SEX, LIES AND SOAPS
PROGRAMME 1: SEX
OVERVIEW
Over the last 20 years, issues of sexuality in soap opera have always been the focus of media attention, from the launch ofEastEnders in 1985 with the pregnancy of both mother and teenage daughter Fowler, to the recent Hollyoaks storyline involving a relationship between a female teacher and her under-age pupil.
Soaps have broken new ground in exploring issues previously seen as taboo, particularly pre-watershed; EastEnders featured the first male gay soap relationship way back in the mid 80s, while the now defunct Brookside screened the first lesbian kiss to huge furore in the early 90s. Both these storylines have acquired classic status as evidence of soap's power to liberalise and promote tolerance – or cross the boundaries of acceptability, depending on which newspaper is reporting them.
The relative frequency of gay and lesbian storylines and explorations of taboo relationships in contemporary soaps scheduled for family viewing may suggest that the genre both influences and reflects changing social mores; this programme seeks to explore how far this is the case for teenage audiences.
Most explorations of soap tend to focus on questions of realism or authenticity; this programme attempts to reframe the question by investigating the role sex plays for soap producers and audiences. As well as analysing the relationship between soap storylines and real-life experiences, it considers the etiquette and rigorous controls on what can be shown on screen, the tricks of the trade used behind the scenes, and the editorial guidelines that require a focus on moral responsibility and storylines with clear consequences. Using the examples of an under-age sex story from Hollyoaks and an HIV storyline from Neighbours, producers demonstrate a sense of obligation to their contract with the audience.
Meanwhile, teenagers are highly critical of storylines that over-romanticise, inform or preach too obviously, or appear to promote an abstinence agenda. They are as conscious as the producers of the selling power of sex, but acknowledge that in the best cases, soap stories really can impact positively on young people's behaviour, even though the reality of teenage sexual behaviour is far more graphic.
