Growing up in Dubai in the 1990s, there was only one English-language television channel – Channel 33. To make things worse, the predecessor to the slicker Dubai One only ran in English for 12 hours a day. So programming was limited – the popular shows kept good spots, and the others would sometimes be dropped for new ones, a bit like a Wild West of daytime television.
While many people will no doubt remember some of the channel's hallmarks – such as that odd five-minute French cartoon where animals played football, or those terrifying "devil" environmental shorts – perhaps the most memorable of all was its tour de force soap opera – The Bold and the Beautiful (B&B).
Whether or not people were fans of the programme, which began in 1987, it aired at dinner time, so inevitably, everyone watched it. Strangely, though, some of the most fervent fans were housemaids – with limited English and virtually no experience with the show’s cultural frames of reference: the luxurious lives of American fashion designers. But in the nine years she was with our family, our Sri Lankan maid, Mala, never missed a single episode; and woe betide anyone who tried to change the channel.
I never was too attached to B&B, but I do remember some of the key arcs – murders, rivalry, affairs and such.
I always found it curious just how popular the programme was with such a wide cross section of people, and not just because there was no alternative channel to watch.
When Channel 33 went off the air in 2004, B&B was pulled from its programming. But a series of angry letters later, the show returned – on Dubai One.
It is no surprise, then, that the UAE is buzzing with
excitement about a B&B bonanza this month: the show’s main stars, Katherine Kelly Lang and Don Diamont, are taking part in the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon on Saturday and will also be filming a new episode here with their co-star Thorsten Kaye.
For those unfamiliar with the show, Lang plays Brooke Logan – who has had a long-drawn, tumultuous relationship with the playboy Ridge Forrester, played by Kaye since 2012. Their affair was one of the programme’s first major plot points, and one that has endured. Later this month, Brooke will be left devastated after Ridge hooks up with, none other than, her sister Katie. Brooke then turns to
alcohol, which in turn leads her to bond with Bill Spencer Jr (Diamont), who is also drinking too much. Incidentally, Katie is Bill’s ex-lover. No surprise there, really.
The show’s executive producer Bradley Bell acknowledged its popularity in Dubai in an interview with TV Guide Magazine. When Lang agreed to take part in the marathon, Bell suggested they film an episode while she was here – with Ridge following Brooke and her lover Bill to the UAE to keep tabs on them.
“We’re going to take advantage of the great Ridge-Bill rivalry,” Bell said. “Ridge still feels like he’s Brooke’s
protector and he certainly doesn’t want Bill to become stepfather to his son, RJ. So he’s a man on a mission.”
Kaye replaced the beloved actor Ronn Moss, who played Ridge for 25 years following its debut. Moss was a key cast member during the show’s glory years – the 1990s – when it was said to have been watched by 450 million people in 98 countries daily. But how can a programme that is centred on wealthy, and promiscuous, American families be so popular in a region that is so culturally different?
Jared Alden, a psychotherapist at the German Neuroscience Center in Dubai, says part of the appeal is the ability to explore our feelings in a safe way through
characters who are different from ourselves “without creating a soap opera in our own families”.
“We all eat dinner – but how we eat, how we prepare it and what we call it makes us unique,” says Alden. “We can all relate to conflicts, relationships and weddings. Jealousy is universal, and wanting love and status is universal. Sometimes seeing all this in others who we view as very different can make it easier.
“For example, watching such a fanciful story can make people feel better about a real-life friend that betrayed their confidence,” adds Alden. “Such turbulence helps us
appreciate the stability in our lives – most of us would not want to live in a soap opera.”
Dr Veena Luthra, a consultant psychiatrist at the American Center for Psychiatry and Neurology in Abu Dhabi, says the soap-opera format is what makes B&B so addictive.
“Over time, identification with the characters deepens and there is a vicarious experience of intense emotions that can be a release,” she says. Dr Luthra contends that after a few years, the audience gains an emotional stake in what happens in the characters’ lives – especially because they deal with issues that “resonate across all cultures, such as love, death, loyalty, secrets and deception”.
“At a basic level it can be viewed as escapism from a dull life into a world of the rich, powerful and beautiful – it is not only the bored housewife who watches these shows.
“[Some] people … may feel morally superior to these super-wealthy characters with lavish lifestyles, or may aspire to have their material success. Others, who feel envious, may gain satisfaction from their suffering – and setbacks that reinforce that money does not buy happiness.”
Dr Pierre-Marie Chauvin, a visiting sociology professor at the Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, touches upon this point. He says fiction tends to appeal to people for three main reasons: self-identification through characters’ actions or characteristics, life-substitution when one’s life is judged as poor and social revenge.
“The specificity of soap operas is in their temporal format, and the type of character that can be built through this format, which enhance each of … [these] mechanisms. The length … allows developing not only the psychology of characters but also the type of link between the characters and the audience,” says Dr Chauvin.
Moreover, he says, the ever-changing plot fosters an active attitude towards the fiction, leaves the audience waiting for the next episode, leading to discussions and exchanges between episodes. “The social functions of these exchanges can be to reaffirm the values of a group,” he says, “such as by criticising the behaviour of one character, or to inverse some real social hierarchies.”
As far as distractions go, it is doubtful that anyone interested in catching up on the entire show before the UAE episode is broadcast will be able to. Even if they “blitzed it” non-stop, it would take about 95 days to cover the nearly 6,800 episodes.
halbustani@thenational.ae
