Soapies with sensbiility finally .

  Soapies finally  with something worthwhile to say      

I can’t exactly say that I am a die hard fan of ‘The Bold and The Beautiful’  but if I happen to be home  watching TV and it comes on I sometimes get sucked into watching it . If you’re not careful after very few episodes you can feel those insidious tentacles reaching out to enviegle you into lets face it some ludicrously pompous people’s stagey and self important dramas .Oh the mind numbing preoccupation with the minutiae of what ‘he said’ or ‘she said’ and ‘how they said it’  and ‘whose doing what and with whom’. The plotlines move that slow that  you  can usually pick up two years  since you saw the last episode and  not miss a beat  and I always get a laugh when some of the  women characters are away for from the show   for a few months and then  suddenly reappear   back from the dead with these new  enhanced boobies or collagen filled plump juicy lips.

Brooke and Ridge       from the Bold and the Beautiful                                       

But what I have noticed of late   is that  “B and B” really seems finally to be moving with the times and reflecting current and pertinent values and societal trends . Take for example the relationship between Brooke and Taylor. For years they have been fighting over one man Ridge .The poor guy can’t seem to make up his mind  and went  this way and that between the two of them .Dont hold me to this but  I’m pretty sure marrying each of them more than once .Finally though  the women  have seen the light and stopped fighting over Ridge  and  realized he’s just not worth the bother .Instead the two women have become  really chummy  with one another and sit having girly power chats comforting each  other with the idea they really  don’t need any man to complete them and recognizing the need to love themselves and work on themselves so that they can feel  whole without a man and I have to say the two women Taylor and Brooke have never looked so animated  radiant vital  alive and healthy in their entire lives even though the actress playing  Brooke has been on the show  for decades.Maybe its the modern wonders of  cosmetic surgery  but its more likely  that the two actresses finally  are allowed to play a part where they  can act as true role  models for women’s empowerment and  finally have something worthwhile to say  .   

Similarly in “B and B ” one of the other characters is Bill a machismo male who  is going through some sort of midlife crises and openly shares his vulnerability and fragility after being rejected twice  by two different women in heart rending detail . I was almost moved to tears by his  expressions of vulnerabilty (just joking )  far from the stolid or wild gesturing  and sanctimonious machismo  that usually characterizes  the soapie males  Bill has  recently just about turned the show on its head by   admitting his abject loneliness and feelings of worthlessness and lining up to side with  Sheila the shows arch villain and outsider  who everyone is out to  get and see put away .Bill suddenly lines up  on Shelia’s side  telling everyone he can identify with Shelia and knows how she feels   and saying she deserves a second chance so now we have ” Days ”  portraying a sensitive man honestly in touch with his feelings not afraid to openly talk about them and  demonstrating qualities of radical forgiveness   and proclaiming that everyone deserves a second chance .

But wait theres more  ! Not only is the show representing girl power and  women claiming their wholeness  and  working on loving themselves and not needing a man and tough men suddenly breaking down  and  honestly and openly showing their fragilities and vulnerabilities   but there is a  multiracial  love affair blossoming between an African American man and a white woman  so “Days” is finally catching up   and reflecting  some contemporary worthwhile social trends and societal developments 

Now all we need is for  the Logans and the Forresters to  get in to delving in to their past lives and go have their akashic records read and their astrology charts done  to find out who them might have been to one another in previous lives which might explain the dramas and  mind numbing karmic complexities of their relationships with one another in this life ….. and therein might lie the idea for a spin off series

“The  Cranky  the Cosmic and the Conspiratorial ”  

 The mind boggles  .

                                                                                    Wendy Buss