Soap Characters and Life Skills
An Interview Study on Shortland Street
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5715840 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joost De Bruin (0000-0002-1474-3361, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 138 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 46-56 |
| Publication date | 2011-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Media International Australia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1329-878X • E-ISSN: 2200-467X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1329878x1113800107 |
| OpenAlex | W2282362286 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 7 |
Shortland Street is New Zealand's most successful domestic television soap opera. For this study, 112 regular Shortland Street viewers (92 women and 20 men) were interviewed in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The interviewees spent a considerable amount of time evaluating the soap's characters. They classified characters as either 'likeable' or 'annoying', and grouped them according to their 'life skills'. Talking about characters' life skills urged viewers to reflect on their own experiences, views and positions. The Shortland Street characters articulate a discursive community with which viewers can interact to discuss life skills they regard as important. While previous soap opera studies have shown that viewers appreciate stronger female characters, in this study female characters seen as lacking life skills were heavily criticised by many interviewees
Advertising · Art · Media studies · Opera · SOAP · Sociology · Visual arts · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Media Influence and Health · Media Studies and Communication · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,08 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2014 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |