Fragmentation and The Universality of Soap Opera Format in 2017
In 2017, the role and definition of daytime television seem
to be much more in the air than in previous decades. In reading Tania
Modleski’s piece, The Rhythms of
Reception, I was particularly compelled by her discussion of flow and its
role as a reflection and result of the fragmentation of female domestic life.
Modleski’s notion of fragmentation in the domestic setting speaks to a model
that may have become more relevant to modern life both inside and outside of
the domestic setting, In analyzing the development of television models/formats
like that of ‘shondaland,’ one finds an updated model of the soap opera format
Modleski describes that illustrates a shift in anticipated audience and
therefore, likely demonstrates a change in the cultural landscape and
disassociation of fragmentation from femininity and domesticity.
Modleski describes Raymond Williams’ view of daytime television
as a “profoundly de-centering experience” (Modelski 71) and one that reflects
the female experience. Modleski states, “The housewife, of course, is, in one
sense, like the little man at the fun fair, unemployed, but in another sense,
she is perpetually employed – in her work, like a soap opera, is never done.
Moreover, as I have said, her duties are split among a variety of domestic and
familial tasks, and her television programs keep her from desiring a focused
existence by involving her in the pleasures of a fragmented life” (Modleski
71). Here, Modleski delves into the concept of interruptability as a reflection
of the multitudinous tasks of a housewife. Modleski’s argument points to a need
for the division of attention that is catered to by the content of soap operas
as well as the flow of the soap opera, in it’s multiple story lines and sense
of perpetuity. She continues writing, “The multiple plot lines of soap operas,
for example, keep women interested in a number of characters and fates simultaneously”
(Modleski 71). Interestingly, in 2017, one finds this model reflected in much
of primetime evening viewing. The fascinating part of this comes from the
expected audience shifting from housewives alone and engaged in work to entire
families and working professionals during their
‘free time.’
Shondaland shows provide the perfect site for the
exploration of the shift of fragmentation from a daytime to evening; a viewing
time with greater universality. Shows like Grey’s anatomy and how to get away
with murder subscribe to precisely the model that Modelski outlines. The
sensational stories of these shows follow multiple storylines and continue week
after week and season after season. Similarly the commercials cater to notions
of interuptability. With the rise of streaming services, these soap opera style
shows have even become some of the only shows with extensive live viewership.
Might one then question if this increased viewership and reverence for soap
opera style speaks to a sort of generalized fragmentation in the modern
lifestyle? The housewife is no longer perceived as the person engaged in
multiple tasks and sources of distraction, with the rise of multiple screen use
and shorter attention spans, this has become the territory of America’s
families as a whole. In otherwords, the fragmentation and principle of
interruptibility that were once “crucial to the proper functioning of women in
the home” (Modleski 71) have now become crucial to the function of everybody in
the home and in front of the television screen.
Furthermore, these developments also speak to Lynn Spigel’s
notions of “ideological harmony between technological utopias and housing
utopias” in Private Screenings,
Television and the Female Consumer. Much as Spigel describes the initial
rise of television in the domestic setting, this new format serves to bridge
the technological needs of the modern individual with the utopic vision of a
multitasking, multifaceted domestic life. The stories in shondaland have a
perpetual nature and are ongoing, just as the viewer may transition from a
television screen in a house to a phone screen on a train. Thus the viewing
experience is even more fragmented than it would’ve been during the period of
Modelski’s piece. Additionally, Spigel outlines the need for television to
serve as a window bridging the domestic with the outside. Presently, one’s
television can in fact travel with them, thus, we may see a similar progression
in television becoming more fragmented in its attempt to reflect this sort of mutability
and mobility in the modern world. The domestic sphere is no longer as isolated
as it once was, in fact notions of domesticity are in many ways collapsing and
becoming disjointed as members of a family have separate viewing experiences
during prime time. Thus the popularization of such fragmented material may
serve to reflect this. One might add that the subsequent popularization of
streaming formats, in which one has absolute control over pauses and
interruptions, also reflects the fragmentation of modern domestic life and
leisure time.
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