Modleski on Soap Operas, Housewives, and Commercials, Core Response 2/5

Modleski argues that soap operas are focused on the dialogue, and more specifically the questions surrounding an action rather than the action itself. " She also believes that soap operas are meant to resonate with the average viewer then glorify them. In someways, it seems as though soap operas, per Modleski's analysis, could be compared to reality tv today. And so I pose the question, is reality just the modern equivalent to soap operas? 

As a production student, I loved the brief mention about how soap operas are cinematically framed, which is with an emphasis on closeups to capture a character's thinking and facial expressions. Modleski takes this a step further by emphasizing how closeups are also a way to fetishize women: "A face in close-up i what before the age of film only a lover or a mother ever saw." One stark contrast between the then and the now is what today filmmakers choose to show on camera in regards to relationships (I am not a reality tv watcher myself, but I have many friends who are). Put simply, television today is far less censored and more often than not, anything goes.

I also loved this notion about how commercials are an inscape into the house wife's anxiety. The thought of that is terrifying to me; how women in the home couldn't reach the outer world so television was a way for them to feel heard and listened to. Television back then could be seen as a cinematic therapist and confirmation of sorts (which is just awful). Commercials as women's best friend--a way of teaching the world about the legitimate struggles of being a housewife. 

I have also included my favorite quote of the reading: "Commercials, of course, present the housewife with mini-problems and their resolutions, so after witnessing all the agonizingly hopeless dilemmas presented on soap operas, the spectator has the satisfaction of seeing something cleaned up, if only a stained shirt or a dirty floor." This quotation feels like a mind game to me. This reading also has made me re-think the sort of commercials I have watched, and since it's Super Bowl season, has made me think about the ways those commercials work in relation to sports and in this case men?