How Stereotypes Are Used in Soap Opera

NAME: Mark Cooper

STUDENT I.D: 1310994
COURSE: Television Production Year 3
SUBMISSION DATE: 22/1/2016
COURSSE NUMBER: UCA- RTVP6001
WORD COUNT: 8035

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION3
CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS SOAP OPERA?..5
CHAPTER TWO: STEREOTYPES AND SOCIETIES RESPONSE.11
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYZING TWO SOAP CHARACTERS AND THEIR
STEREOTYPICAL TRAITS...20
CONCLUSION..25
BIBLIOGRAPHY..26

INTRODUCTION
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Story telling is televisions forte everything is subject to interpretation by

television as a story-telling machine. (Thornham, 2004:66)
This dissertation will be an investigation and discussion into the ways in which
stereotypes are used and portrayed in Soap Opera programs, with the intention being to
explore their possible impact on viewers and society, and come to a conclusion about
whether or not they are beneficial when it comes to storytelling in the Soap Opera
genre.
The opening quote of this dissertation, written by Thornham is relevant to the subject of
this essay, due to the fact that Soap Opera is essentially a form of story-telling that
viewers can return to daily. They can become invested in the characters that are
portrayed in the program, and in a sense- grow attached to them, either because they
find them to be a relatable character, or because they enjoy baring witness to the
particular experiences and situations the character finds themselves in.
As Thornham suggests, anything broadcast via television is open to direct interpretation
by the viewer, and as such it is important to understand the effects that the broadcast
may have on the viewer- and society as a whole. This dissertation will be an exploration
into the kinds of stereotypes viewers are exposed to, as well as how these stereotypes
cause the viewer to react- both to the character and the soap opera as a whole. The
main intention is to build a deeper understanding of both the Soap Opera genre, and the
term Stereotype so that an idea can be formulated about whether or not the use of
Stereotypes in Soap Opera can benefit the way in which a story is told- or indeed,
hinder it.
Stereotype itself has become somewhat of a negative connotation in recent years,
with its usage often indicating a certain sense of unoriginality. However, in the world of
creative writing and generally anything where characters and personalities can be
formed and used in entertainment, the argument could be made that a character with
stereotypical traits makes them less complicated, and easier for viewers to recognize
and understand.

In the first chapter of this dissertation, the history of the soap opera genre will be
discussed, from its creation in the 1930s in the form of radio play to its evolution to the
televisual soap operas we have today. Taking key points from the text; The Television
Genre Book by Glen Creeber this chapters aims to provide a brief education on the
genre, and also an insight into what kind of effect the genre could have on popular
culture, and also the viewers that watch them.
The second chapter will be a discussion about what exactly the term stereotype
means. The definition of a stereotype will be analyzed, as well as there being a
discussion about some of the more popular stereotypes that are present and generally
accepted in society today. The effects that the portrayal of stereotypes has on society
will also be discussed. The aim of this chapter will be to come to a definitive conclusion
about exactly what a stereotype is using some more popular and well-known
stereotypes, as well as how Soap Opera as a genre could potentially use these
stereotypes in order to tell a story or make characters more understandable and
relatable to viewers. A major source of information in order to explore some of the more
well known stereotypes will be portrayals of stereotypes in popular culture, including
Hollywood films and cartoons.
The final chapter will be a case study of two soap opera characters that are considered
to either have stereotypical traits, or characters that have been created to actively
combat the idea of stereotypes. Audience responses to these characters will be
discussed, with the intention being that a clear conclusion will be formed about whether
or not the inclusion (or indeed exclusion) of stereotypical characters and traits leads to
more interesting, developed storylines or not.
The hope in discussing the above topics is that a deeper understanding of the genre will
be gained, as well as a more developed understanding of term stereotype, its usage in
popular media and the effects the portrayal of stereotypical characters could have on
viewers.

CHAPTER ONE: What is Soap Opera?

Around the world, there are many different kinds of soap opera, set in an assortment of
cultural backgrounds and environments, with a rich variety of characters- some
characters of which could be considered portrayals of modern-day stereotypes. In order
to explore the usage of these stereotypes, and whether or not they are beneficial in
telling the stories the writers want to tell, it is first important to understand exactly what a
soap opera is- including the purpose of its creation, how it has progressed into what we
consider a soap opera today and the potential effects the genre has on its viewing
audience.
Although we commonly think of Soap Opera as consisting of serialized narratives on
television, they did in fact originate in the form of radio dramas in the 1930s. Since
these radio dramas commonly occupied a day-time time slot, and were primarily
enjoyed by young women and house-wives while they performed tasks around the
home, corporations soon began to realize the potential commercial opportunities and
agreements were made to begin to advertise detergents and cleaning products targeted
specifically for this demographic.
It has been suggested that radio extended this narratives reach, allowing serial drama
to integrate itself into the rhythms and routines of the home and the (specifically female)
labor associated with it. (Creeber, 2008:60) Thus the term Soap was coined and is a
description, which has become a part of popular culture, and is still used to describe
televised serials to this day.
In what could be seen as a continuation of this marketing campaign which began in
2002, the company that created the washing powder Daz launched a series of short
advertisements to be played before the popular ITV soap Coronation Street which
were themselves filmed in the style of a Soap Opera called Cleaner Close, and
contained parodies of storyline situations that played out in real soap operas, such as a
mother discovering a piece of dirty laundry in her sons room. The mother then confronts
the son and his presumed girlfriend explaining that Daz tablets would make the whites
brilliant, before the girlfriend explains that the laundry wasnt hers, leading to the reveal
that the son has been having an affair. (DAZ, Cleaner Close- Grubby Affair, 2002) This
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campaign, although apparently a mere parody of the advertising of detergents and

cleaning products of the 1930s shows that the influence of these advertisements is still
recognized to this day.
The Opera part of the term Soap Opera is suggested by Creeber in The Television
Genre Book, that; The word served as a way of ridiculing the high-blown sentiments of
the programmes and their female audience, signaling a vulgar taste for overdramatic
excess. (Creeber 2008:60) This seems like an almost mocking way of portraying the
genre, and is quite a sign of the times that the mass-media believed at that point that all
women really wanted out of their entertainment was overdramatic excess. It is
however, important to consider that the time period in which the term Soap Opera
came about was not long after the Suffragettes Movement of the 1870s, a time period
where many men of authority believed that women should stay at home and wash the
dishes, and that women partaking in any form of entertainment deemed to be
intellectually engaging would be too difficult for them to understand (Suffragettes
Forever!, Episode 1. 2015) and a time period where women were fighting for equal
rights politically and in the work-force, something that we still see in effect in our modern
age.
One reason the Soap Opera genre could have been treated in a somewhat negative
way by men is because of their emotional and feminine content. (Blumenthal, 1997:92)
Men part-taking in the viewing of Soap Operas at the time of their creation would have
been seen as effeminate, a trait that was most certainly frowned upon in a time-period
where men were expected to be masculine, a pillar of strength and ready to go to war
and fight for their country and families when needed.
The idea of this kind of gender ideology is something that is firmly established in us as
humans at an early age, and studies have suggested that it is more socially accepted
that a female consumer should be attracted to products that are predominantly based
on physical attractiveness, nurturance and domestic skill, whilst a male consumer
should be more inclined to partake in something that is rated as violent, competitive,
exciting and somewhat dangerous. (Blakemore and Centers, 2005).

It could be argued however that the creators of soap operas have at least attempted to
quash this genre stereotype and expanded their storylines in order to appeal to a
potential male audience also. If we are to take Blakemore and Centers theory that
males are indeed more inclined to enjoy a product that is more focused on action and
which contains the typical traits associated with masculinity, we see that in recent years
the stories and plot-lines which are used in the soap opera genre have begun to
incorporate some of these aspects. For example, complex storylines such as the recent
Lucy Beale murder storyline of Eastenders saw many episodes with multiple suspects
and several confrontations for the killing of one of the characters. This is a far-cry from
the female-targeted storylines of soap operas beginnings, and seems to be an attempt
to incorporate some of the violent and dangerous story elements which Blakemore
and Centers suggest are appealing to a male audience.
It is also suggested by some Academics that the notion of it only being women that
consumed and enjoyed programmes of the Soap Opera genre in its early years is
potentially untrue, due to a lack of male employment at the time (which would allow for
men to spend more time listening to soap opera radio broadcasts), and the fact that the
first Soap Opera; Just Plain Bill featured a male protagonist (Adams, 1996). This
suggests that the idea of a male partaking in the enjoyment of what is considered to be
a female centered product at the time, is not unheard of- however, the marketing
directed towards women at the time, in conjunction with the lack of notable malecentered content in Soap Opera and general opinion of male attitude towards the genre
in that period suggest that it could have potentially been a niche male audience that
listened to the programmes.
Expanding upon the idea that soap opera (and media in general) had been used as a
vehicle to influence people in its early days (in this case female audiences) is a study
conducted by Elizabeth Frazer in 1987, in which it was suggested that girls who read
the British teen magazine Jackie found that when the medias version of reality
conflicted with the girls lived reality, the medias account was viewed as more credible
and legitimate. (Meyers, 1999:7). This idea is reinforced when the Hypodermic
Needle theory is taken into account. The hypodermic needle theory is the suggestion
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that mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on its viewing audiences
(Utwente, 2010) and if this is to be the case, it would make sense that soap opera would
be the perfect vehicle for people in corporate broadcast positions to- in effect teach the
way in which women should behave, and how families should operate, especially as
they recovered from the effects World War One had on society a mere 20 years before.
A key feature of Soap Opera that has been suggested is something that attracts an
audience is its realism. Realism is in essence a truthful, objective and impartial
representation of the real world (Nochlin, 1971:13), and can be seen not only in
television, but works of art, music and writing. It is no secret that the idea of realism in
television does attract a much larger audience in todays age, and this is evident with
the popularity of reality television programs that have experienced somewhat of a boom
in recent years. Programming such as Big Brother and The Family which showcase
intimate relationships between humans have become possible to film in recent years
partly due to the introduction and development of micro-recording equipment which
allows for the documentation of everyday mundane activities to be recorded and
broadcast to a much larger audience.
While proving to be a highly entertaining concept to a certain audience, this has led to a
much larger debate about how much of what is shown on reality television shows can
be considered real. It has been suggested that audiences will always be skeptical of
these forms of programming, and that they expect people to act up in order to make
entertaining factual television. (Hill, 2005:57) This generates the debate about how
much of what we see in peoples televised everyday lives are organic, and how much
are manufactured by producers artificially in order to create a much more entertaining
program. This is an issue that can be avoided with the Soap Opera genre however, as it
is entirely fictional, and viewers are fully aware of this. This means that creators can
keep their programing real in terms of showing the day to day lives of characters, but
can still create complex, manufactured scenarios in order to create a much more
compelling, entertaining story. For example, key moments such as characters arguing
or important events unfolding can be shown, but such mundane tasks as characters

using the bathroom, showering or sleeping can be completely disregarded, as they do

not in fact add anything to the story that is being told.
One-way in particular that realism is portrayed in soap opera is the timing in which each
story progresses and is told. One episode of a soap opera will generally showcase one
full day, and will often start with the characters beginning their day (eating breakfast,
getting ready for work etc.) and end with characters returning home or engaging in
activities that one would usually do towards the end of the day (visiting the local pub,
watching TV, speaking with the family etc.) It is also interesting to note that real life
events such as Christmas and New Years Day are also referenced and celebrated by
characters, adding yet another realistic aspect to the genre. While families are settling
down to eat dinner at Christmas, it is likely that characters in Soap Opera will also be
doing the same. There is very much a correlation between events happening in the
Soap Opera, and events happening in the real life world.
It has been suggested by academics however that realism is a slippery and often
confusing term in terms of television. It has proven to be so confusing that John Corner,
for example has suggested that it might be better abandoned as a critical term.
(Thornham, 2004:61) This is mostly due to the fact that achieving complete realism in
any given television production, including soap opera is impossible. Every situation
produced in television, from soap opera, to sports programs, and even news reports are
carefully manufactured and manipulated by producers in order to create a much more
organized and watchable piece of programming. After all, a truly realistic piece of
programing would have the same overall entertainment appeal as real life.
Something else that strongly defines Soap Opera is the dedicated fan base, which
actively engages with the genre in such a way that they could perhaps directly impact
the way in which the show progresses and develops. In fact, scholars such as Ford, De
Kosnik and Harrington have suggested that audiences have through organized internet
protests, on blogs or in massive letter writing campaigns, have affected the outcome of
a narrative or the direction of a show. (Ford, De Kosnik and Harrington, 2010:250) This
suggests that society (and in particular those that voice their opinions using online
social media and by contacting the soap production companies) does very much have
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an influence on the stories that are told in the genre. This suggests that Soap is- to an
extent- an interactive genre.
As we can see, Soap Opera as a genre has developed and evolved since its inception,
but it has still retained its raw original intent- to entertain. It could be argued whether or
not the story-telling techniques used in the genre are art imitating life or not, but the
sometimes formulaic storylines suggest very much so that the genre is intended to be a
reflection of the current social climate it is created in.
The subject of whether or not the genre was successful in being used as a vehicle to
ultimately sell cleaning products is something that could also be called into question and
debated, especially seeing as the Soap Opera genre and various cleaning product
manufacturers have both managed to flourish in their respective purposes in the 21 st
century, despite having little to no relation to each other in modern popular culture.

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CHAPTER TWO: Stereotypes and Societies Response.

The definition of a stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social
groups (Pascal, 2014), but the term can also be applied to other things such as
animals, objects, concepts and ideas. It is difficult to establish exactly how a stereotype
is formed, but there have been theories that it occurs due to a prolonged and repeated
act by a particular social group, and this could be attributed to several things- including
the way in which they dress, their personal interests, the acts which they commit, and
many more.
Stereotypes have existed forever, but in recent years the concept of identifying people
as stereotypes seems have hit a boom so to speak. Stereotypes to do with race, class,
gender, sexuality and personal interests have really become the topic of debate
recently, with many sects of society choosing to combat said stereotypes, and other
sects believing that the labels placed on the people with suspected stereotypical traits
are perfectly justified.
Some common stereotypical traits include such ideas as; women are emotionally
weaker than men, foreigners are scroungers, Muslims are terrorists and politicians
are corrupt, however, stereotypical traits can be either negative, or positive as
suggested by Mindiola, Tatcho, Niemann, Flores, Rodriguez and Nestor, who write;
stereotypes are positive or negative sets of beliefs held by an individual about the
characteristics of a group. (Mindiola, Tatcho, Niemann, Flores, Rodriguez, Nestor,
2002:19) Although positive stereotypes exist and are plentiful, it could be argued that it
is the negative stereotypes that can drastically affect the image of a particular individualor indeed the image of an entire social group.
As an example of how a stereotype can begin to develop and evolve over time, one
major stereotype that has become a part of popular culture is the stereotype that people
of an Asian background (particularly those from Asian countries where the religious
population is predominantly Muslim) are radical extremists, or terrorists. The link
between the terms Terrorist and Muslim have become popular mainly due to the
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influence of the terrorist groups; Al Qaeda and more recently; ISIS, and this has
become increasingly popular since the September 11th 2001 attack on the World Trade
Centers in America. This is evident when examining the ways in which societies attitude
towards racial profiling towards people of a Muslim background have changed since
these attacks.
For example, before the September 11th attacks, it was documented that American
citizens were strictly against racial profiling when it came to recognizing potential
terrorist threats, so much so that President Bush was said to have condemned the
practice as a means of finding terrorist suspects. Since then however, the public
consensus has changed to suggest that racial profiling is a good thing and necessary
for survival. (Volpp, 2002) This suggests that the public view of Muslims as terrorists
before the September 11th 2001 attacks and since those attacks, has changed
dramatically- so much so that the Muslim culture has in some way become more closely
related to the Terrorist culture. In fact, investigations conducted by academics have
produced results which suggest that after this time negative American stereotypes of
Muslims concerning violence and trustworthiness have become commonplace. (Sides,
Goss, 2013)
When one considers the fact that the I.R.A (Irish Republican Party) were notorious for
committing similar terrorist acts, using violence as a means of establishing their
authority as early as 1920 (Hart, 1999:21), many years before the September 11th
attacks, it is therefore strange that it is the Muslim community that is more commonly
associated with the act of terrorism rather than the Irish, despite the I.R.A committing
crimes against humanity many years before the initial attack that changed some
members of the publics perception of Muslims, evidencing just how volatile and
unpredictable the creation and development of a common stereotype can be.
The effect a stereotype can have on certain individuals can be seen when observing
current events. Even 14 years later, some members of society still actively believe the
Muslim-Terrorist stereotype. This is evident particularly with a recent case involving
Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old student in America who was arrested by authorities
after he brought in a homemade clock to show his teacher, which was mistaken for a
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bomb- leading to the boys arrest. The main reason for this misunderstanding was
believed to be because of Ahmeds Asian appearance, and the already rampant
stereotype within some social groups that all Muslims are terrorists. This led to an
uprising of people in support of Mohamed, who believed that the reason for his arrest
was bias towards his Muslim religion. (Reuters, 2015)
Public response to this event included trending topics on social media using the hashtag
IStandWithAhmed, which aimed to show solidarity between people of all races and
effectively expose certain members of the publics prejudice against people of the
Muslim faith. This shows one instance in which society has attempted to actively break
a commonly perpetuated stereotype, and shows one positive way that society can
respond. This case, along with the fact that there have been non-Muslim terrorists in
mainstream culture for many years backs up Hofstatters claim that a stereotype is
ideas for which the statistic validity hasnt been tested, although we nevertheless
nurture with a good degree of certainty. (Schweinitz, Schleussner, 2011:10)
A soap opera that works to portray (and essentially break) a Muslim stereotype is
EastEnders, which broke several cultural norms with its portrayal of a character called
Syed Masood (Marc Elliot), a controversial character who appeared in the Soap from
2009 to 2012. Syed comes from the Masood family, a family that is doing their best to
keep up their good name as a highly religious family.
This is thrown into disarray however when Syed decides to leave his girlfriend Amira for
Christian Clarke, and reveals that he is a homosexual. The reveal of his secret
sexuality leads his family (particularly his parents) to disown him as part of their Muslim
culture, and refuse to have anything to do with him or his partner Christian. (BBC, s.d)
The storyline aimed to add depth to Syeds character, adding the trait of homosexuality,
which is absent in what we would consider to be the stereotypical Muslim man, and it is
in this case that we discover that it is not Syed that is the stereotypical Muslim in this
storyline, but rather his parents. Rusi Jaspal writes Being gay in a heteronormative
world can be difficult and stressful, but for Muslims who identify as gay, life can be
particularly problematic. This is due primarily to negative social representations of
homosexuality within Islam (Jaspal, 2010).
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In an ideal Western culture, one would expect that parents would be supportive after an
individual discovering and coming to terms with their sexuality but Syeds parents
(partially due to their own intolerance of homosexuality, and mostly because it is an act
that goes against the teachings of the Koran) actually shun him and refuse to associate
with him any further due to the incurring embarrassment they suffer from other
members of their Muslim society. The parents going against a Western cultural norm of
the family being one of the most important things in life and instead choosing to follow
their religious teachings instead is a stereotype dating back many thousands of years.
In fact, the Christian bible gives an example of how much precedent religion should
have over family in its own telling of the story of Abraham, where Abraham is asked to
kill his son in the name of god to prove his loyalty. (Genesis 22:2)
Although the act of simply shunning your child is nowhere near as severe as actually
killing them, the act of showing complete and total disapproval of homosexuality is a
trait commonly associated with the Muslim community due to the recent influx of
mainstream news reports which feature the torture and killing of homosexuals in the
middle east, due to the fact that being gay is considered some kind of sickness and
often means death. (Hawley, 2015)
There was notable backlash from the public about Syeds portrayal in the show, which
occurred even before the gay story-angle was put in motion, with the actor portraying
Syed having to comment on whether or not the idea of a gay Muslim in Britain was even
possible. (BBC, 2009) The fact this had to be done suggests that the idea of a
homosexual Muslim is still a relatively new and confusing subject to a viewing public,
possibly due to the way in which the Koran, Ahadith and Sharia have stifled debate
about the topic (Ouzgane, 2006:202), allowing it to remain unexplored.
As well as cultural and religious stereotypes, there also exist Visual Stereotypesstereotypes that are assumed simply from the way a certain person or thing appears
visually. These stereotypes are usually assumed by an individual immediately upon
seeing the subject in question, without any deeper understanding of the subject, and
these are often used in cartoon shows and film in order to introduce the mentalities and

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personalities of characters immediately, without having to elaborate further on the actual

characteristics of the subject that has been introduced.
The 1999 spy-action-comedy film; Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is a
parody and homage to the countless spy-action novels and films that have been shown
in mainstream media throughout the years- particularly the James Bond series, which it
borrows plot elements from. Although James Bond and the rest of the cast of characters
(even the villains) are portrayed as being very classy, sexy and glamorous in the way
they speak, act and dress (often sporting tuxedos and driving extremely expensive
cars), Austin Powers parodies this idea by having its cast of characters being
describable as anything but.
Take for instance the Austin Powers character literally entitled Fat Bastard (One of the
many characters portrayed in this series by Mike Myers), a character where all the
commonly held character traits of the James Bond and other spy-movie characters are
taken and either skewed, or changed completely. For example, most James Bond and
Spy-Films contain very eloquent, physically fit, good looking characters that are always
well-dressed in order to personify a sense of aristocratic chic (McInerney, 1996:132) ;
Fat Bastard is portrayed as an obese, repulsive, assassin who often sports traditional
Scottish attire- complete with a kilt and Tam oShanter. These traits are used for
comedic effect, and are naturally the mirror opposite of what one would expect from a
villain in a Spy-movie.
Fat Bastards portrayal as someone that is extremely disgusting, sweaty, lazy and
constantly eating is a stereotype that has been associated with those individuals that
are obese through mass media, and the characters portrayal in the film further cements
the negatively perpetuated stereotype that people are fat because they eat, and theyre
unintelligent and disgusting because theyre fat. In a way, this could very much be
suggesting that the reason a person is fat is because of their own mistreatment of their
body through excessive eating and lack of physical exercise.
This is a stereotype that could have become somewhat of a cultural norm due to all the
connotations of fat people eating all the time in cartoons watched at an early age. For
example, arguably one of the most famous cartoon characters of all time- Homer
15

Simpson. Having been created in the 1980s, it is very possible that children growing up
could have been exposed to the programme The Simpsons, and as a result, could
have picked up on the character of Homer, an overweight unintelligent American who
has become famous for his massive consumption of food and drink (particularly the
fictional beer; Duff). William Irwin, writer of The Simpsons and Philosophy- The Doh!
of Homer goes so far as to suggest that Homers name has come to be synonymous
with his love of food and beer. (Irwin, 2001:11)
These characteristics of Homer being repeatedly brought up by other characters
virtually every episode and one of Homers catchphrases literally being mmm,
doughnuts- or a variation including another food or drink produce make strong
connections between Homer and his love of calorific foodstuffs to be the reason he is so
overweight.
Furthering the idea of fat people being fat because they eat a lot and characteristics
such as laziness and insolence being a fat-person stereotype implemented into the
mind at an early age is the extremely popular franchise; Pokmon. The core premise
of Pokmon comes from the idea of humans capturing and battling creatures of many
shapes and sizes in order for them to grow and evolve into much stronger creatures.
(Nintendo, s.d) Existing originally in video game format, the idea of being able to trade
these creatures with friends and battle them to see whose were strongest caused the
franchise to quickly become extremely popular with children and as a result, an
animated series was created.
The anime series too went on to be extremely popular, not only in the franchises home
country of Japan, but also in such Western countries as the United Kingdom, where the
viewership for the anime was several hundred thousand children. (Clements, 2013:179)
The outreach of the animated series primarily targeted at children) suggests that a lot of
influence could be put on them in the way the characters and situations in the stories
are portrayed. Case and point- the Pokmon character; Snorlax.
Snorlax is a Pokmon that is introduced in the Pokmon episode; Wake Up Snorlax!
The story for this episode revolves around the main characters Ash, Pikachu, Brock and
Misty on a journey and discovering that a river has become dry for some reason. Upon
16

further inspection the reason for the water being gone is revealed to be Snorlax, an
enormously obese Pokmon that has fallen asleep in the river, blocking the water from
passing.
During this episode, Snorlax is shown to be an incredibly lazy and deep sleeper, not
reacting to the crews attempts to wake him with an alarm clock, and proving to be too
heavy for a lifting machine to move. It is only when the beast is awoken with music that
it finally moves, and even then it is only to move on and gorge itself on food. (Pokemon
Vol 13: Wake up Snorlax!, 1999) This depiction of the creature is not only limited to its
appearance in the animated series, nor is it a trait only this particular Snorlax has, as
the Pokedex (A fictional encyclopedia in the Pokmon franchise which details
information on all the Pokmon species) in the video game Pokmon Stadium reads A
lazy Pokmon that gets continually fatter by sticking to a cycle of eating and sleeping.
Awake only when it eats. (Nintendo, 2000)
This idea reinforces the negative stereotype that fat people are fat due to their own
choices, including excessive eating and lack of physical activity, and since this
impression is made in the form of a childrens cartoon and videogames, it suggests that
this negative stereotype of overweight people could be formed in the human mind at an
early age, due to a lack of understanding of the many other situations of excessive
weight gain that are out of the persons control.
Public responses to more derogatory discussions about the situation of obesity
(particularly in the united states) have become rampant in recent years, with many
comedians being critiqued for their work incorporating obesity and their views and
opinions of obese people into their routines. One such circumstance is that of Web
Comedian; Nicole Arbour and her YouTube Video entitled; Dear Fat People in which
she engages in a 6-minute satirical tirade against fat people and why they should lose
weight. (Arbour, 2015) This video became extremely controversial when it was uploaded
in September 2015, garnering over 27 million views (As of January 2016) and becoming
an internet phenomenon, causing many other social media users and YouTube content
creators to release their own videos and comments showing agreement and

17

disagreement towards her comments made in her video, and attempting to educate her
on the many existing health reasons that an individual may be afflicted with obesity.
This fiasco even gained mainstream attention with Nicole herself being invited to
discuss her video and the backlash on the popular American television program; The
View, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg- in which she defended the comments she made in
her video and also addressed the public and co-hosts that were critiquing her on what
they saw as a poor attempt at comedy. (Nicole Arbour Discusses Her Controversial
Video on The View, 2015)
The public response to Nicoles prejudiced views of fat people (whether they are to be
considered humorous or not) suggests that a percentage of society believe that fat
people being fat because they eat is not a fair or rational stereotype to perpetuate in
todays society. This could be attributed to the medical advances that have been made
in recent years, with correlations being made between obesity and many other factors
beyond an individuals control, including testosterone deficiency, slow metabolic rates
and other diseases that inhibit the burning of calories. (Hiwale, s.d) Another potential
reason for this public response is that the number of obese people populating the world
is increasing.
Roberts and Edwards make a point in Energy Glut: Climate Change and the Politics of
Fatness that worldwide over a billion adults are overweight and 300 million are obese
Government scientists predict that by 2050 more than half of the UK population will be
obese, making the UK a predominantly obese society. (Roberts and Edwards, 2010:2)
These startling facts suggest the very real possibility that overweight and obese people
being equal or being in the majority could very much become a reality, and if this is to
be true it makes sense that an individual would be much more inclined to be against any
negative stereotyping and hatred being made about obese-people, as the chances are
the individual may have a family member or friend who is obese, or may very well be
obese themselves.
Type-cast actors have spoken out against the way certain stereotypes and sects of
people are portrayed on television too, including Idris Elba, who is publically petitioning
for more diversity in television. In a speech, Elba suggests that the TV world helps
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shape our real world- its the window into our world (Elba, 2016), heavily implying that
the portrayal of stereotypes on television does indeed have an impact on the way
society perceives the people and groups around them.
In this chapter we have explored some possible reasons that a stereotype may come
about and how it may develop and have touched upon some of the more negative
thoughts and opinions people may have about those stereotypes, as well as exploring
some of the impacts and effects the perpetuation of these stereotypes may have on
society. Of course, there are many other kinds of stereotypes that are easily
recognizable, but the sheer amount would make it impossible to discuss all of them in
this dissertation alone.

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CHAPTER THREE: Analyzing Two Soap Characters and Their Stereotypical

Traits.
With the knowledge of exactly what the purpose of a soap opera is as a genre, and a
much clearer comprehension of what constitutes a stereotype, how a stereotype is
created and developed and the potential ways a society reacts when presented with
these stereotypes, we can now begin to specifically target and analyze two particular
soap opera characters and explore exactly how their stereotypical traits have been used
to further storylines in their respective shows.
The first character we will be analyzing is arguably one of the most famous soap opera
characters in UK history; Phil Mitchell. The character of Phil Mitchell debuted in the
EastEnders soap opera in 1990 and was portrayed by Steve McFadden. The character
of Phil was created at a time when societies perception of masculinity was slowly
changing. The 1980s celebrity scene and popular culture is often depicted as being
flamboyant and somewhat camp, and as a result, it makes sense that the characters
depicted in Soap Opera would follow in suit.
However, the early 1990s marked a change in direction for the EastEnders soap, as Phil
Mitchell and his brother Grant were introduced due to the Executive Producer; Michael
Fergusons desire to introduce more recognizable, gritty characters in order to portray a
more realistic depiction of modern life in London. (everything.explained.today, s.d) This
change in direction makes perfect sense when taking into consideration certain points
detailed in chapter one of this dissertation, including the theory of realism in relation to
Soap Opera. Introducing a character such as Phil Mitchell, who is shown to be a very
gritty, boisterous criminal East End hard nut who punches first and thinks later (BBC,
sd) suggests that the state of London at the time of the characters introduction was
perhaps a very violent and crime-ridden one.
However, reviewing historical crime data from the early 1990s reveals a relatively low
crime statistic in London in comparison to crime statistics in other surrounding areas of
the UK (Home Office, 2015) suggesting that the introduction of Phil Mitchell (and his
brother Grant) may have been for a reason other than to reflect the kind of place
London was.
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A potential reason Phil may have been introduced at the time he was, is because of the
Soap Opera industries intention to market their product to a much wider audience. As
discussed previously, the assumption is that a Soap Operas audience will be female
(Brunsdon, 1981) and historically, feminine characters and situations will be introduced
in order to cater to that demographic (as evidenced by the cleaning product campaigns
included in the genres early years, and the many love-stories and drama that is involved
in soap opera storylines.) Introducing strong, manly lead males like the Mitchell
Brothers, and having them involved in criminal activities and primarily masculine
situations could be seen as an attempt to attract a larger male audience that may feel
more of a connection to these types of characters than the more emotional and feminine
characters that the genre was known for.
Another thing to consider is the state of mainstream media at the time. Hollywood action
movies starring masculine male characters such as Die Hard (Bruce Willis), The
Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), and crime-drama films such as The Krays (Gary
and Martin Kemp) were massive box office hits due to their overly masculine male leads
and gritty, action packed storylines, which (as suggested by Blakemore and Centers) is
something believed to appeal highly to a male audience. Therefore, it seems feasible
that the creation of the Phil Mitchell character was potentially the EastEnders creators
way of introducing a male lead which would appeal to a male viewer, therefore
increasing viewership and catering to a larger, more diverse demographic.
Phil Mitchell- and by extension his brother Grant, embody many aspects of the bully
stereotype, both in the way they look, and the way in which they act. There are however
aspects to Phil which suggest a deeper character than the one commonly associated
with the bully stereotype. The popular bully stereotype according to studies in the field
of social development is a powerful, but oafish person with little understanding of
others. (Sutton, Smith, Swettenham, 2001) At first glance, Phil does possess these
traits. Appearance-wise, Phil is a broad, shaven-headed, steely eyed man who virtually
never smiles. He also speaks with a commanding, aggressive voice and has been
shown to use his strength and size to overpower and threaten several other characters

21

in order to get what he wants. This is particularly evident when examining an on-going
feud Phil has with another character, Ian Beale.
On many occasions Phil Mitchell has been shown to be extremely aggressive towards
Ian, and often intimidates him with violence (or indeed the threat of violence) in order to
get his way, on one occasion even flushing Ians head down a toilet. (Eastenders,
2009). Phils association with violence is something that also suggests that the
character was being targeted towards a male audience, as violence is often depicted as
being a very masculine act. (Edwards, 2006:45)
Despite Phils violent nature and ability to use force to influence the people around him,
this is simply not enough to label Phil as a bully stereotype, as according to the
definition of a bully given by Sutton, Smith and Swettenham, Phil would also have to
accommodate the trait of being an unintelligent oaf in order to be classed as a bully.
There is enough evidence to suggest that Phil is not an oaf and actually has incredibly
good understanding about the ways in which other people operate, often doing things to
hurt people mentally, rather than physically, such as selling his mothers beloved pub for
5 to spite her. This suggests that Phil is either not the Bully stereotype at all, and is in
fact a clearly defined, individual character that merely possesses some stereotypical
traits. Furthering this argument that perhaps Phil isnt a bully stereotype, is the fact that
Phil has managed to create and maintain intimate romantic relationships on many
occasions and has also managed to create his own businesses, something that is not
expected for an oaf to be able to accomplish.
Responses to Phils character have been overwhelmingly positive during his duration in
the soap. Despite being a character with extremely shady and nefarious tendencies,
Phil has garnered quite a fan-base, and the actor portraying him has even won an
award for playing the character during his time on the show. (BBC, 2001) This suggests
that stereotypical characters (or at least, characters that possess some stereotypical
traits) can be used effectively enough that they become likable enough to command a
viewers attention, and therefore become a valuable asset to the soap opera.
The second character that we will be addressing is Coronation Streets; Tracy Barlow
(portrayed by Christabel Finch, Holly Chamaret, Dawn Acton and Kate Ford). For the
22

purposes of this discussion, only the most recent incarnation (Kate Fords Tracy Barlow)
will be analyzed, as it is the most recent incarnation with seemingly the most defined
character.
Tracy Barlow is an extremely selfish and narcissistic character, and this is shown
prominently through her obsessions with material possessions and power, as well as
her manipulation of her romantic partners. In a sense, she is a perfect example of the
bitch stereotype- a stereotype which has been suggested is a woman who does not
abide by societal definitions of sex-appropriate behavior and suggested by feminists as
a term applied to women who adopt the male prerogative of being goal-directed, blunt,
direct, and arrogant. (Coyne, Sherman, OBrien, 1978) These traits can be seen at
work with Tracy in certain ways she communicates and the ways she operates, often
striving to further her business ventures by any means necessary, and also having
minimal female friends due to the way she treats them- with absolute disdain.
Despite Tracys apparent contempt for others, it is very rare that she will come to
physical blows with her adversaries, instead resorting to indirect aggression in order to
hurt others. This has been described by scholars as something girls learn to do at an
early age, with Natalie Angier suggesting, girls do not often engage in physical fights
(Angier, 1999:265) and Girls learn to hornet-talk, mastering curse words and barbed
insults. (Angier, 1999:266) Angier goes on to describe this ability as being one that
females learn quite early in their development cycle as children, which suggests that
Tracy is quite a childish person, or that she feels the need to bring down the people
around her in order to disguise her own inadequacies.
Much like Phil however, Tracy cannot be fully described as a bitch stereotype due to
some other stereotypical traits she posses for other stereotypes. As previously
mentioned, the bitch stereotype is often associated with the male traits of being goaldirected, blunt, direct and arrogant (as suggested by some feminists) and yet Tracy still
retains many traits that one would expect from a genuinely caring and maternal mother.
A basic female instinct in regards to offspring, according to Walters is care for the wellbeing, fear for their ill doing, the grief for their sickness and their insufferable sorrow for
their death (Walters, 2006:20), which one wouldnt usually associate with the bitch
23

stereotype. Tracy retains all of these traits in regards to her daughter; Amy, whom she
has been known on several occasions to care about the welfare of, making sure she
has regular contact with her father (whom Tracy has divorced) and making sure that she
has everything needed in order to nurture and ultimately look after her daughter.

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CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, it is difficult to give a definitive answer as to whether or not the creation
and usage of stereotypes in Soap Opera is a bad thing, or a good thing. Of course,
given the negative connotations perpetuated by some stereotypes discussed in Chapter
2, it would be easy to simply come to the conclusion that any portrayal of a stereotype
which could be construed as being offensive, derogatory or just plain untrue is bad, and
should be avoided, but as evidenced by the success and likability of villainous
characters with traits that are considered stereotypical, this may not particularly be the
case at all.
It is difficult to even pick out a character from any soap that is a complete stereotype,
and this is mainly due to the way in which the genre is filmed. The serialized narrative
style of the genre allows- and indeed commands the need for characters to develop and
effectively evolve over time as they are involved in new storylines, meet other
characters and are placed in new situations in which we get to see them react. The fact
soaps are shown daily allow for this evolution to take place over a period of time, and
the fact a characters day to day life can be orchestrated and shown to viewers due to
the ongoing style the soap is filmed in, it becomes difficult for a character to remain a
stereotype.
Of course, a character can retain some stereotypical elements (such as Phil Mitchell
continuing to bully Ian Beale whilst being intelligent enough to run a business and
maintain a relationship) but from analyzing various characters from British Soap
Operas, it is exceptionally difficult to find a character that has been a stereotype since
its inception and has continued to be portrayed as a stereotype throughout the
characters development, making it virtually impossible to deduce whether or not the
usage of a character stereotype in soap opera is an effective way of creating a
character the viewer can immediately recognize or not.
The lack of any definitive stereotype appearing in a soap opera for any extended
amount of time makes it incredibly difficult to form an argument as to whether or not a
pure stereotype would be a successful in terms of helping tell stories or be likable and

25

relatable to an audience, or indeed that it would be beneficial to the soap opera genre in
any way.

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