps a day. Meanwhile, two female friends told me the characters' histories. By fall, I was watching solo.
``General Hospital'' followed the next summer. I had watched that show when I was in elementary school. It took some reprogramming from my sister to bring me up to speed. It's her favorite soap, and now mine.
I don't watch every show every day (you don't always need to), but I get a bit perturbed if my mind is set on watching and I have to miss a show.
The O.J. brouhaha is a soap lover's nightmare. There's nothing more irritating than wanting to see your show but finding Judge Ito on your tape.
My fiancee shakes her head at me, but then, she used to watch ``Models Inc.'' It seems somehow more respectable to watch those nighttime soaps like ``90210'' and ``Melrose Place.''
I read soap magazines - Digest, Weekly, Magazine - for fun. Sometimes sales clerks will scan the magazine, look at me, narrow their eyes and ask, `Is this for you?'
Often, I lie, saying, ``Nooooo, it's for my sister.''
Like many people, I used to think that soap viewers were like Michael Keaton's character in the film ``Mr. Mom'' - crying every day, staring at the TV screen while ironing, curled up on the coach in a bathrobe stuffing their cheeks with bonbons and clipping supermarket coupons.
But as I became more immersed in daytime dramas, I found that was just one of the stereotypes.
People who do not watch the shows claim they're filled with sex, sex and more sex. That's another myth. There's no more sex in a soap than in the average nighttime show - well, maybe, the average Fox nighttime show.
Then there's the belief that the stories all revolve around amnesia, love affairs and mysterious illnesses. Sure, there are evil twins and women possessed by demons, but there are also realistic episodes about issues such as breast cancer and organ donation. And often the writing and acting are superior to the p.m. counterparts.
Yeah, they can be cheesy sometimes, but what other entertainment show can you watch every weekday without repeats? That rings especially true in the rerun-filled summer.
They're my way of relaxing after work. Simply put, it's mind candy. What better way to forget about deadlines than seeing whether B & B's Ridge will find out the wife he thought was dead is really alive? ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Larry W. Brown started watching soaps as a college student.
by CNB