A Study On The Alienation Of China 's TV Marriage Program From The Perspective Of Consumerism

After nearly a decade of silence, TV dating shows come back with a new outlookin early2010. TV channels raise a national wave of "Matchmaking Heat ". After along-term observation of different television dating shows, the author of this thesisnoticed there are some elements of characteristics of consumerism in the datingshows. Such as Gamification, Symbolic, Materialized and voyeuristic interest, etc.With the globalization of the Chinese economy in recent years, westernconsumerism ideology rapidly infiltrates into Chinese general public life and culture.Mass media, especially television media, has played a catalytic role. The utilization ofromantic movies and TV plays,"affordable" or "elegant" shopping advertisings,magnificent MTV video images maximize the symbolic value of the commodity. Bycreating luxury good lifestyle and inciting the public consumption, mass mediagreatly affected the values of the public.The public consumption no longer serves for individual needs or practical use ofgoods, but for symbolic value of goods which is invisible. The value of practical usehas been lost, consumption shifts from material consumption to symbolicconsumption. Consumption has been alienated, the symbolic value of goods hasbecome the important basis of individual identity and value judgment. That is to say,consumerism ideology has deeply effected the value orientation of Chinese generalpublic. This influence is reflected most vividly in Chinese dating shows. Thus, thisthesis focuses on the dating show’s characterization of alienation and the reasonsunder the influences of consumerism and intends to put forward some thoughts andsuggestions on how to regulate dating shows from Baudrillard’s theory ofconsumerism,This research starts from the mass media from the perspective of consumerismand then analyzes the dating shows under the environment of media consumerism:implicit logic of consumption among Media, Panelists, Audience and Advertisers.Secondly, the research discusses the alienation characterize of dating shows under the consumption logic mainly from four aspects which are media and guests, guests andguests, audience and advertisers, and similarities and differences of the past andpresent of the core values of marriage culture. Thirdly, it analyzes the reasons ofdating shows’ alienation from four angles which are globalization, national mediapolicy reform, media market and private consumption descending. Fourthly, it putsforward reflections and suggestions on how to regulate dating shows fromperspectives of the government, the media and the public. The arising and popularityof TV dating shows has its realistic factors, its benefits to public and society deserveour evaluation. However, the problems exposed in the program can not be ignored. Inorder to has a long-run development, it is necessary to find out the root of problemsand promote practical solution. The solutions this research provided will be alsohelpful to solve the dilemma of entertainment programs’ development which iscommon to Dating shows.