Soap Opera's: Treasure Your Children, Because They'll Change Bodies, Change Faces, and Grow up Three Times Their Age in a Year

Soap Opera's: Treasure your children, because they'll change bodies, change faces, and grow up three times their age in a year

Soap Opera's "... tell the truth and show society as it really is..." (Geraghty 13). The soap opera is the most popular form of television programming in the world, and shows just how devious people are in spreading rumors and lies. The phenomenon evolved from the radio soap operas of the 1930s and 40s, emerging initially in the United States, and attracting a large following of predominantly female listeners.

Dorothy Hobson has researched the importance of gossip in the viewing of soaps. She interviewed a number of office workers who all claimed that talking about what they had watched the previous evening was as pleasurable as actually watching the program. Talk consisted of future anticipation, debate regarding the significance of certain events, analysis of character behavior and motives, and relation of this fictional world to real life (45). Christina Geraghty refers to gossip as the "social cement" that binds the narrative strands of soap opera together, uniting the television text with its fans. Gossip is now being regarded as active participation in the meaning-making that constitutes our very culture. Something incredible seems to occur among people who watch the same soap, as they become united in the spirit of common interest (33).

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Soap opera's are known for their drama and rumors that spread throughout the show like a plague. It's those rumors that keep the show running. Who would want to watch a show that with no drama? Soap opera's deal with the everyday lives of everyday people and their problems. However, the shows are more dramatic then real life situations because of the rumors, lies, and deceit that occur within them.

Passions is one of the newer soaps that aim's more so to teens because of the fact that it is new. One of the most dramatic scenes that I can remember from watching that show was when Whitney and Chad started dating. Things were great between them - even I was jealous. Eventually, news came about that Whitney's mother, Eve, had an affair with the hated Julian Crane many years ago and that they had a son together which they gave up for adoption when he was born; no one knew who the long lost son was. Although Eve was happily married to TC, she still had feelings for Julian, as he did for her. Without her knowing, he did some detective work and found out who his long lost son is - Chad. Whitney was dating her half brother. Of course, when news of this broke, all hell broke lose. People began talking and the rumors that began circulating devastated the family.

In most scenarios, the rumor may not be as serious and shocking as this one; however, this shows what the magnitude of what one rumor can do. Rumors can be found anywhere, including the movies and in print. No matter where the rumor is found, its intention is always the same - to inflict pain and suffering. No rumor is a good rumor.

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Who Are The Real Mean Girls?

Girls have always had cliques and hierarchies; they have always gossiped, bitched and ostracized. Girls are also easily persuaded, which means one rumor can ruin a girls life. In high school, more than at any other time in life, you are judged by your friends. There's a clique for almost every type of student - even the loners have their exclusive group. In the lunchroom, you are where you sit, and, if you don't fit in, you're not invited. The high school pecking order, which favors good looks and brawn over brains and glasses, dictates that jocks, cheerleaders, and would-be models are royalty, while members of the chess club are to be avoided as if they carry a social plague. Most students eventually happily settle into their niche, but even the most anti-establishment would be lying if they claimed never to toy with thoughts of what it might like to be popular. Because popularity means power, friends, dates, and favors, and when you're a teenager, what could be better?

Mean Girls introduces us to Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), a 16-year old girl who is going to high school for the first time. After being home schooled for most of her life by parents who traveled all around the world, Cady is finally getting a chance to enter a suburban Illinois hell of peer pressure and hormones. Her first day of high school is a total failure, but on her second day, she meets a Goth girl named Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and an overweight gay guy named Damian (Daniel Franzese). They teach her the ways of the school jungle, which, as it turns out, isn't that different from the African jungle where Cady spent most of her life growing up.

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Then, unpredictably, Cady is invited to sit at the table of the three "plastics" - the popular girls. Their leader, Regina (Rachel McAdams), isn't only the prettiest and most popular girl in school, she's also the biggest bitch on campus. She is followed by her two friends, shallow Gretchen (Lacey Chabert) and dumb Karen (Amanda Seyfried). For reasons of their own, the plastics decide to induct Cady into their small group. She's not interested, but at the urging of Janis and Damian, she goes along with it so she can sew the seeds of dissention from within. Meanwhile, Cady falls for tall, dark, and handsome Aaron (Jonathan Bennett), one of Regina's exes. This, along with Cady's growing popularity around school, creates friction within the plastics and eventually pits Cady against Regina. The ensuing battle includes numerous dirty tricks and nasty rumors.

The girls have something called a "Burn Book," in which they write the names of all the girls in the school and write down nasty rumors about them. When Regina and Cady start fighting, Regina writes something malicious about herself in the book and turns it in to the principal. All the girls, minus Regina, get in trouble and are forced to attend a group session where they admit to the rumors they have spread about people. Eventually, all the girls realize how stupid and hurtful it is to start rumors about people they don't even know.

I liked this movie because it was very realistic. I know in my high school everyone had their own clique, and they would make up things about people in other cliques for no apparent reason. This movie portrayed how high school is and how drama and rumors can affect a whole group of people, even when they are not friends. People

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gossip to feel superior and above the rest; gossip

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