First Short Paper
Nina Datz
10/14/2021
Soap Mania: Nina and All My Children
Why did ‘Nina’ experience a more dramatic spike in popularity compared to other characters in All My Children? To begin answering this question, I have investigated the language used to describe Nina Cortlandt’s character and actions to gauge audience opinion. I believe if the descriptions reveal Nina to be an especially beloved character, this will be a first step in understanding Nina’s popularity.
First, I have included below the graph of the popularity of ‘Nina.’ The spike in 1980 clearly marks the peak for ‘Nina,’ with 1,889 baby girls receiving the name that year.
Preliminary research indicated that this jump was directly related to the introduction of Nina Cortlandt on the soap opera All My Children. In my initial investigation, I looked at the popularity graph of several major female characters in All My Children. No other name, however, had a comparatively dramatic increase during the show’s run (shaded).
## Warning: Transformation introduced infinite values in continuous y-axis
Nina Corlandt’s first aired appearance was June 1st, 1979 (“Taylor Miller” (2021)). Few episodes since that date have plot summaries available, and fewer mention Nina. However, those that do are quite revealing of the nature of Nina’s character. The episode from February 15, 1980 includes Nina’s father hosting a “costume ball for his daughter[’s] birthday,” and the summary of the December 18, 1987 episode includes the line “Nina nurses a wounded Matt” (“All My Children Episodes” (2021)). Both of these plot summaries, while painfully vague, point to Nina being both caring and cared for. Wikipedia’s overview of Nina’s involvement in All My Children’s plot includes several telling phrases further supporting this assessment. She is noted to be “her father’s daughter,” and he throws her a “lavish 18th birthday party,” demonstrating further that Nina was deeply loved and enjoyed a comfortable life (“Nina Cortlandt” (2021)). Additionally, she has an “acumen for business,” indicating high intelligence, and “formally adopted” her husband’s son, reinforcing her caring nature (“Nina Cortlandt” (2021)). From the descriptive language in plot summaries alone, it is already clear that Nina Cortlandt was written to be adored by audiences. Because of these positive associations, it is easy to see many parents using her name as an inspiration for their own children.
I also briefly investigated the language used by audiences to describe Nina Cortlandt. Nina had several romantic connections throughout the series. Her on-again-off-again romance with Cliff Warner being by far the most popular with audiences, and most audience discussion of Nina seems to focus on this pair. They are commonly described as a “supercouple” and “fan favorites” (“Nina Cortlandt” (2021)). The below photograph from a 1984 issue of Soap Opera Digest describes the “sheltered” and “wealthy” Nina’s “storybook romance” and “elegant” wedding with Cliff. Fans show a clear association between Nina and a romantic, fashionable life.
The information I have found in my initial searches indicates that Nina Cortlandt’s portrayal as a beloved daughter, attractive love interest, wealthy inheritor, and caring mother likely contributed to the spike in her name’s popularity. Parents show a preference for names connotated with goodness and romantic characteristics (Lieberson and Bell (1992) 521, 539). Thus, the many positive traits associated with Nina Cortlandt would make her an ideal inspiration for parents. I am also curious if the name’s slump in popularity in the years immediately preceding Nina Cortlandt’s introduction contributed to the spike, since it would have been more of a unique name at the time.
In future research, I plan to conduct similar analyses of other major female characters in All My Children in order to determine why the impact of the show’s popularity is more prominent in ‘Nina’ than any other female character’s name.
Bibliography