Saturday, May 3, 2014

SPOTLIGHT: Soap Opera Catfights

When I think about what I have enjoyed about soaps over the years, what comes to mind are love stories like Cliff and Nina from All My Children, Cruz and Eden from Santa Barbara, and Steve and Kayla from Days of our Lives.

There were the close family ties of the Bauers on Guiding Light, the Hughes family in As The World Turns, and even now the Hortons, who are still front and center on Days of our Lives.

I have loved having the chance to watch characters grow and change over the years, such as Rachel on Another World, Barbara on As the World Turns, and Viki on One Life to Live.

But then, I think about something else I have always delighted in, and began to feel a bit guilty.

Is it wrong to like a good old fashioned catfight? You know what I’m talking about. Two female characters hate each other so much, they can’t resist the urge to go at each other until there is only one left standing.

As much joy as they bring me, and they are certainly a staple of soaps, I'm left wondering if they are degrading to women. The fact that they are generally fighting over a man, certainly adds a touch of misogyny to the equation

Below are some of my favorite rumbles from the past. Should I feel guilty for enjoying these epic battles? I would love to know what you think.













Is this harmless entertainment? Or an example of how women are treated poorly in our society? Sound off below!




















10 comments:

  1. Sorry, but the best catfights EVER were on primetime: Krystle vs. Alexis on "Dynasty"!

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  2. The best catfight ever was between Constance Ford and Jeanne Cooper in the prison cult classic movie House of Women. ;)

    Are there any older examples? The term has been around for a long time but most of my catfight memories start in the '80s.

    Hard to top the epic Generations catfight.

    Web series DeVanity pulled off something interesting, the male catfight. When you see Jason DeVanity and Andrew Regis arguing by a swimming pool, you know they are about to go at it, Krystle v. Alexis style. You don't thing of the brooding hunks throwing punches, you think Dynasty and a catfight.

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    1. When it comes to male catfights, we're now starting to see some on soaps between two gay men who have been circulating in each other's orbit long enough for them to know the score on one another, yet they've never been romantically involved themselves.

      My favorite one of these so far was the December 2013 scratchfest between Ste Hay and John Paul McQueen on HOLLYOAKS. It had all the classic elements of your typical catfight, especially since they can both catalog one another's history of romantic (and other) failures over the years. And like many catfights, it had an element of humor with some villagers laughing over it while others 'valiantly' tried to come to the rescue .. lol!

      Ste vs. John Paul

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  3. "Your dead baby isn't always uppermost in my mind." The line from Sheila that sent Lauren on the attack!!!

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  4. I enjoy a good catfight. Daytime or evening television. Doesn't matter to me if it's male catfight or female catfight. If it's right for the storyline, then I am all for it. Plus it's a hoot to watch.

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    1. I like the way you think Ana :) I really enjoyed the Carly and Rosanna one from ATWT.

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  5. I remember a catfight on As The World turns in the mid 80's between two women named Karen and Ariel!! It was on a deserted island where their plane had crash landed on thanks to James Stenback and it was in the mud!!! I've been looking for it since I got on the internet, but can't find it anywhere!!!! Their fight was broken up by the others with them, Dustin and his dad, John Dixon and someone else. I just want to know that I didn't imagine it, that it did happen!!!

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  6. I remember a catfight on As The World turns in the mid 80's on a deserted island between 2 women named Karen and Ariel and it was in the mud!!! I've been looking for it since I got on the internet, but can't find it anywhere!!! Their plane crash landed on the island thank to James Stenback, who had jumped from the plane!! Dustin and his dad, John Dixon and someone else broke up their fight and I just want to know that I didn't imagine that the fight happened that it did and where to find it out there, if it's out there, Anywhere!!!

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  7. The actresses were Judy Blazer (Ariel) and Kate McNeil (Karen)!!! Somewhere between Mid 83' and early 84' because they were both gone sometime in mid to late 84'!

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