Are China’s TV dramas obsessed with beauty? An industry regulator thinks so
A national watchdog says there should be more to productions than physical appearances
TV drama regulators in China have taken aim at beauty-obsessed and traffic-driven programming in the industry, with a call for more “quality” storytelling.
The National Radio and Television Administration’s drama department sent out the call on Thursday as it brought major streaming platforms and production companies together for a conference on “healthy aesthetics”.
“[Efforts should be made] to avoid the tendency to value physical beauty above everything else and reliance on traffic-driven popularity,” the department said in a briefing posted on social media.
“Greater emphasis should be placed on acting skills and the quality of productions,” it said, criticising the “undesirable creative tendencies” of a “one-sided pursuit of ‘appearance-first’ standards”.
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Among the attendees at the conference were representatives from streamers iQIYI, Mango TV, Tencent Video and Youku and participants from production companies Daylight Entertainment, Linmon Media and Huace TV.