Armenian soap operas

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Serials occupy 30% of the airtime in Armenia.{{cite news|title=SUMMARY: Soap operas vs. high-quality content- experts speak of Armenian TV|url=http://arka.am/en/news/analytics/summary_soap_operas_vs_high_quality_content_experts_speak_of_armenian_tv/|access-date=18 June 2013|date=6 September 2011|agency=ARKA News Agency}} The high ratings of Armenian serials have been described as "abnormal." According to various statistics 40% to 50% of the Armenian population watches serials. TV expert Tigran Safaryan claims it shows the low level of media management in the country.

Armenian soap operas have been widely criticized by artists, intellectuals, psychologists and ethnographers. ArmeniaNow wrote in 2012 that "the criticism of serials in Armenia has, itself, become a show." The serials have reportedly been widely criticized for "advocating aggression, domestic violence, misfortunes and hard living" which allegedly has "a dysfunctional influence on audiences, which makes half of Armenia’s population"; critics are said to be particularly concerned about the serials' possible psychological impact on young people.{{cite news|last=Hakobyan|first=Julia|title=This Isn't Brazil: An encounter with "In the City"|url=http://www.armenianow.com/society/features/41375/telenovela_armenian_soap_operas|access-date=17 June 2013|date=23 November 2012|agency=ArmeniaNow}} Producers confront critics saying they give "people what the people want" and simply "reflect the real life", "trying to expose major problems of the society."{{cite news|title=For Non-Violent TV: Armenian scholars again raise concerns over "aggressive" serials|url=http://armenianow.com/society/40235/armenia_television_soap_operas_serials_aggression_violence|access-date=20 June 2013|date=4 October 2012|agency=ArmeniaNow}} During the 2013 presidential election campaign, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan supported the idea of TV serials while addressing a crowd in Yerevan's Arabkir district. She stated that the shows create jobs for actors, who can't live working only at theaters.{{cite news|script-title=hy:"Ժողովուրդ". Սերժ Սարգսյանը հայկական սերիալներ է քարոզո՞ւմ|url=https://news.am/arm/news/139321.html|access-date=17 June 2013|newspaper=News.am|date=8 February 2013|language=hy}}

Historian and researcher Samvel Karapetyan stated in 2009 that he feels ashamed for Armenian serials and rhetorically asked, "Did we evolve from monkeys?"{{cite news|last=Avagyan |first=Sona |script-title=hy:Սամվել Կարապետյան. "Ամոթս է գալիս" |url=http://old.hetq.am/am/culture/armenian-soap-opera/ |access-date=17 June 2013 |newspaper=Hetq |date=10 September 2009 |language=hy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701162610/http://old.hetq.am/am/culture/armenian-soap-opera/ |archive-date=1 July 2013 }} In June 2013, Karapetyan released a video on his YouTube channel strongly criticizing serials and labeling them as "anti-national".{{cite web|last=Karapetyan|first=Samvel|date=15 June 2013 |script-title=hy:Սերիալները՝ անդեմության հայելի|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMkAXUUU690|publisher=Samvel Karapetyan Channel on YouTube|access-date=17 June 2013|authorlink=Samvel Karapetyan (author)|language=hy}}

Psychologist Karine Nalchajyan stated that TV serials negatively affect people and preach immoral and often criminal behavior. She claimed that serials are a threat to Armenia's national security.{{cite news|script-title=hy:Սերիալները նաև ազգային անվտանգության խնդիր են. Հոգեբան|url=http://mardik.am/am/%D5%B0%D5%A1%D5%BD%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D5%B5%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B6/%D5%BD%D5%B8%D6%81%D5%AB%D5%A1%D5%AC%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6/item/142226-%D5%BD%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%AB%D5%A1%D5%AC%D5%B6%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%A8-%D5%B6%D5%A1%D6%87-%D5%A1%D5%A6%D5%A3%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AB%D5%B6-%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%BE%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%A3%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D5%B5%D5%A1%D5%B6-%D5%AD%D5%B6%D5%A4%D5%AB%D6%80-%D5%A5%D5%B6-%D5%B0%D5%B8%D5%A3%D5%A5%D5%A2%D5%A1%D5%B6|access-date=17 June 2013|newspaper=mardik.am|date=2 July 2012|language=hy}}

Comedian Mkrtich Arzumanyan, better known by his stage name Mko, said that serial producers were "chasing for ratings" without taking into consideration their influence on people. He said that he gets the impression he lives in Chechnya after watching some of the criminal and warlike scenes from serials.{{cite news|script-title=hy:Մկոն իր երեխաներին արգելում է որոշ սերիալներ ու հաղորդումներ դիտել |url=http://168.am/2012/12/29/159404.html |access-date=17 June 2013 |newspaper=168hours |date=29 December 2012 |language=hy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916051154/http://168.am/2012/12/29/159404.html |archive-date=16 September 2013 }}

Playwright Karine Khodikyan suggested that Armenian serials are just part of the whole "cultural degradation" in the country.{{cite news|script-title=hy:Թելադրվող մշակութային դեգրադացիա|url=http://civilnet.am/2013/05/26/%D5%A9%D5%A5%D5%AC%D5%A1%D5%A4%D6%80%D5%BE%D5%B8%D5%B2-%D5%B4%D5%B7%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AB%D5%B6-%D5%A4%D5%A5%D5%A3%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A4%D5%A1%D6%81%D5%AB%D5%A1-2/|access-date=17 June 2013|date=26 May 2013|agency=CivilNet|language=hy}} Actor Rafael Kotanjyan stated that serials "pose a growing threat to the development of tourism in Armenia." He says that many of his friends living outside of Armenia are now wary of sending their children to Armenia alone.{{cite news|title=Armenian actor on soap operas|url=http://www.tert.am/en/news/2012/07/14/qotangyan-serial/|access-date=17 June 2013|newspaper=Tert.am|date=14 July 2012|archive-date=25 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025113342/http://www.tert.am/en/news/2012/07/14/qotangyan-serial/|url-status=dead}}

IT security expert Vahram Mirakyan conducted research on the influence on soap operas and authored "Formation of Aggressive Social Positions in Mass Media".{{cite web|last=Mirakyan|first=Vahram|title=Ագրեսիվ սոցիալական դիրքորոշումների ձևավորումը լրատվամիջոցներով [Formation of Aggressive Social Positions in Mass Media]|url=http://www.noravank.am/upload/pdf/05.Vahram%20Miraqyan_21_dar_05_2011.pdf|publisher=Noravank Foundation|access-date=18 June 2013|date=May 2011|language=hy}} Mirakyan claims that the "aggressive content [of Armenian soap operas] has a dysfunctional influence upon the audience." According to Mirakyan, the soap operas are "antisocial". At the same time, he says that they have great influence on the public as "the factor of influence and the target have common culture, language and social reality." According to his study, episodes with aggression and depression are more frequent than episodes with neutral content. Mirakyan claims that Armenian soap operas bring "change in language-thinking, when especially schoolchildren start speaking in a special criminal sub-cultural dialect."{{cite news|last=Gevorgyan|first=Siranuysh|title=Either watch or complain?: Low-quality soap operas on Armenian TV continue to draw criticism|url=http://www.armenianow.com/features/32674/armenia_first_channel_soup_opera_anna|access-date=18 June 2013|date=26 October 2011|agency=ArmeniaNow}}

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Category:Armenian television series

Category:Soap operas by country