I wonder how well afternoon soap programs are faring in competition with the O. J. Simpson trial in the United States and the Paul Bernardo extravaganza in Canada?
Writers for television drama would be hard put to come up with scripts that rival the grunge that is paraded daily
before viewers’ eyes in trial coverage.
Human depravity used to be soft-pedaled by what were considered responsible news providers, but no more. Today you get every sickening detail. I suppose we are proceeding on the theory that where there is a rotten smell the best way to get rid of it is to expose it to the open air.
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Since murder trials are the current preoccupation this could be the legacy of literature left by the current generation. Do we have a Charles Dickens or a Victor Hugo who can turn this bath of degenerate conduct into novels containing something constructive for the future?
Will the soaps really be knocked on the head by real life crime and degeneracy? My bet is that soap fans will soon turn back to their fantasyland. There’s something unbecoming about real life actors out-soaping the soaps.
Besides, the real life programs may well be interrupted if the central figures get locked up from 10 to 25 years.
The consoling thing about fictional murders and mayhem is that you know it really isn’t happening and the central actors must be around for the next stirring episode.
Now what we need is someone to invent a vacuum cleaner that doesn’t drown out the television so every lurid detail of this bulwark of Canadian culture can be heard.
