To not quite understand the fuss over Eastenders

[MistletoeMush]

This may have already been done, but I just don't understand all the fuss. Its a story, the people involved are not real. Surely one of the purposes of drama is to explore situations, dilemas, emotions etc which it would not be possible to explore in real life. Also are soaps not famous for tackiling difficult issues, murder, teen pregnancy, rape, kidnap, violence, disasters, adultary, death by various means. Why is this storyline so much worse?

beware
you can't say that on mn now.

I agree. It's incredibly sad that so many people can identify personally with this storyline - but if all soaps avoided all storylines with which people could identify, we'd have half an hour of 'Star Wars' meets 'Labyrinth' every evening.

I think its the way it has been done. It isnt normal behaviour for woman to steal a newborn baby and pass it off as her own.

soaps are meant to reflect real life drama, and to most people, EE is being way too sensationalist for the sake of grabbing headlines..

YABU. I completely understand the fuss. It's not a "difficult issue", it's a very extreme storyline, very upsetting and a bit sick. Sadly rape, teen pregnancy, violence etc happen every day. Not sure dead baby swapping does really.

read the other threads.

Try reading the threads properly.

It isn't 'normal behaviour' to stove the head of your rapist in with a bust of a dead monarch, though is it? Soaps take 'normal' situations and push them to extremes. That's what they do.

Why don't you read all of the EE threads? Actually read why people are so offended. It's not a case of people who had lost babies to SIDs getting a bit touchy, FFS.

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i did want to ask something on the other thread, but you can't there.
why wasn't a fuss kicked up over the "janet" story line, it isn't "normal" for a mother to not accept her disabled baby, yet no big fuss over that story.

I have read them. And yes, I understand that the issue is that Ronnie's behaviour is not 'typical'.

But, for her, if you have followed her story - it is very, very typical.

Whilst I fully understand the insensitive nature of this particular plot, and thank god I have never been in a situation of SIDS, I think I also understand the OP.

EE does have the most far fetched storylines tbh. How can so much bad luck happen constantly in one little square of east london. There has not been a christmas day without something miserable happening. All this could really happen to the same people over and over again, so i do tend to take the whole thing with a pinch of salt.

Of course having the trauma of losing a baby in this way, would not automatically make the mother a child napper.

BUT on the other hand I can see why there has been outrage too.

Hasn't it been done before anyways, didn't someone try to steal Sarah Lou's baby in Corrie after their own died?

'All this couldn't really happen

NewYearI didn't say that it was a case of people who had lost babies getting a bit touchey. I understand that a lot of people (not just those who have lost babies) have an issue with this storyline and I am just trying to understand why.

Nimpy- This is true I suspose. It is very unlikely that this situation would arise in real life. But like tyzer says soaps do push situations to extremes and perhaps this is one of their purposes and it makes people think.

eastenders is for fuckwits.

Altinkum- That is a good point but I think that it is a separate issue to people being offended by the storyline in itself.

FFS the people whining about this should get lives. Eastenders is a tedious unrealistic outdated television programme which is basically irrelevant. It's not real. It's not about to trigger an epidemic of baby-eating or even cot-death.

2shoes I have some experience of the "Janet" issue and though everyone reacts differently it is not unusual for parents to struggle to accept an baby who has special needs.

FWIW I don't appreciate the way this story line has been handled and whilst I realise it's a soap etc I think that they have gone too far in the pursuit of ratings.

The bereaved mum has Been portrayed as a mad baby kidnapper - read the othe threads, especially the replies from women who have been through the agony of cot death

Some people will actually believe that this is how women behave if they go through this

Thy could have done real good by highlighting a very serious subject and how a mother 'copes' but instead they have gone down the farcical route

Haribojoe see I have never met any one who has reacted like that.
so that is the bit that confuses me, how can anyone be sure a parent wouldn't react as Ronnie has?
(just asking so don't flame me, it is said on the other threads it would never happen)

EE is watched by up to 15 million people an episode. It is the most popular programme on television, no matter how 'outdated' or 'unrealistic' you may think it is.

It is screened early evening four times a week on our main public broadcaster.

If there a large number of people find the storylines offensive or in poor taste, I certainly think they should have a right to express that.

I think it is an issue that goes a lot further and deeper than just a few whiny mums who need to 'get a life'.