Let's Go Crazy
Almost a year ago, I talked about soaps using and abusing social issues and I stuck with most obvious examples; cancer, sexuality, and rape, but I sort of let the ball drop in attacking the way soaps handle mental illness, mood disorders, and psychotic behavior. I said zip about it. But I'm going to rectify that right now. Let's get something straight right from the top though, this isn't a bad subject to tackle and even some stories that haven't been medically accurate have been at the very least, gripping entertainment. But like so many other storylines that had been done ad nauseam, it becomes a plot device and a shabby one at that.
Simply put, the best storyline is a storyline written for creative reasons and nothing else. Not because the actor is leaving, the actor wants an Emmy, the show wants an Emmy, or the network wants to raise the ratings. But because the writer feels passionately about the storyline and how it will benefit, emphasis being on the word benefit, the show's canvas. With the exception of The Young and the Restless, I'd be willing to wager not a sole other soap is even thinking about when they start any story, whether it is a romance, a serial killer, or a post-traumatic stress storyline. Granted, sometimes writers want to feel important and get a pat on the back and are careful and responsible when writing about some type of mental illness, but once they've gotten the accolades, they have practically zero follow-up.
The biggest crime of mental illness on soaps is the way it is conveniently used. First off is how people so easily develop it. Characters often, with little buildup go into a fugue state, split their personality, or just become psychopaths. Even in times when soaps were not as obvious in their plot devices, this was a constant and not so subtle way to make something happen. When you need a flashy story, there it is. You need someone to be Alcazar's killer on General Hospital? Just have Alexis snap due to Kristina's death and be the killer and the problem is solved. Guiding Light gets cold feet about having Beth permanently dead; just make Lorelei a split personality brought on the trauma of her incessantly stupid choices. Port Charles' Kevin who despite previously dealing with his trauma from his childhood with twin brother Ryan, went crazy again when daughter Livvie managed to inject him with a medication that made him completely insane. Bold and the Beautiful's Brooke just snapped after learning Bridget wasn't Ridge's daughter and I'm still not sure how that happened. It's constantly used to make a character a villain so they can be written out like with Y&R's Tricia killing Ryan and being locked up to get rid of both of them. Sometimes, shockingly, soaps even use these stories for humor with As the World Turns' making Julia a comic relief psychopathic rapist as the most grotesque example. And it goes on and on. Often there a huge rewrite involved as well. Days of Our Lives' Kimberly split her personality? Well let's just tack on childhood incest as an explanation. A bigger crime is that nine times out of ten, the story itself isn't usually worth it. A lot can be forgiven for how something is done and even with good and juicy story ideas, bad execution will torpedo it. Days' managed to make something out of Kim's split personality story as did Y&R with Tricia, but the others I mentioned, well, you remember or more accurately, would care to forget.
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