Top 5 Most Annoying Soap Opera Quirks

Soap operas are so highly addictive. The constant cliffhangers, beautiful actors/actresses, and ever-changing storylines keep people glued to their seats. But you may notice that no matter the channel, whether the show is "All My Children" or "Guiding Light", many of the same quirky details apply. Over the years, many things have changed about soap operas, including music, style and placement of camera angles. As an avid viewer of "Young and the Restless" for many years, I noticed that the Abbott Family very often sat down to breakfast, but rarely ate. This was one of the details that irked me the most. Others must have noticed this as well, because after a period of time, fans finally got to watch Ashley Abbott chew a bran muffin. In order for soap operas to yield the desired effect amongst viewers, there are certain things that actors, set designers, and writers are required to do. These are the soap opera quirks that people accept while watching them. But they're not very realistic...

#1- Talk to the "Back"

Have you noticed that when two characters are about to dive into some extremely juicy dialogue, they at first begin speaking face to face? But as the scene progresses, one of the parties inevitably ends up turning his/her back to the other party (about 180 degrees)? There are very few people who actually communicate this way in real life. But in soap operas, this tactic is extremely effective. To avoid shooting scenes in identical ways (which would certainly bore the viewer), other tactics must be used to convey the desired emotion for the scene. For instance, if one character is telling a lie to the other, the "liar" may face the camera using facial expressions, in order to get across to audiences that she/he is worried about being caught in the lie. This blocking technique helps viewers to get a sense of what both characters are feeling, while creating the sense that we know something that the other actors don't.

#2- The Close-Up Silent Stare