Wednesday, December 12, 2007

HABLA LOANS?

Jealousy and romance aren't the typical words used in home buyer education, but they aptly describe an educational and entertaining telenovela that is currently used in Albuquerque to teach individuals about buying a home. Several local organizations are using DVDs of the Spanish-language TV mini series, Nuestro Barrio, which was funded by Freddie Mac. The show is about Hispanic life in the United States.... The 13-episode series, where hot storylines are combined with meaningful messages, subtly educates viewers on important financial issues including money management, credit, homeownership, predatory lending and foreclosure prevention. These storylines are played out against the traditional novela (soap opera) themes of romance, jealousy, greed and conflict.

Entire story, here.

So what do you all think? Should soaps be used to educated people about mundane, real-life issues, or should they be pure escapist fantasy?

Let us know in the Comments section below!

4 comments:

Roger Newcomb (We Love Soaps) said...

Not all real life issues are mundane. I believe soaps have gone way beyond escapist fantasy. Those fantasies used to be based on a stitch of reality but these days all credibility is lost. It seems like medical stories are the biggest joke of all with no effort put in to make it realistic. No one wants it to be clinical, but Carly's abcess and Luke's paralysis are recent examples of stories that were not clearly explained or fleshed out.

In Oakdale, everyone is obsessed with having babies. This is what I consider mundane. Even teenage boys like Will are obsessed. Talk about a fantasy.

I prefer stories based in some kind of reality featuring multi-generational family members (Lucinda-Lily-Faith, Nancy-Bob-Chris, etc).

Lovers constantly lying and yelling at each other and plot holes a mile wide aren't going to work no matter what the story is though.

Oakdalian said...

It's not about educating as much as respecting the audience enough to follow through with sensible plotting and scripting. Employment is always a joke on ATWT. People whose reputations should have destroyed their careers like Katie, Craig and Meg continue to work blissfully. The realities of a workplace can be quite dramatic, not mundane at all. I'd love to see a mundane act like phone calls to long departed characters. With Bob in a coma, I bet we'll never hear about Penny, Don, Ryder, Frannie and Sabrina's reactions.

SuperSage said...

IF the executive producer and head writer are creative and experienced in their fields, I believe soaps can present real life issues AND be an escape to viewers. The problem with GL is that it is neither.

Wheeler has treated major real life issues as nothing more than fantasical forays into another "plot du jour." Thinking GL is an escape from the mundane, "everyday I do the same thing," is equally as confusing.

Soaps "used" to be both, and I don't see why they can't again, with the right people.

Cait said...

Soaps have always tackled issues, social, emotional and otherwise. Why is this being presented as a question? Are the current writing teams really that oblivious to the history of the shows and characters they're writing?