Rose and Friedman Article

Although I haven’t watched a soap opera in quite some time, I was a bit confused when Rose and Friedman say, “The commentary of the color man functions like the gossip of soap operas, providing the fan with all the inside information that surrounds the events which are unfolding on the screen.” Are they referring to the separate scenes within the soap where people are gossiping about each other as a way to remind the viewer of what the storyline is, or do they mean the gossip about the show outside of its actual broadcast through the soap magazines, word of mouth and so on? The color analyst for sports events delivers the background information about the game and players directly, while the gossip in soaps is more indirect. (More indirect than in sports that is). I find this odd because from what I understood in the article, it seems as though the authors are saying that females are more easily distracted (and interrupted in their activities), which if this were true, shouldn’t they be the ones getting their information directly sent to them instead of having to sit there trying to decode the gossip? A color analyst would never be part of the setup for a soap, but I just find it interesting that the “masculine” shows have this person to deliver succinct information, while the “feminine” shows drag out the background details.

There was a section in the reading where the authors mentioned the fact that sports commentators facilitate (male) viewers’ participation in the sport to call plays and coach “his” players all from the comfort of his own living room. They went on to say that women more so related to the characters in soaps rather than felt that they were a part of the scene. I found this completely true because every game I have ever watched with guys involves them constantly yelling at the television screen calling out plays, whereas the occurrence of a female yelling at the screen during a soap opera is a little more unconventional. Somebody else already asked this question, but I also wonder why sports have been deemed a mostly masculine topic/form of enjoyment.