Cultural Criticism Of Chinese TV Drama

Ever since reality TV shows were first introduced into China, they have continued to face a multitude of problems. At one point, pessimistic commentators predicted that they would gradually fade away altogether. However, these shows continue to entertain viewers with their brand-new appearances and new show models. Reality TV has shown researchers its extreme vitality as a television show genre, and has already become one of China’s cultural morphologies, a branch of pop culture. We say that "existence is legitimacy", but we must be willing to look directly at the problems that have shown up during this cultural morphology’s development. This paper strives to use a critical perspective to analyze these problems within the context of the entire social system. In this paper we have selected popular national reality TV shows from various important historical dates to conduct literary discussion. First, we will use the settings, plots, and the "zhen" (reality) and "xiu" (showmanship) of participants as a starting point to discuss this type of show’s unique ability to combine both reality and drama into one. Next, we will analyze the effects of t-he universal participation mechanisms involved, especially the identity anxiety and self-imagination of the public, as well as research on the public’s desire for curiosity and voyeurism, as well as use a psychological perspective to analyze and assess the psychological mechanisms comprised of "watching" and "being watched". Next we will shift to a consumer culture viewpoint and focus our analysis on the essential characteristics of how consumer mechanisms allow reality TV shows to produce a constant stream of consumption and game playing. However this consumption is the "attention consumption" unique to media, a type of symbolic consumption. Game-playing is primarily for release, fragmented and full of deceit, but there are enormously important economic reasons hiding behind these characteristics. Finally we will discuss the effects the popularity of reality TV shows has had on society:it has caused excessive growth of "false needs" and the creation of a "stranger" society, and has led the public into the quicksand of overzealous aestheticism. Because a type of "soft leadership" is needed to achieve balance between the various cultures present in such shows, we have proposed a development plan that will help bring reality TV shows into a cycle of healthy development. In short, from analyzing the nature of reality TV shows, to discussing the psychological mechanisms for their popularity; from exploring the economic motives hidden backstage, to interpreting the cultural impact of these shows, the ultimate goal behind using a critical perspective is to try and find a glorious new future for reality TV shows and reality show culture.