Imagine an episode of Coronation Street where the Government announced they were going to close Weatherfield General Infirmary. Considering the number of murders, fires, road accidents, births, tram crashes and the like, this would be a bad move. It would however make for great drama, if real life is anything to go by.
It’s something we haven’t touched on too much on Coronation Street, and that’s a very wise move. Becoming too political would probably take Corrie from soap to soap-box and we don’t want that. But isn’t it supposed to represent real life today? If so, why haven’t we heard Izzy mention her change in disability living allowance and why hasn’t Tracy been whinging about losing her child benefit? Shouldn’t Ken be bemoaning the changes to the local schools, or does he now have Conservative tendencies since the credit crunch, growing from an idealistic liberal lefty into wise-old Tory?
The Pasty tax never happened in the end, but this would have been perfect material for Corrie writers - and Diggory Compton, wherever he's got to. I think Councillor Alf Roberts might have had something to say about that too, had he been around. Mary could have suffered from the Caravan tax, but again the government realised this was a bad move and it would affect normal folk like our Corrie favourites.
Street Cars could perhaps relate to their viewers a bit more by struggling with fuel costs and the fact people aren’t using taxis much any more while purse strings are tight.
Carla has had her scrapes with Underworld, coming against stiff competition, not least from her own brother. But she always comes up trumps and seems to be of different stock to her staff stitching the silk and lace.
And where is that annoying Union rep? Coronation Street, with factory girls, retail workers, public transport drivers and the like, is probably missing an over-opinionated Union rep or two. Imagine the message this would send to viewers – people understand our pain and we can see that through our friends in Weatherfield, who live just like us.
But I’m generalising, not all Corrie viewers are working class and struggling through the ‘double dip’ – but if Corrie represents successful business owners and entrepreneurs, of which there are many (Dev, Norris, Roy, Stella, Carla, Kevin, Chesney and not fogetting Mike Baldwin) all on one small street – then surely it should depict the real economic struggles of Northern life in a modern context, as it did back in the day?
Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher visited the cobbles so we know politics isn't out of bounds for The Street, as long as the drama and comedy aren't lost in the process...
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ReplyDeleteI prefer my Corrie without politics but I agree it should reference certain things from time to time. Not many street residents appear to be struggling that much in the current economic climate and some characters appear to walk into jobs very easily indeed.
My favourite political reference was some time ago when Gail was trying to prove she was a reasonable person by announcing that she had voted for Tony Blair :)
Ha I'm a bit of a Blairite despite some of his failings...
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ReplyDeleteI'm saying nothing... great blog though! ;)
Corrie has done politics before - Ida Clough in t'faktreh, and Spider and Emily up a tree, so really the recession should be mentioned.
ReplyDeleteRachel I agree, and I think the hospital closure idea would work really well in Corrie because it's close to everyone's hearts / lives.
ReplyDelete...and Thanks Graeme :)
While party politics doesn't belong in the Street, a cynical attitude towards politicians would be quite in order eg: 'They're all the same', 'I vote for whoever helps my business'. Agree with Rachel, the recession has hit many people and should be referred to. Even someone in the Bistro saying they can't afford a round or a chippie take away.
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right there's a fine line between being representative of the people, and leaning towards a particular political direction...I'm sure they could manage that.
ReplyDeleteThe recession and austerity measures havent touched Coronation Street - everyone goes boozing every night and eats out at the Bistro and Roys Rolls or ride around in Street cars taxis even when they have lost their jobs or bleat they are "skint".
ReplyDeleteThere were recession storylines when Ashley struggled with the shop. He had to lay off Kirk and they switched houses with Sally and Kevin.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't disagree more. There is no place for politics in Coronation Street and references to controversial issues like cuts in welfare benefits wouldn't take long to destroy the programme. By necessity, soaps generally do ignore current events like General Elections or natural disasters. I like it that way.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for realism, but that does not have to mean the soap I love becoming a political platform. People can lose their jobs, campaign against tarmacing over the cobbles or have money problems without any of that being overtly political.
I couldn't disagree more with the last person who couldn't disagree more :)
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite old episodes was when an interim manager (?) at the Rover's started charging a cover to go into the Select. Pensioners, like Minnie Caldwell, were shut out. Others on the street came to her defense. About the same time, Ken Barlow made a speech about the slippery slope of taking the half-penny out of circulation. I thought about that speech recently when the penny became defunct in Canada.
These episodes not only reflect our reality, but integrate it effectively into the stories. The sensationalist stuff is no less 'political,' it merely denies reality.
Excellent post. Thank you SD!
- ELK in Canada
I think they should do more, at the moment it seems to be a street where nobody has any political views. As long as differing views are put across, I don't see a problem. There was an episode after Ernie's death where the residents were debating capital punishment and it was a good scene that really drew me in.
ReplyDeleteMost people who work for private companies like Underworld aren't in a trade union these days, so a mouthy union rep would be a bit of an anachronism.
ReplyDeleteBut what happened to the Street residents getting involved in local politics like they used to in the past e.g. Deirdre running for the council
No thanks. Some of us want to get away from lying politicians and their grubby ways once in a while.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. Let's have characters giving us political opinions, whining about benefit cuts, suggesting criminals should be hanged or going on about how they hate the Queen during events like the Jubilee. The programme would be gone within a year.
ReplyDeleteDavid, do you know the # for the episode you cited? I'd love to look it up. Thanks in advance.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - #1788, 6th March 1978
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I'm looking for it now--
ReplyDeleteNo, it's been a long-standing convention in Corrie, and indeed in other soaps, that political realities, or indeed other realities, never intrude on the script.
ReplyDeleteFor a suburb of Manchester, it's remarkable that nobody ever mentions Manchester City, or United - when football is discussed, it's only ever in the context of Weatherfield Town. When people get jobs, it is always "start Monday", with never a mention of pay, hours, or terms and conditions.
Unlike real world pubs, there is always a free seat in the Rovers/Bistro whenever anybody fancies sitting down.
Similarly recession-proof is housing in Weatherfield. There are apparently no council tenants, only those with private landlords, or in mortgaged properties. No-one is ever homeless.
Weatherfield is a lot like Narnia in so many ways.