The State and the Market: Chinese TV Serials and the Case of Woju (Dwelling Narrowness)

Abstract

The production, consumption, and state control of Chinese TV serial drama can be seen as an instrument of power and profit maximization as well as a medium for mass education and homogenization in the form of popular culture. The serial drama Woju 蜗居 (Dwelling narrowness) (2009) exemplifies the ways in which a prime-time TV serial in twenty-first-century China is a politically, socially, and commercially significant enterprise. Since the 1980s, prime-time serials have emerged as a distinctly successful medium with and through which the Chinese party-state exercises ideological control by entertainment rather than oppression. Indeed, not only did Woju enjoy huge audience popularity, it also benefited from considerable tolerance of the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT), which, according to the website Danwai, allowed the drama to “slip” through its guidelines.

Gender and Corruption

“…(Meng, a 33-year-old middle-class woman) Meng also expressed her enthusiasm for watching Woju, but she did not perceive exactly the same issues in it that Wen did. In contrast to Wen's view, Meng's narrative highlights the drama's entertaining elements and the spectacular accumulation possible in neoliberal urban China (Hung, 2011). In her interpretation, the show becomes a melodrama focusing on the "love entanglement" between a young woman and a privileged man.…”

“…The TV drama focuses on a sexual relationship between a married official and a young female office worker. This central storyline was later criticized by state authorities for its “negative impact upon society” (Hung, 2011). Snail House was hugely popular with the viewing public and led to a flood of comments on social media after it aired.…”

“…Snail House was hugely popular with the viewing public and led to a flood of comments on social media after it aired. “Mortgage slave” 房奴, “second wife” 二奶, and “Song Siming” (the corrupt official in the drama) were the most popular online search terms during the discussion of the drama (Hung, 2011).…”

“…More importantly, the “bomb” is clearly aimed at officials, not second wives. Wen’s narrative provides a clear expression of resistance against the media’s construction of “fallen witches” as a “source of trouble.” The rhetorical figure representing officials in the drama triggered fury among audiences that consider it an authentic figure of the regime’s ruling political class (Hung, 2011). Wen’s perception of the drama reflects this type of audience reception.…”

“…The money given by the official in Meng’s narrative is no longer the metaphor of “evil vice” that it is in Wen’s; instead, it becomes a bridge to the “happy ending” of the drama—the United States. The production of Woju reflects the efforts of the Chinese media industry to produce “audience commodities” under China’s party-state-led capitalism as it works to integrate into the global economy and neoliberalist paradigm (Hung, 2011; Yu, 2011). Meng highlights the aspects of the drama that help to solidify the “right kind of audience.”…”