Star Wars Actors Guild 77 discovered early that roleplay performances are crafted like soap operas with angsty drama. But to do that, part of the RP had to be staged. A behavioral idea with a lead on to an ending. To action sequences. To a conclusion, and then a cliffhanger ending (or not) to the denouement.
It seems that the popularity of mid-day soap operas is waning for talk shows and reality TV. Streaming services have changed the availability of new soap operas. Many people have grown up with grandma watching her shows:
Soap operas have been around since the 1930s as radio dramatic series. One sponsor was Proctor and Gamble, who sold soap at that time, and therefore, these stories were called “soap operas.”
What is the purpose of soap opera?
Soap operas’ plots express a fictional reality that is inserted into a concrete social reality. The representations built by the soap operas are associated with the daily life and social contexts in which they are immersed. The images transmitted are highly related to society’s values and beliefs.
Melina Ayers
There is a difference between Telenovelas and soap operas in that a Telenovela is a Latin American serial drama similar to a soap opera in plot development but having a broader audience and airing during prime time rather than daytime…Telenovelas are characterized by a continuing melodramatic storyline and a permanent cast.
Editors of Encyclopaedia britannica
Examples of Telenovela
There is disagreement on how Star Wars as a genre is classified. It is science fiction? Is it science fantasy? Is it a space opera? Accordingly:
Star Wars is typically characterized as belonging to the space opera genre. Many classic space opera serials such as Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers were among the impressions that inspired George Lucas into making the Star Wars movies.
wookieepedia
A space opera is not a soap opera, according to many fans. However, those who say this comment is mostly male and cannot possibly be associated with a show devoted to women daily. It is said that Star Wars is not a “soap opera” because the key part of a soap opera is its duration. Lots of episodes, lots of characters. The people and the (mundane) things happen to them over long periods of time (source).
Fans also say that Star Wars a space opera that is melodramatic movies or television shows, set in space, with plenty of space warfare, and most importantly, cut scenes show the development of different characters like a soap opera (source).
Whereas, there are objections that Star Wars is a space soap opera because of historical precedence. “Space opera” from 1941 author Wilson Tucker as a pejorative term in an article in Le Zombie (a science fiction fanzine). At the time, serial radio dramas in the United States had become popularly known as soap operas because many were sponsored by soap manufacturers (source).
But yet, by some critics, Star Wars is separate science fantasy space opera because the genre has more definable rules. Star Wars might be space fantasy or space opera. But its setting is still a science fiction setting. Star Wars’ world is built on science-fictional devices and technology; the technology does not tell the story; there are lightsabers, droids, or hyperdrives. Science fiction is in the Star Wars universe, and by default, Star Wars is science fiction. These science fictional elements, such as starships, robots, and laser guns, are not present in the real world at this time. Until that time, Star Wars is science fiction (source).
Regardless of the cast of characters, duration, and episode; or the lack of space warfare; or the historical precedence; or scientific and technological elements that are fictional, Star Wars in the presence of romantically linked relationships (ships) as read or performed are space soap operas in practice, despite the fandom gender that enjoys the production.
Therefore, the Star Wars Actors Guild 77 (SWAG77) enjoys shipping in the presence of a cast of characters, duration, multiple episodes, space warfare, and lack of historical precedence or science and technology fictional elements, we have created a system where our goal is to read, write and perform our roleplays on social media like soap opera and telenovela developments.
We think our goal works because we have tested several years ago and were able to gauge audience response like watching a soap opera.
We have encountered several problems, such as platform issues, users not realizing we staged our RP productions, nor really knowing we had many back ends and behind-the-scenes work. They think our pursuits in shipping are superfluous and foolish to have sex. And then, when we do serious close to canon RP, we have to use canon characters.
Since the Disney schism of canonicity, we have been stretched to pick a side or assumed we are ignorant if we do not support either claim. We are about the exact techniques used to develop Star Wars as a soap opera on social media. Whatever that takes. We use to recruit, but now, we no longer do this process because it is involved, and most people use social media as distractions or casually discarding comments as useless.
While that content is on personal accounts, we have to determine why there is discordance to improve our product or performance for business roleplay accounts. There is none. Some individuals are “spoons” who like to stir up shit. And it does not matter about the content; these groups’ only guide is to re-creation and world domination that contributes nothing academic with a scholarship to improve lives through reading, writing, and performance with appreciation, like SWAG77 tenets since 2007.
Also, some audience members do not realize how much staging we do for our RP productions. We created our performance plots to see how our audience will respond and hope they enjoy our performance. That makes social media a testing ground focus group. Soap opera creation inherently tests that from a live performance and improvisational training. Other tactic many users on social media do not want to do because of the casual nature of social media.
We think our goals are important to Star Wars and its fandom because of the Disney Schism. Star Wars fans are at each other’s throats levying toxicity that rips into the hearts of fans to wreck their persona. That has happened to SWAG77 members, and we have done it to others in self-defense. It is easier to manage fans in this manner than just to let it go. We cannot say we have not avoided bad and toxic behavior.
However, we believe as long as we stick close to our tenets: READING — preferably Star Wars because no fan is well-read and knows everything; WRITING — because that improves self-expression and clarity in ideas and concepts — it brings value to oneself, and we like to RP Perform, but this is also demonstration directly ones creativity in this fandom with more appreciation for the development of Star Wars. Performing fan art creation, crafts, cosplay, and fan films — anything that demonstrates an appreciation of fandom — end toxicity. Because our tenets are universal, our tenets are broad in their interpretation. Our tenets are long-lasting and expand one’s Star Wars fandom, and we, SWAG77, are about that.
While other groups do that in their own ways, the toxicity, segregation, isolation, and exclusion hurt all fandom, not just the individual.
We end fan toxcity through the encouragement of creative expression and love.
Because as owner, SWAG77 believes what Dr. Martin Luther King, a Jedi (Djedi) before we knew what one was, said:
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