Sexual Responsibility in La-La Land
by Marlena De Lacroix

... The 1998 soap trend that disturbed me the most was the decline in the number of social-issue stories.

These stories, introduced to the medium by gnes Nixon in the '60's on Guiding Light (with Bert Bauer triumphing over uterine cancer), educated millions of viewers, helped elevate the image of daytime soaps and presented writers with powerful subject matter fertile for drama, pathos -- and hope. Because of the soap genre's declining ratings, social issue stories took a backseat to attention-grabbing, tabloidy plots in 1998. Today, the same soaps that in better times brought us profound stories on breast cancer, wife beatings and homophobia, bring us stories about mind control, bogus artificial insemination and science-fictional, turkey-basting, misogynistic malarkey!

So, as the year ends, I'd like to salute some soaps that are still devoting valuable airtime to issue stories. ... On Port Charles, Matt continues to triumph over his paralysis every day by leading a normal life. ...
( From Soap Opera Magazine December 29, 1998)