Talk:Soap opera rapid aging syndrome/Archive 1

deleted text
I removed the following chat: Another age mistake that has happened a couple of times on Neighbours is that a couple gets together, leaves the show, and then return to the show with kids who, from their age, must have been born before their parents met. This has happened with both Hannah Martin (Rebecca Ritters), who was 7 when she came into Neighbours in early 1992, yet her parents didn't meet until late 1985, and Serena Bishop (Lara Sacher) who arrived in 2003 at the age of 15, yet her father was still single in late 1988. These jumps seem more like scripting errors than intentional SORAS (where a pre-teen is intentionally bumped-up to become a fully-fledged late-teen or young adult). In the cases above, it seems technically possible for these people to have been conceived and born in the time anyway. Given the jump is just a few months or a year, not really in the spirit of SORAS. Asa01 20:09, 1 November 2005 (UTC)
 * Actually, I beleive they are, for the most part, intended. Fans have often asked Neighbours' scriptwriters about the age mistakes, and they've said they are generally are on purpose, and ages are often changed slightly to fit in with storylines. Cyclone49 05:02, 2 November 2005 (UTC)


 * SORAS is the intentioanl aging of characters by several years to allow them a differing range of storylines. So a character born 8 years ago is hurriedly transformed to a teenager so they can start dating, etc. I do not believe that jumps of say, two years, fit into the spirit of what this article is talking about. Even though an age might be shifted for pragmatic reasons in one storyline (they need a 21st party in the story) I feel this is different from upping someone into a teenager which is what this article is describing. Asa01 00:01, 3 November 2005 (UTC)


 * Strike the above. The new examples added to article seem to indicate that the two year age jumps were planned, intentional, and for particular reasons. The older examples had not explained the case quiet as well. Asa01 21:45, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Category: 5-letter acronyms
I replaced the category, as the category cannot be placed on the SORAS redirect page as suggested. As SORAS is indeed a 5-letter acronym, the category appellation is appropriate. Gjs238 15:41, 27 December 2005 (UTC)
 * It looks like someone else removed it again and put Category:Acronyms back on the redirect page (the "5-letter" subcategory having been deleted). I'd just as soon go with how they've done it, personally. --DocumentN (talk) 19:13, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Not unique to soaps
Is SORAS a neologism created by the authors of this article or is it also used "in the wild"? I ask because I can recall plenty of instances of rapid aging of television characters outside of soap operas. Examples include Alexander Roshenko and Molly O'Brien from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Andrew Keaton from Family Ties. Perhaps the article could be expanded to include such non-soap examples. —Psychonaut 18:39, 30 December 2005 (UTC)


 * That stuff is already in the article including some of those examples. Asa01 20:22, 30 December 2005 (UTC)
 * The question of whether the DS9 examples count is currently being discussed at --DocumentN (talk) 19:33, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

How about the daily comics? Peanuts characters seem to progress at a normal rate to what appears to be about age eight, then stop. Originally in the late 50s, Charlie Brown, Violet, Lucy Van Pelt, and Schroeder were all about the same age, but Linus Van Pelt was just a baby. Then he caught up in age. Then in the 1960s, Charlie had a baby sister, Sally, then she nearly caught up in age. (remaining slightly younger than Linus). Then in the 1980s, Linus and Lucy had a baby brother, Rerun, who nearly caught up in age. If Charlie and Lucy aged with their siblings, they'd be in their 20s by the time of author Charles Schultz died, but they still appeared as 8.71.191.231.65 (talk) 12:53, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Kaitlin Cooper in "The OC" was SORASed
She was 11 first season, left the second season, and when she came back third season she was fourteen, then had her fifteenth birthday, so she was SORASed one or two years, but at least one year.


 * The two actresses who played her are the same age (both born in 1991). And I don't see how this is SORASing.  The show began in the summer of 2003.  If she's said to be 11 then, she could turn 12 in the fall of 2003, 13 in the fall of 2004, and 14 in the fall of 2005 so as to be 14 when she returns in January 2006.  Maybe she got aged a couple of months, but no more than that.  My general sense is that SORAS also generally refers to recasting an older actor - in this case, she was replaced by an actress of approximately the same age.  I don't think this should count. john k (talk) 12:59, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

Examples of SORAs
Whoa! Too much information! The article is already rather example heavy, we don't this list too. Asa01 20:58, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

All My Children - J.R. Chandler (Originally born in 1989) - Colby Chandler (Originally born in 1999) - Amanda Dillon (Originally born in 1991) - Danielle Frye (Originally born in 1994) - Jamie Martin (Originally born in 1991) - Bianca Montgomery (Originally born in 1988)

As the World Turns - Tom Hughes (Originally born in 1961) - Casey Hughes (Originally born in 1995) - Lucy Montgomery (Originally born in 1989) - Luke Snyder (Originally born in 1996)

The Bold and the Beautiful - Thomas Forrester (Originally born in 1998)

General Hospital - Brook Lynn Ashton (Originally born in 1994) - Georgie Jones (Originally born in 1995) - Maxie Jones (Originally born in 1990) - Dillon Quartermaine (Originally born in 1992) - Lesley Lu "Lulu" Spencer (Originally born in 1994)

Guiding Light - Holly "Blake" Marler (Originally born in 1976)

One Life to Live - Duke Buchanan (Originally born in 1992) - River Carpenter (Originally born in 1994)

Passions - Ethan Martin "Little Ethan" Crane

"international"
What's the meaning of "international" in "international soaps"? perhaps "non-US"? if so, that's not really good: this is english-language Wikipedia, not united-states Wikipedia. Gbnogkfs 12 August 2006, 23:02 UT

Simpsons
Do the simpson's apply in any way to this article? Similer to de-SORASing, they have stayed the same age throughout something like 20 years.
 * Not really. SORAS is jumping the age of a character forward a few years by recasting the role with a much older actor. None of these things have happened with The Simpsons. Asa01 07:40, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
 * The Simpsons exist in a floating timeline where they're unageing, ageless, or/and being continuously "de-SORASed". --DocumentN (talk) 19:48, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Pronunciation?
Anyone know how you would pronounce this? umm.. my guess would be "sore ass" but that just doesn't seem right.


 * No, "sore ass" is how you would pronounce it. Mike H. I did "That's hot" first! 06:38, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

I never thought of it like that. I always say "soars" though I know it is SORAS. 216.82.171.38 05:32, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Neighbours - is this correct?
Summer Hoyland (Marisa Siketa) went from being 10 years old in 2003 to being 14 years old in 2005

Is this actually correct? I don't remember Summer ever being anything other than Marisa Siketa's real age (note that Siketa is small and quite young-looking for her age, so maybe viewers just assumed she was 10?) I'm sure it would have been mentioned by the Neighbours geeks on the Perfect Blend site if it was true... 217.155.20.163 21:10, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure there was a reference to her being ten in the 2003 season, and then I think she had a 14th birthday in the 2004 season. It was mentioned a fair bit on http://www.neighboursfans.com/forum/ a while ago. Cyclone49 01:48, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Another regular thing on Neighbours is that the show's regular teenage characters are often seen in the same school class, even if they are clearly not the same age (siblings Rachel and Zeke Kinski, for example)--MartinUK (talk) 00:28, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Shouldn't SORAS just apply for continuity violations?
I was reading over this article and I noticed that occasions in science fiction shows in which a character's rapid aging is explained is included among those in which continuity is clearly breached. I think instances such as Connor's aging in Angel or children with alien heritage aging quicker in Star Trek should at least be placed in a separate category.
 * I tried to cover that with this edit, but a better reference would be good; preferably one in Torchin's original definition of the term. --DocumentN (talk) 19:08, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Australian soaps
Australian soaps have recently begun the trend of SORASing characters for storyline purposes

How recently is "recently"? Neighbours has been ageing characters practically from the beginning, starting (I think) with Lucy Robinson back in 1987 or so. 217.34.39.123 13:07, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

hmmm....good point, Lucy did seem to gain a few years each time the character was recast, and Hannah was introduced on the show 15 years ago.Dippit 06:02, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

quality of article
the quality of this article is terrible. this sounds more like an uncyclopedia article than a wikipedia article. it is presented as a joke with fake concern for mortality rates etc. this should also be scaled way down. its sucha large article on such an uninmportant thing. this could also be merged into 'continuity' in film and be summed up in a paragraph with out all the lists and examples.... this is garbage!!!!!

besides this includes examples that arent even in Soap Operas! -forcefieldmaker87 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 38.113.90.254 (talk) 16:50, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

Rename
Per my comments in the AfD, does anyone share my view that there should be a different title for this article? If so, does anyone have a suggestion? I (talk) 00:19, 28 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Nah, I'm against renaming it. This is the common name for it, and the name it was coined as.


 * I don't know how I missed the deletion debate for this article, considering that I had/have this article on my watchlist. Last night I noticed that I'd missed it, but I suppose that showed me how busy I've been with other matters on Wikipedia (...that and that I have far too many articles on my watchlist, that's for sure). I put this article on my watchlist mainly because I felt that it may be nominated for deletion one day. I mean, I knew/know how notable this term is, but this article didn't (and still doesn't at the moment) present that in the best way, and some editors' first reaction is to nominate an article for deletion instead of seeing about getting it fixed up. Anyway, this article should stay at this name. Flyer22 (talk) 00:31, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

ATWT and OLTL
I have removed the list of SORASing from ATWT and OLTL as it is not necessary to include every single example of SORASing from those shows. 203.118.176.121 06:38, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

Alan-Michael Spaulding
The article states that Alan-Michael Spaulding (of Guiding Light) was de-SORASed with the recasting of Micheal Dempsey.

Michael Dempsey was born June 1967, and Rick Hearst who played him for the the longest before that (he was very briefly recast before the character left the show) was born Jan. 1965. Micheal Dempsey is only 2 years younger than Rick Hearst, although he did look and act quite young, and dated a younger woman- Marina, who is known for dating older men. (And he also went after Ava, but we have already seen he likes women in there 20's) His age was never specifically stated since the recast as far as I know. I think that he was just supposed to be a playboy, but not in his 20's. So, I am going to remove the mention from the article.

208.53.104.68 (talk) 18:57, 23 December 2007 (UTC)amyanda2000

Carley Tenny ATWT
I don't think that Carley counts as a de-SORAS-ed character either. I look at it more as an anacronism (or just an error to overlook). I'm pretty sure that Carley is still meant to be in her 30's. She's played by the same character and I see no indication that she is being played as a 20 year old. I'm debating whether to remove this.

I think De-SORASing really only counts when there is a recast. Otherwise, they are merely "re-aged" (The Erika Kane example) but I don't know if there is any kind of consensus on this.

208.53.104.68 (talk) 19:14, 23 December 2007 (UTC)amyanda2000

Related articles
Some of the examples listed here seem like they're actually examples of Unageing or a floating timeline. The article may need to have some links inserted to route people to those articles instead; or maybe the "de-SORAS" section could be merged with Unageing (I'm not sure whether it's exactly the same thing or not). --DocumentN (talk) 18:27, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I say don't merge. I agree that some of the de-SORAS examples are really Unageing or floating timeline, but I think this material makes the most sense where it is now. A bunch of Soap Opera related info wouldn't be very appropriate elsewhere, and merging either of the other articles would be a mistake as well as they deal with a more broad phenomenon than (de)-SORAS since that relates strictly to age changes in Soap Operas. Nanobri (talk) 16:13, 20 February 2008 (UTC)
 * That's the problem, this article has become a list of examples, trivia really. It should just explain the concept and give some pertinent examples. And in that case, it would probably fold nicely into one of these other articles as a subsection. I invite anyone interested to jump in, but eventually I'll be bold and take a chop at it. &mdash; TAnthonyTalk 23:25, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Relative aging only?
The SORAS examples in this article were interesting and informative. I don't watch soap operas, and I didn't realize they did that! The de-SORAS examples, not so much. Stretching out two years into four on That '70s Show seems entirely reasonable and unremarkable to me, and I can't even imagine why anyone would expect the characters on The Simpsons and Family Guy to age in real time.

It seems to me that what SORAS is really about is not discrepancies between the timeline of a show and real time, but rather substantial and unexplained changes in the ages of characters with respect to each other. I think the article should emphasize that, and refer to floating timelines (or even flashbacks) for chronological inconsistencies with respect to the real world. I'm not sufficiently into it to do this myself, but I did want to make the suggestion.

173.68.60.231 (talk) 18:47, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

Walt Lloyd, from Lost
In the series Lost, from 2004, Walt Lloyd had this problem, he grew up too fast, thus his character was scrapped from the script. Someone interested could provide a font and throw it with the peter griffin and other examples :) Uberflaven (talk) 16:02, 3 April 2009 (UTC)