Why on Earth Would a Teenager
Want to Watch a Soap Opera?
By Kristin

That is the question I hear pretty much daily since I came out of the closet – I AM A TEEN WHO LIKES TO WATCH SOAPS! And proud of it! I am a (comparatively) normal girl, with loving family and friends, and I have tons of activities and hobbies, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. So why would I waste a perfectly good hour (or more if I choose to watch OLTL) watching something “that I just can’t understand?” Umm, excuse me? I am a teenager. Who knows more about passion, hate, revenge, intrigue, and backstabbing but teens? Does anyone remember high school? And since I go to a tiny high school (the average class has 130 people) everyone knows the minute you do something wrong – much like in Soap Land.

While there are many things (Skye’s outfits and Courtney’s hairdos being some of them) that I truly don’t get about GH right now, I have been a loyal fan of ABC soaps since I was a little girl – my mom and I used to watch AMC together during the summer, then in my jr. high years I graduated to GH simply because that was on when I got home. Over the years, I realized that I don’t watch soaps because that’s what’s on.  I watch them not because I lack drama in my life – far from it! – but to understand the drama in my life and have the opportunity to say that at least my mother isn’t some incestuous murderer and isn’t it great that my boyfriend loves my sister? Soaps give me a chance to sit down for about an hour or so a day, relax and enjoy the peace and quiet (ha!) that is my life.

So I issue a call to all my fellow teens – do not be afraid to admit your hidden love of soaps, but rather stand up and declare proudly that soaps free you from worrying what outfit you can wear on what day and if you should make a move on the hottie sitting next to you in Math class. So stop tormenting yourself by flipping the channel to Dr. Phil every time someone wanders through the living room and quickly flipping it back the second they leave. So stop acting like soaps are for “old” people. Soaps are for every age, race, gender, and size- why do you think there are teen storylines on the show? For teens to relate to people on the show. So if someone rags on you for watching soaps, either ignore them or simply say that you like to watch the hot half naked guys. At least that explanation is true.