In the series, the woman punches and humiliates the suspected “third party” in front of friends and family, before the fiance – a wealthy CEO – reveals the individual to be his youthful-looking mother. The confrontation ends on a cliffhanger with the fiance looking at his injured mother in horror.
“Intentionally or not, women are labelled or portrayed as naive, beautiful but lacking in substance, or evil and scheming,” stated the article on micro dramas.
“Such biased (portrayals) are vilifying women … and (are) a form of disrespect.”
The commentary further pointed out that the audience of micro dramas is mainly middle-aged and elderly people, who were not only profited from but also led astray by “wrong values”.
Micro dramas typically reel viewers in by offering the first several episodes free of charge. Several episodes in, and as the plot thickens, the platform then requests viewers pay to continue watching the rest of the series.
There are different packages with varying prices – some charge US$1 for 20 episodes, while others cost US$10 to catch 60 episodes. Some series allow users to unlock more episodes by watching advertisements instead of paying.
According to a 2024 report by Chinese marketing research company iResearch, 37.3 per cent of micro drama viewers were aged 40 to 59, and 12.1 per cent were those aged 60 and above.
Data from internet data firm QuestMobile likewise showed that in March 2024, nearly 40 per cent of users on leading short video apps were over 45 years old. Close to half of the overall users spent between 1,000 yuan (US$137) and 1,999 yuan each month.
TIGHTENING REGULATIONS
The fresh bout of criticism comes as Chinese authorities take steps to tighten regulations on micro dramas, which have emerged as a sizeable moneymaker.
The micro drama sector surpassed 50.4 billion yuan last year, exceeding China’s film box office revenue for the first time, Sixth Tone reported, citing statistics from an industry white paper.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-micro-drama-criticism-harmful-stereotypes-women-tighten-regulations-4946831