Why Do We Like to Watch Soap Operas?我们为什么喜欢肥皂剧？

追看肥皂剧已成为工作繁忙的现代人休闲放松的一种重要方式。特别是那些已连续播放十来个年头的美剧英剧，伴随我们春去秋来，剧中人物早已成为我们最熟悉的朋友。让我们跟着笑跟着哭。为什么肥皂剧有如此大的魅力，让我们一探究竟。 For many of us, watching soap operas has become one of life's little rituals - a way to unwind at the end of the day. Women, in particular, often become hooked on these long-running television series. Some cannot bear to miss a single episode, recording the entire series so they can watch it at will. They care about the characters, so much so that anger can even be felt when a story line takes an unwanted twist. What's more, some extreme viewers even confuse the line between fictional character and real-life actor or actress, verbally abusing 'bad' characters on the streets or in supermarkets. Such fans have become so caught up in a soap that they have illogically blurred fantasy and reality, as though they believe an actor really is the character they play. Are Soaps Realistic? In most soap operas, everything is magnified. Statistics are clearly out of line with real life in most 'ordinary' residential settings. In a soap, your chances of meeting a grisly end are hugely amplified when compared with true-life data. Accidents and illness may take away some of our favourite characters, but surely it has to be the chance of getting bumped off by murder that is the most unrealistic statistic of all. Countless acts of murder and manslaughter are committed in soap operas, usually all occurring within the same street or two. Well, you know where you would never want to move to! Such high rates of murder are out of line with 'real' life data, yet we have to remember that a soap opera is supposed to entertain us. It can't be completely realistic, otherwise it would be quite boring. Most people's 'real-life' would not be deemed interesting enough to air on television several times per week, year after year. Therefore, a soap can never be truly realistic if it is designed to entertain. Characters do have to face rather more than their fair share of problems. After all, a soap must have limits on the number of characters portrayed, both for easy-to-follow viewing (too many actors is confusing, plus relationships are not built up between on-screen characters and the watching public) and budgets. …………………… 想了解更多英语原文， 请关注微信公众号“Cassay小站”。