I just thought I’ll share this article: https://cdramabase.com/2017/09/05/news-corner-chinese-drama-industry-under-fire-for-valuing-big-names-more-than-quality-and-creativity/
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I should think this not much different from the US or European market. The more money the movie producers want to make, the more mainstream the movie needs to be, and therefore, the more known the faces in the movie have to get. It’s just that in China the country itself participates in these things and the debate, while in the US it’s every man for himself, basically.
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Another interesting article. Quite thought-provoking in that it happens not just in Chinese dramas, but other dramas as well. On the other hand, there are more and more kickazz and dignified women characters (though still not enough to balance out or override the bias/stereotype).
http://www.sixthtone.com/news/1000110/why-todays-chinese-tv-dramas-are-insulting-to-women
A noteworthy quote on ‘mainstreaming’ entertainment (that I believe applies to not just Chinese dramas). Sad but so true:
https://i.imgur.com/JdEmH7O.png
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I think the TV markets in the US and Europe are better. Yeah Hollywood is in a pretty bad place right now - reboots, remakes, sequels, prequels and spinoffs seems to be the name of the game right now. But once you leave Hollywood it gets better. Major networks are still pretty bad but you can get HBO, Starz, BBC, European stations among a list of others that run fairly unique shows and take risks. Netflix, Amazon and streaming websites are getting into the TV game further helping out.
Korea definitely looks like the ‘worst’ in terms of big names and remakes for dramas for 2017 and 2018.
As for China… without getting too political: I find it amusing the top regulators are complaining about a lack of creativity when they play a role in the lack of it. They’ve been expanding their censorship over the past 2 years. “You can’t do this, you can’t depict that, if you do this you’ll be banned”. I know they’re not completely responsible for Chinese TV lacking creativity & diversity but it’s a classic case of talking from both sides of the mouth. “More creativity”, “No you can’t do this”.
Here’s another interesting article, this time on the quality of visual effects: https://cdramabase.com/2017/09/21/news-corner-sixth-tones-interview-with-visual-effects-supervisor-guan-ming-jie/
This is bound to change, at least for male leads, because most male big names are in the army right now or ready to enlist this year!
Ji Chang Wook, Seo In Guk,Joo Won, Lee Min Ho, Jang Geun Suk, Hwang Kwang Hee, Kim Soo Hyun, Taecyeon, Im Siwan, Lee Jong Suk…
@2lizz5 I saw that too and see you also posted it, the pictured graphic is from http://www.viki.com/tv/33375c-rakshasa-street?q=raks,
@kyle_eg as an European living in US I gave up …wood movies and the cable TV long time ago… in particular the tv shows and their stupid every 3/4 min commercials… everything is a show and a pretend… some older movies had a quality… perhaps in general entertainment is just not that what it used to be… cause it’s all about money and profit not so the quality anymore…
There’s a follow-up on the article I posted before: https://cdramabase.com/2017/11/02/whats-on-weibo-celebrities-in-chinese-tv-dramas-can-no-longer-receive-excessive-salaries/