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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1999)
I Battalion A GGIELIFE ^ag^^Wednesday^Agri^^QW ■ is known foi :h Aulrey 4e- ' is very' mixedais| i k meets heav a real heavy be: cind reads poeir i rages everyor t in slam poeir t ants give a fc I piece, ng is half on /vot idar EttW'ad&w HOUSEWIFK en who watch soap operas defy target demographic BY STEPHEN WELLS The Battalion Tops," he saii; i and hand r g poets, Nan, "s a number; ners can ret iblication in a; Tilers magaz:: pecial Natior. ? that includes ore and more, things once thought to be strictly the domain of the female have fallen to the advances of men. ■ Today, the same men who once tried to pic k their nose and wipe it on their playmates are showing their faces in delivery rooms, leafing through “better relationship” books and joining focus groups to try to get in touch with their feminine side. ■ it was only a matter of time, then, until the soap opera — once the most un touchable of female institutions — was discovered by males and as similated into their belching and barbequing existence. ■ Sometimes men de- vllop an interest people sleeping with each other and trying to kill each other. It just so happened that we started watching the show more and more, until I knew enough about it to watch it on my own.” Once they begin watching their soaps, men find it hard to turn away from them regard less of outside pressure. “I get made fun of every now and then, but I can always make fun back at my friends for LiteraryAr- velop an interest in Shakespear watching soaps after ■h will fear:; a f ew chance view- for thosev j n g S while channel biepentam- surfing. ^■Scott Corby, a sophomore agri cultural econom ics major, said he discovered his faWite drama by watching an Hisode on a whim. ■ “It’s the most cliche thing in the world to say,” Corby said. “But you know how you flip through the channels and start watching ann, an Ei ?nts should ti v a re ness ra:- vlonth by tat. i write, cmuld be wo t he slightest! d a book an push poetry nt to write, k love for it. to talk aboi; sJational Peo something just be cause it’s the only thing on that’s worth watching? m “Then 1 had to finish watcluvvg, the show to see how everything turned out, ol( course. The next time I saw the show while I ; was flipping through the ■ channels I just started to _ ! watch it again. Pretty soon I ■as trying to keep up with ruitthe everything that was going on, and ^it iust became routine to watch the 4!!! show." .■I For others, the drive to know exactly what is going on in a television show fueled their desire to see more episodes. 1 David Westall, a junior economics major, said his knowledge of the dynamics of a soap opera helped him ease into watching the ^ sshow on a regular basis. I “I walked in once when my roommate was . watching his favorite show and just sat down 1 (ACAD 1 .'out of habit,” Westall said. “One of the peo- t mu.edu/mple was doing something terrible to another [one of the characters, so I asked why. QUIRED! “You know there is never a simple reason -for it, so he launched into a big story about Texas AbM m i dder 7D‘i RUBEN DELUNA/Tmi Battalion watching wrestling,” Westall said. “But it’s kind of hard to stop watching and I don’t want to anyway. At the end of each week, something big happens, so I keep on watch ing week after week.” Such viewer teasing is not limited to soap operas and can, in fact, be found in more testosterone-centric programming. “I was watching wrestling with my friends and they do the same thing on that show they do on soap operas,” Westall said. “At the very end of the show, one guy came out and scared away all the others and announced he was go ing to fight a big fight the next week. Sure enough, we watched the next week to see the fight.” Sometimes, a man does not make the choice to watch a soap opera but is forced to out of circumstance. Elana Ruiz, a freshman speech communi cation major, said her boyfriend watches soap operas because she must watch his program ming. “If I have to watch football on Sunday, he has to watch Fox on Tuesday,” Ruiz said. “He pretends he can’t stand my shows, but every time one person will do something wrong to another, he is the first one to speak up about it. In reality, he gets into the show even more than I do, but he won’t admit to it.” Today’s soap opera is more so phisticated than the amnesiac, un known relative, ul tra-rich and de based sexual practice plot lines most male viewers associate with soap operas. “I think soap operas today try to avoid the old- fashioned things like people mis taken for dead or whatever,” Corby said. “It’s really more true to life than the old shows like ‘Dal las.’ People don’t just randomly have an affair or pull out a gun and shoot some body else. Everything is done for a good reason, and sometimes I can tell myself that I would do the same thing in the same circum stances.”. Men find a depth of character in soap operas they can not find in the clas sical “male” program. “It’s hard to get attached to an action pro gram because all but two or three characters get killed or arrested at the end of the show,” Corby said. “The only characters who return every week don’t develop in the same way soap opera characters do. “From week to week on ‘Melrose Place,’ the characters have relationships that change. In an action series, there’s always a clear-cut difference between the good guys and the bad guys. In a soap opera, things aren’t so clear, so you have to think more, but you can root for the bad guy if the other character is worse. ” Q. Do you wonder what your future holds? A. Come talk to UCS and discover the answers. UCS has been in computer and automotive business for twenty-eight years. We are looking for many different majors and backgrounds for entry level positions including sales, customer service, consulting, programming and technical support for our Houston, College Station and other regional offices. For more information, please stop by and visit with our depart ment representatives: Liberal Arts Career Fair Friday, April 9, 1999 Rudder Exhibit Hall Rudder Tower If you are unable to attend, but would still like to apply, please call or visit our website. Universal Computer Systems, Inc. 409-595-2609 Fax (713) 718-1401 www.universalcomputersys.com UCS hires non-tobacco users only. E.O.E. Free Food! Bowe_ „ BBQ/V ckv Students \ Fnte^rtainmeint 100 Lucky Students Will Be Selected To Have Free BBQ At The President’s Home With Ray and Sally Bowen Entertainment by ampus Group Thursday, April 15, 1999, 6:30 p.m. (Rain site; Clayton Williams Alumni Center) ► ^ ““ “ ““ ■“ ““ Students sign up at; http://rev.tamu.edu/freebbq Registration deadline: April 8, 1999 For more info call the Office of University Relations 845-4642 Winners will be notified via e-mail or phone April 9 Open Mic 0 7:00 Show 0 8:00 ACT is: b 1 ue s , p oe try, comedy, ro e.k , Lyp Sy.n a , c ' nd ‘ ' 'Crocodiles Hunter's Minute ! CORPS 14t boom ft ^ 6 1^8V\F^ 5 ^ j m CUTS —• r Lon /l ivatimi pnt ng Co nce?__ ; AAUA 1th h tki yiMyC m 707 /i put 5-4 latent ex s 30 package includes on HO pull-out shirt and [ sweatshirt vdwe&p! COUPON FREE AGGIE GRAD SESSION!! (All Ags welcome) CNC photographies 846-2174 Rudder Fountain Just in time for graduation - Professional portraits at starving student prices. 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