L 194 F

Dallas, the famous TV soap opera is widely watched in the whole world, not only in America, but in most European countries also, such as in Germany, the former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, etc. In spite of its popularity most of the people think that it is absolutely of no value, as they make degrading comments about it and laugh at it all the time. From a certain point of view they are right. It cannot be said that Dallas has such a literary value as for example a Shakespearian, or an Arthur Miller work has. But it certainly has other positive features, and in my opinion people need to know this kind of art also so that they would be able to make a difference between trashy and top class films. And after all, viewers do not feel all the time like watching films that has a message of world-wide importance, sometimes they need to get away from it all. As it has already turned out from the introductory sentences, in my essay I would like to try the impossible and argue for the use of Dallas, and light on the reasons that make this series so much liked. I am firmly convinced that there has to be something that attracts thousands of people, and makes them sit down in front of the TV set from week to week and keep watching the events of this film for an hour.

One of the reasons for Dallas` popularity is its perfect timing. It is a regularly broadcasted series, it is on TV once a week, always at the same time. In Hungary it means Friday evening at around 20.30. Friday evening is special for most of the people, because the hard working days are over, it is the beginning of the weekend, the members of the family can usually get together for a common activity, and it is finally time to relax. People under such circumstances do not wish for listening to academic argumentations about current political issues, or scientific discussions about the latest results in the field of cellular biology research. They would rather watch something that can be "easily digested", something light but still entertaining. Dallas is perfectly suitable to meet these expectations.

Knowing details about the life of the rich is always a great pleasure for people. It is such first of all, because it is every man`s dream to become rich, and for an hour`s time they can see their desires come true in front of their very eyes. These are like being important, making serious decisions in business life, getting acquaintanced with a lot of influential people, having a huge and beautiful house with a swimming-pool in the garden, being the owner of lot of gigantic sized cars, having beautiful, young women around, dressed elegantly, always wearing perfect hair and make-up. Secondly, people at last see the statement proven that money is not everything. Even if people have so much money that they are not able to spend it, not even in generations` time, they are still humans, they love and hate, they make mistakes, they all have problems of their own to solve, just like ordinary people.

It is psychologically tested that people need that kind of reduction of tension, that they place themselves in the role of one of the characters, enter into his or her feelings, and experience finding a solution for the problem relevant to his or her life.

In Dallas a lot of problems can be seen which are similar to ordinary people`s concerns. Let us see some examples. Ellie is the classic mother-figure of the film, she is the one, who is always calm, kind she is there for everyone when needed. She is the person who tries to keep the family together at any cost. When it turns out that she is ill, she has cancer and has to be operated, she thinks that the end of the world has come, and she does not want to live any more. But after the operation with the help of her loving husband and family, she recovers, and regains her self-confidence. She manages to enjoy life again, and she is there for everybody again. This situation is typical of some elderly women, even if they hopefully do not have such a serious illness. At this age they are more dangered to get sick in any way, and they feel that they are not able to fulfill their role in the family any more. They experience the hurt of loneliness, usefulness and helplessness. It often means a lot if there is a model of behaviour in front of them which can be copied in such situations.

Samantha is the typical unhappy wife. She is in love with her husband, but he does not really love her, keeps cheating on her, neglects and hurts her in many ways. First she tries to escape from her absolutely hopeless situation with the help of alcohol. After a time she is not able to control herself any more, she becomes a habitual drinker. As always, his husband, Jockey Ewing tries to turn her own weakness against her, and wants to take away her right of the custody of their son. (What is more, Samantha`s son is the child of Cliff Barnes, who is the lifetime foe of Jockey .) At this point Samantha realizes that if she does not take up arms against his husband, she is lost. She gives up drinking, finds a job, and she becomes a perfect rival for Jockey. This situation again is very typical in the lives of ordinary people, because many wives feel that they are being oppressed by their husband, and they do not have the courage to change their lives. Watching the film they can at least imagine that they are treating their husbands so roughly as Samantha does it in Dallas.

Pamela seems to be a perfectly happy character. She is young, beautiful, rich, has a loving husband, Bobby Ewing (who is the favourite of most female viewers), everything seems to be absolutely in order concerning her life. She has only one desire that cannot be fulfilled, it is that she is not able to become pregnant, so they will never have a child of their own with Bobby. She tries everything to have a baby, visits all the doctors in the country, but in the end she has to realize that her case is helpless. Finally they adopt a child, whose origin is typically a little bit dirty, he is the son of Jockey and Samantha`s sister. The case is unfortunately again very typical of many young women who cannot have a child of their own. By seeing other people in the same situation can help to ease the pain of such terrible happenings.

Another typical situation is that of Ray and Jenna. They got married, but Charlie is not the daughter of Ray, and she feels that he has no right to give instructions to her, because he is not her father after all. Of course the mother loves both of them, and cannot decide on whose side to stand. The problem of childraising is very typical in families which are after a divorce and try to establish a new family. After seeing the situation exposed on TV, the members of the family can discuss the events, and relate it to their own lives.

The spicy parts of the film are a pleasant entertainment for the viewers, such as who is whose daughter, or son, or husband, or wife, or lover, or ex-lover. People like to talk about others` confused family relations, and it is better if they sharpen their tongues on Dallas than on their neighbours.

The film`s characters can be understood easily, they are not at all complex, and their characteristic features can be experienced by anyone in everyday life. Jockey Ewing is the "bad guy", who is always up to something, he enjoys torturing other people, he can be hated very much. Cliff Barnes is the absolute looser, he tries very hard to make some good business, but he always fails, we are sorry for him all the time. Bobby is the "dandy on duty", kind, fair in business, he is the favourite of most female viewers. These characteristic features can be typical of our bosses at the workplaces, of our partners, of some of our friends, so they are very much related to real life.

The script of the production is not very long or hardly worded, there is more emphasis on gestures so that viewers can easily understand the plot. People can discuss the events of the parts, criticise the characters` behaviour or their decisions. Having a common topic gives the feeling of comfort in a company, but it is also true for the case when only two people get together. But there is more to this. It could be heard that there are some people, especially in Hungary, who think that the events of the film are happening in real life. For example when in one of the parts Bobby Ewing died, some female viewers tried to commit suicide, because as they said, "Without Bobby there is no reason to live any more". Disregarding the absurdity of such behaviour it must be admitted that people think about the characters of the film as their personal acquaintance.

As a conclusion of all these facts I am absolutely convinced that Dallas is useful. It is advertised that there is a phone-line, where people can enquire about the events of the next part of the film. As I know, this line is alive, is called by thousands of people, it is very popular. Do I need to say more?!