Are Soap Operas a Waste of
Time?
DR. WALLACE: Once in a while, I find myself joining my
mother to watch soap operas on television. She's addicted to them and says they
teach wonderful lessons on how to cope with life's problems. I find the soaps
entertaining, but somehow I feel guilty when I watch them. I sense I'm wasting
time, which could be spent on something more constructive. How do you analyze
the soaps -- interesting and educational, or a waste of time? Why are females
the ones who watch soaps? Have you ever watched a soap? -- Margo, Detroit.
MARGO: I can honestly say that I've never watched a soap
opera, so my opinion is not based on first-hand experience. Since soap operas
are shown during the prime afternoon time slots -- and since I was an educator,
and my prime time was dedicated to my educational profession -- soap operas were
not my top priority.In fact, watching any program during the day would be, for
me, a waste of time, so I'd have to include watching soaps a waste of time.
It's a misconception that only females watch soaps, by the
way. Many males are also wasting a lot of time waiting to see if "Linda and Bill
will find true happiness by leaving the big city and moving to a small desert
town." Soaps are so addictive that the major networks find it extremely
difficult to pre-empt them for breaking news stories.
But maybe the soaps do
serve a useful purpose. I'm also told that crime rates in many cities drop
during the most popular daytime shows -- suggesting that even crooks are
soap-opera fans!
MOM AND DAD LOVE EACH OTHER, BUT THEY SQUABBLE
DR. WALLACE: My mom and dad squabble a lot even though they
love each other very much. Most of the squabbles are small, but occasionally
they really hang one on. When they do, they both try to get me to side with
them.
I almost always side with my father and that makes my mother angry. I
don't like that, but I have to be honest when they ask me who's right. To make
things worse, my dad always gloats when I side with him and that makes my mom
doubly upset.
What can I do to make my dad stop gloating when he wins and
to stop my mom from being so angry? When I side with Mom, she doesn't gloat and
my dad doesn't get mad. That's why I'm happy when Mom wins, but that doesn't
happen very often. -- Referee, Cumberland, Md.
REFEREE: When you referee your parents' squabbles, you place
yourself in a no-win situation, as you have discovered. They're using your
opinion as the "prize," which is childish and foolish. There's little you can do
to make your parents behave more sensibly, except make yourself scarce the next
time a fight breaks out.
Once they learn they'll have to resolve their own
arguments, maybe they'll start dealing with the underlying causes. And let's
hope they start getting along better.
Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from
readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will
answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at rwallace@galesburg.net.
To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators
Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at
www.creators.com.
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