Hysterical And Screaming Women In Soaps

[RHCP]

We are probably all familiar with the daily theatricals of moody, angry, hysterical, shouting and aggressive talk mainly by women in most soaps on Thai TV. Why are Thais so entertained by this when the supposed traditional image of Thais is to show no anger?.

I recall last year that the Government was going to restrict ‘inappropriate’ behaviour before a certain time (I think 9pm) from January 1. Amongst the restrictions was reference to the aforementioned behaviour. Has the Government actually followed up on their threat because things are still the same if not even worse on the 3 main free channels with the audience still being ‘entertained’ by such characters.

[JimsKnight]

I guess it's because the thais like slapstick and goofy acting as opposed to the more ordinary day-to-day sights and sounds in every-day Thailand.

[GuestHouse]

One of the funniest threads I ever read on the subject of Thai women was a question asked by Chanchao.

[sic] 'Do the women in Thai soap operas imitate the behaviour of real Thai women or do real Thai women imitate the behaviour of the women in Thai soap operas?'

---

I believe however that the characterizations in Thai soap operas follow traditional roles and behaviours from Likae.

[kiakaha]

We are probably all familiar with the daily theatricals of moody, angry, hysterical, shouting and aggressive talk mainly by women in most soaps on Thai TV. Why are Thais so entertained by this when the supposed traditional image of Thais is to show no anger?.

In a society where they are so suppressed by having to conform to the "rules" of their culture , soaps provide a perfect outlet for how they truly want to express themselves but are unable to. Thats my theory anyway.

[Theyreallrubbish]

I used to be able to shut up one of my GFs when she got a bit over-excited by telling her she was acting like a girl in a Thai TV show. She'd get embarressed and quieten down.

[raslin]

Thais seem to be incapable of using the off switch to stop these "actors/actrsses" who are incapable of controlling themselves or their kids.

I'd love to see some audience research published. Do people really understand all the gabbling and remember the instant telephone numbers?

[jackr]

One can gauge the relative brains of a nation from its TV, so with that, it doesn't leave much scope/hope for the Thais............ and aussies for that matter

[rgs2001uk]

We are probably all familiar with the daily theatricals of moody, angry, hysterical, shouting and aggressive talk mainly by women in most soaps on Thai TV. Why are Thais so entertained by this when the supposed traditional image of Thais is to show no anger?.

I recall last year that the Government was going to restrict 'inappropriate' behaviour before a certain time (I think 9pm) from January 1. Amongst the restrictions was reference to the aforementioned behaviour. Has the Government actually followed up on their threat because things are still the same if not even worse on the 3 main free channels with the audience still being 'entertained' by such characters.

i like you used to find these shows mind numbing and inane, however after living here for a while, i am starting to wonder if they are actually a mirror of a changing thai society.

the traditional image may i fear exist only in a tat poster or in the memories of visitors from a few years ago.

[steveromagnino]

One can gauge the relative brains of a nation from its TV, so with that, it doesn't leave much scope/hope for the Thais............ and aussies for that matter

Americans would have to be bottom of the pile then - Baywatch, Walk Texas Ranger, Rikki Lake, Jerry Springer. Sure Australia has Neighbours etc, but it also has classic Aussie fare such as....er.... yeah - I agree on the Aussie bit. Am I correct to therefore think that Korea would rank top of your little brain study then with their soaps?

blah blah blah

The most over the top soaps are channel 7, which is strictly the preserve of upcountry (Isaan, North); Channel 3 is most popular in Bangkok where there are actually quality stories and acting sometimes, while southerners for the most part do not watch soaps at all. Many of the Korean soaps are also played here, and more detailed, complex story lines would be hard to find. Even of a show of such high quality as Kon Kon Kon or many of the talk shows, well they aren't soaps so not part of this study I guess.

Reality - most upcountry people have little education (I think that is a better word than brain power Jackr, given that most likely the Thai blood posters on this board for the most part would have little problem running circles around the intellectual brain power of many of the non Thais simply a function of education more than genetics/ethnicity) and so enjoy something intellectually easy to absorb - that's all a soap really is.

I on the other hand watch them to see glimpses of Tangmo and Peemai. I likes dem, I likes dem alot.

Horses for courses. My great hope is someone would translate and redo Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister into Thai, and then we'd see some education for the working classes. Taksin owns an entertainment company still, maybe he would be a good guy to do this :-)

[bendix]

Americans would have to be bottom of the pile then - Baywatch, Walk Texas Ranger, Rikki Lake, Jerry Springer. Sure Australia has Neighbours etc, but it also has classic Aussie fare such as....er.... yeah - I agree on the Aussie bit. Am I correct to therefore think that Korea would rank top of your little brain study then with their soaps?

Not to mention the nauseatingly twee America's Most Assine Home Videos, the freakshow that is American Idol, Cops and the world's most twee sitcoms.

But this isnt an American bashing thread steve, it's a thai-bashing thread, so please get yourself back in line.

[Heng]

mmm... Tangmo.

[siamesekitty]

We are probably all familiar with the daily theatricals of moody, angry, hysterical, shouting and aggressive talk mainly by women in most soaps on Thai TV. Why are Thais so entertained by this when the supposed traditional image of Thais is to show no anger?

That's still true, actually. Notice how the hysterical, screaming women are the "nang-ijcha", who are considered "bad" women, scheming and resorting to unethical methods to win the guy. Bad things eventually happen to them. The "nang-ek" is the quiet, calm, and eternally bullied "good" girl, who wins in the end.

So there really is an underlying moral to it. Don't scream, shout, and slap other people.

[steveromagnino]

That's still true, actually. Notice how the hysterical, screaming women are the "nang-ijcha", who are considered "bad" women, scheming and resorting to unethical methods to win the guy. Bad things eventually happen to them. The "nang-ek" is the quiet, calm, and eternally bullied "good" girl, who wins in the end.

As a former 'Phoo rai' on soaps, I can attest to that; getting verbally abused for raping and hitting a few 'nang eks' along the way - good fun. The typical channel 7 story; nang ek is good hearted upcountry poor girl; hero sees her and falls in love; rich schemers try to screw everything up, it all works out in the end.

Ah well, seems like no other country ever creates a story vaguely similar to this. Maybe someone should try it, it seems like such a good idea for that novel I've been working on. You know, the one I started 3 years ago. You know, the hero goes through some challenge and comes out the wiser. That sort of thing (queue family guy Stewie monolog).

Kind of like Hugh Grant when he is reviewing roles, having shot 4 Weddings and Notting Hill already, he was then left with the difficult choice of continuing to do similar films and risk getting type cast, or branching out, perhaps into a challenging role where he would play an english gentleman who falls in love with an American in a romantic comedy, or perhaps something really challenging like playing the part of a middle class nondescript white collar londoner who meets and gets attracted to a lady based out of New York in a frivolous feel good slice of life warmed hearted film, or something completely arthouse, where he would be matched with a well known actress from the country just below Canada and above Mexico coming to the UK for the first time, and meeting then igniting the flames of passion with a mild mannered bumbling floppy haired public school type working in the city as part of an amusing investigation into the nature of romance between countries and a couple with recognisable theme song and a few breakout comedic moments.

I am pleased to say hugh did branch out and really avoided doing the same role twice. That's kind of like the channel 7 soap.

Heng - WORD. Tangmo.

[Heng]

Funny stuff, Romagnino.

Another whingy thread killed or at least well on its way to petering out.

[PeaceBlondie]

It isn't just the sterotypical women, though. Of course, I miss out on what the dialogue means, so I watch the action. Killing, stabbing, shouting, slapping, guns, knifes: is this typical of Buddhist teaching? Where did the Lord Buddha say this was typical Thainess?

[Heng]

Buddhist teachings, like all religions are just suggestions and guidelines. The more one strays, the more one distances oneself from mediocrity.

[soundman]

Jerry Springer.

If you judge the country by the umm errr hmmm "contestants" on the Jerry Springer show...... well!

[soundman]

Then again Jackass is the funniest thing I've been watching for years.

"Hi, I'm Johnny Knoxfield & today I'm going to play with a rattlesnake."

Sure, parallels can be drawn between TV shows and real life. Bit like Bush & OBL.

[barky]

Buddhist teachings, like all religions are just suggestions and guidelines. The more one strays, the more one distances oneself from mediocrity.

Heng, clearly you nothing about Christianity.

[soundman]

Buddhist teachings, like all religions are just suggestions and guidelines. The more one strays, the more one distances oneself from mediocrity.

Are you suggesting that religion is primarily used to keep the general population in line?

Edit: That is my take on it anyway.

Edited January 17, 2008 by soundman

[Greenside]

....Killing, stabbing, shouting, slapping, guns, knifes......

And that's just on a quiet day.

Seriously, the level of violence and matter-of-fact abuse in these "movies" as my g/f calls the soaps, appals me. Her son is coming to live with us in a few months and I'm going to have to try to come up with a way of limiting his exposure to this kind of garbage as well as convince his mother that it really is harmful.

Step one is already in place though. Yesterday we bought him the BBC "Walking With Dinosaurs" boxed set for a bargain 199 bht. Hope he likes it - it's full of huge creatures fighting and..........

What?

Edited January 17, 2008 by Greenside

[sonnyJ]

It isn't just the sterotypical women, though. Of course, I miss out on what the dialogue means, so I watch the action. Killing, stabbing, shouting, slapping, guns, knifes: is this typical of Buddhist teaching? Where did the Lord Buddha say this was typical Thainess?

Let's not even start this comparison. Two completely different things. That is Buddhist suttas and today's Thainess.....

[sonnyJ]

Yes the violence in the soaps bothers me as well. And sometimes art becomes life.

[bendix]

Yes the violence in the soaps bothers me as well. And sometimes art becomes life.

You've been reading your Oscar Wilde again, havent you?

Classic Wilde theory. Art does not imitate life; life imitates art. Of course he was writing wittily about Turner landscapes and Renoir gardens looking more real on canvas than in nature. Little did he realise that whole generations are learning how to behave by watching movies, listening to rap music and . . . . . . . . christ, i'm boring even myself here. I'll shut up.

[meadish_sweetball]

I used to watch Dallas when I was younger - my English was not very good and the show seemed alien to my ideals. It was really confusing - why did J.R. Ewing and Cliff Barnes not act like good Christians, and why did they seem unaware of the categorical imperative as proposed by Immanuel Kant. And why didn't Sue Ellen abstain from drinking, surely she should understand it was not good for her?

Then I got an idea; each time one of the characters in the soap poured himself an alcoholic drink, I poured one and drank it too. The show suddenly became a lot more enjoyable, but I was disturbed to discover I suddenly got the hots for Ms. Ellie.

I'm sure Dallas is not good for you. Shouldn't there be a law to protect us from it?

...sorry for the sarcasm, but just like Kitty says above, it's the "bad" characters that act opposite to Thai ideals. Very much like anywhere, surprising as it seems.

[sonnyJ]

Guess meadish picks up more Thai than I do but I still disagree.

It's still all about the 3 Bs. Booze, Broads and Booty as Jock used to say.

[steveromagnino]

It isn't just the sterotypical women, though. Of course, I miss out on what the dialogue means, so I watch the action. Killing, stabbing, shouting, slapping, guns, knifes: is this typical of Buddhist teaching? Where did the Lord Buddha say this was typical Thainess?

not all soaps have this; as i said Channel 7 is the most over the top and targeted in a sort of fantasy way at the boring lives of rice farmers, factory workers and housewives.

The same type of uneducated people who often end up in (ahem) relationships with foreigners - you would not find nearly as many well read/educated professionals watching such drivel; they are all far too busy pretending to get educated by watching The Amazing Race or some such rubbish on UBC. So in other words.... foreigners tend to get a biased sample of what Thai people watch based on the behaviour of the Thai people around them.....and most foreigners who date Thai men and women tend to be involved with the types who would watch the most Trailer Park Boys/Jerry Springer/Jacka$$ type soap operas of them all.

There is some new research which blows apart the psychology drivel that violent films cause people to go out and commit crimes - they studied it and the opposite is in fact true; the criminals in the movie theatres end up spending less time on the street and thus commit less crime during that period, and without a subsequent leap up after they leave the theatres; AFAIK correlation between violent crime and timings/viewership in paid movie theatres in the USA - freakanomics type stuff.

So....how all the stabbing etc plays into that goodness knows.

I don't think The Lord Buddha in his teachings specifically ever addressed 'Thainess' peaceblondie for the main reason that Thailand didn't exist. And also even if it did, he didn't live there. And also even if he did live there, I don't think he even commented on ethnicity much. And even if he did, it might have been misunderstood. And even if it wasn't it might not have been recorded. And even if it had been recorded, it might not have been translated into Thai or English for us to review. And even if it had, then we might not agree.

Seems like a 50 50 kind of thing really.

Not sure what foreign shows you watch, but there seemed to be a fair bit of fighting in this one show i was watching on UBC recently, I think it was called wrestlu? wrestlung or something. There was also a fair bit of sillyclone on show as well.

If this is what passes for 'hi so' entertainment, then I can see why people are investing in the internet. I love the world wide web, and I am not even that good at standing on a surfboard. It is nice to see a media where there is no sex, violence or profanity. God bless Al Gore.

I am not sure what country you guys come from, but thank goodness you don't have violence or profanity on TV or in movies in your countries. Over here we have to take what we are given. And thank goodness, from time to time we get given screen gems such as Home Alone and the oft mentioned Pulp Friction 2 - When Hairy Ate Sally which are low in terms of violence. Although the lead actor does appear to be imitating art in life, he appeared to paint what looked like a pearl necklace on that alabaster canvas which was a spitting image paused at time 1.53.45 of a young Harry Balafonte; maybe Oscar was onto something after all.

[sonnyJ]

Romagnino. As you said most things in the world are biased to someway. This is Thailand not The United States of North America.

I have a question though.

What percentage of Thai women do you estimate to be housewives and for how many years of their lives they can be classified as such?

[kmart]

Having just arrived back from the UK, Thai soap operas c/w screaming, over-acting divas sure make a nice change from the "Celebrity Big Brother Master-Chef Come Dancing" drivel that passes for peak viewing over there...

Edited January 17, 2008 by kmart

[sonnyJ]

Having just arrived back from the UK, Thai soap operas c/w screaming, over-acting divas sure make a nice change from the "Celebrity Big Brother Master-Chef Come Dancing" drivel that passes for peak viewing over there...

Everyone goes by their liking. No?

Edit: Grammatical errors

Edited January 17, 2008 by sonnyJ