It's the sad truth that society devalues older women. Like they just expect you to die when you hit 30 or something. And it's 100% because women aren't treated as people by the media, you're either sexually desirable or you're the mother figure who's only there to provide occasional guidance (or as an obstacle for the main couple). It makes me so angry because not only is it frustrating, it also has the very dangerous side effect of endangering young girls. They're are told, repeatedly, that they've peaked at the age of 17. That they are at the height of their beauty, and worth when in reality they've maybe just finished puberty. No one reaches their "peaks" until they're at least in their 30s, and it's just a fertile ground for people to prey on young girls. All the while the media validates and normalizes this fucked up reality (angry face emoji)
Well, it's all about the audience. The main audiences of C-dramas are single women. They are expected to marry before 30. So, the main actress should be audience surrogate physically : young and single. Most stories are about finding love, but not often about maintaining relationships.
It's all good, us boys are worthless and only good for dying in wars until we make something of ourselves and generate lots of money. At least you girls have value for reaching the age of 17. So, yeah you can think that women have it bad, but yall only see it from your perspective and don't even bother looking at the bullshit men have to go through in society.
@@brad4058 but arent you the one who decided that though??? Who claimed that women cannot participate in politics, wars, education and ruling and should just stay in home/kitchen? Isn't it men? Men would literally create millions of reasons to victimize themselves for something THEY CAUSED and invalidate the double standards against women. Yall literally did that to yourselves 💀 Women were objectified, oppressed, and silenced for so many years. Yall the one who were like "men must be strong, only men can go in wars, women are weak and unintelligent and must stay in the house, men must be the money maker of the family" Whatever's happening to men, it's all bcs of men also 🤷🤷🤷
Yang Mi really has been playing the stereotypical “innocent virgin girl” for over 15 years. I’m not even a fan of hers but watching her playing the same role over and over and OVER again for a hundred times still makes me feel bad for her, and so many other beautiful mature actresses in China like her. They need scriptwriters and production companies that dare to create stories about real women over the age of 25. And in all honesty, that is kind of the age range where life truly begins, for both the the housewives and women who focus on their family life, AND the office ladies and female entrepreneurs who venture into the “man’s world” and their workplace, as more or less the underdogs. Just imagine the great stories you can draw from these settings, instead of the same old high-school-romance or college-romance over and over and over again.
I dont remember correctly the title but luckily we have "30 is not over", a recent Chinese drama which portrays 3 women at age 29 - 30 with different backgrounds & situations. I recommend you to look it up. It's kinda cool to have such kind of drama. Also another kind of similar drama is "Ode to joy", the female characters are younger.
I think this is why Bai Qian as a character worked out so well well for Yang Mi. Both Su Su and Bai Qian were of indeterminate age and as a "goddess" she had the luxury of literally being ageless. It allowed Yang Mi to really lean into a slightly jaded/cynical persona whose lack of life experience was because she was lazy and introverted, not because of youth and actual inexperience. That actually makes a great example of how to tell a story of "experience" without having to rely on "youth" as a trope. That said...fear of aging is a common storytelling trope and it does create a lack in diversity of stories. But c-drama in and of itself tends to be extremely shallow when it comes to personal development.
Mai Yia Yang I don’t think someone like her is willing to not be main character after all this time. Who’ll be willing to climb down after getting that high?
I have recently finished Hospital Playlist and just realised Koreans don't have this problem. I watched HosPlay, I'm 25yrs, but watching the life of these 40 year old was INTERESTING for me! And the actors in real life are in their late 30s, two years less than 40, and they still are beautiful ams acting so well!!!
This is a really sad thing but according to psychology and common misconception, people think people in their 40s+ lives in a stagnant stage and is reflecting their life before they die and that is insane lol. 40 isn’t even that old. Most people still look beautiful and young at 40, and things still happens at 40. If anything, at 40 you have twice the story to tell than an 18 year old person.
I'd wish that in dramas that they start portraying second female leads and other supportive female characters in a more positive light and have more varied motivations, than destroying said female lead's career and romances. I mean if guys could become rivals and friends at the same time, why can't women be the same? Also, I find it that the female protagonist usually develops her career with the help of her potential love interest. Sure it's a way to bring them together and show that he's "perfect" for her because he knows her potentials, but it's as if she has to always rely on her man to succeed. So it'd be helpful if other people in her circle become her mentors, supporters and investors, especially women and men, other than her suitors, experienced in her field. Finally, the fact the female protagonist is loved by many men do not highlight her personality, like AvenueX mentioned in another video. I find it actually does the opposite, particularly when her characterization is weak or too "Mary Sue-like", and it makes her look as she has qualities that only please men.
I really liked the age transition in Ten Miles, regarding Yang Mi from teenager to a more mature and experienced "auntie" and how her husband was basically in his 20's compared to her age...yet to him it did not matter...love persevered.I really wished more dramas did this in their writing. It would capture a more broader audience.
I think Liu Tao's career is a good example of a quality actress playing varied, age-appropriate and meaningful roles. The main problem is the Asian audience doesn't care to fight the status quo on this issue. I hear females complain about other female actresses being "too old" at age 30. Instead of supporting the need for age-diverse and strong female leads they just want pure fantasy escapism. I see the trend start very young, when you look at the young female leads in the high school dramas they are basically the same character over and over.
Unfortunately, I think it's like that all over the world... Of course there are more roles that are available in the "west" but it's still not enough for actresses to play these kinds of roles and still maintain their positions in the limelight... And as you said... it's a risk to try and play these roles because once an actress chooses to do so and their image changes in public perception, its hard to go back if there are not enough of those roles to play... It was an interesting rant^^
I think is all over, i can remember seeing a interview with Anne Hathaway and she spoke about she not being in a certain age range anymore and not getting roles(main lead) because of it.... that they go for young actresses and also put older woman roles and give it to the young actresses.... is sad, i know hollywood is trying to get more woman in a male dominant industry.
There are definitely interesting women in real world China. Writers should take inspiration from these women and bring their stories to life. People need to look beyond ip and young fresh actors, and instead focus on better storytelling. Also if you really want to change things maybe bring these issues into conversations (as avenue did), and take actions to call for diversity in the drama world.
a netizen actually called out to make a drama about "four 40-yr old women with different personalities, who do not want to get married" earlier this year on Weibo. In her post, she picked 4 actresses (all 40+ of age) and assigned them roles and described a little about each character. The post got shared over 30,000 times. She also edited a short trailer. Some major TV media mentioned her idea after it got so much attention and also interviewed some 40+ actresses. We are all very happy that someone brings up this topic but we all know it is really hard to produce a drama in China that is, as the netizen who first brought this up, does not involve marriage, wife/mather-in-law problem, and raising kids, but simply about single women's life and career. We would like to see this, but it is unlikely that Guangdian(广电, the State Administration of Radio and Television of China) will let it pass and air, since the country is now implementing the second-child policy.
I wondered about that too. But as you probably have seen in Avenue X's Guardian first impression video, everything that is originally ghost in the novel has been changed to alien. This is a rule, that there could not be anything that is not scientifically explainable after 1949. Even though Guardian is a web drama, it still can't escape this rule. Maybe things could change, but it definitely takes time. We'll see. I think The First Half of My Life is kind of a good precedent.
You look so beautiful in this setup. Your no makeup (makeup?) look, your hair, your clothes. It all compliments each other perfectly! So nice and soothing to the eyes! 😊
Look at Ruby Lin. I actually avoid dramas that she features in because of this same exact problem. She produces her own dramas AND features in them as the main character, regardless of age. While she still looks young, she's clearly not young enough for most of her roles. The thing is, as a producer of her own work, she has more freedom to play roles that suit her age as opposed to other actresses, which makes things more frustrating. Edit: I meant she can play older main characters that are closer to her age.
That's true. I also find the same issue with Huang Xiao Ming...and it throws me off when he gets paired with a female actress that is like mid to late 20s when he's over 40. He seems more suitable for more mature roles. He doesn't look the age (of someone who is super young) yet the female leads are always way younger. Which ends up making the "CP Feel" really low. But I liked him in dramas like The Patriot Yue Fei and Nirvana In Fire 2, where he plays someone who's more mature. Especially since in Nirvana In Fire 2, his "wife" was played by someone who was in her mid 30s. The CP feel is way stronger since they're closer in age. They did a great job in casting for that drama.
omg, i cringe at the young roles that she stars in lol. I can clearly see the wrinkles and there's always that age progression in her dramas from teens to 20s, 30s then so on. She did had dramas where she had a younger love interest but it wasn't so well produced to me.
really problem when those baby face occur... like barbie hsu (meteor garden), gigi leung, anita yuan. they all above 40 but still have 20-30yo features..
I think this is an issue even in Hollywood. There’s definitely a little more variety for ages, but I’ve also seen an example here and there in Chinese movies of actresses playing different roles. Like Gong Li, Zhao Wei, Fan Bing Bing they might be more the exception, but they’ve played a few roles that stray from the typical. I think there is a lack of roles, but there might be a little bit of a fear for Chinese actors of portraying an unliked or ugly role. I remember when Duke of Mount Deer came out with Ruby Lin as Jian Ning, there was word that she originally was hesitant on the role because she’s not a very likable character, and then the role was rewritten to make her super nice and cute. Ive also heard of some actors getting threats for after being in a villain role because they were very good at being villains and people can’t separate reality from the character. For Chinese dramas, I tend to lean toward the historical dramas, and those tend to be coming of age, or romances, so it kind of makes sense for main lead characters to be that typical age range. I personally prefer they choose a better older actor, than an age appropriate actor/actress. I think another problem is that even roles that are not the typical 15-25 age range or are different body types in the source material are often played by that age range and typical idealized body types. One example was actually the popular Mo Dao Zu Shi/untamed, the actors in here are very young, but the leads are actually older in the manga for most of the story (the 13 year time jump probably brings most of the leads into their mid to late 30s.)
Perfectly valid argument. But consider this: as I see it, both male and female beauty as depicted in the East Asian entertainment industry has been largely fetishized. The ideal is that females should be fair, pretty, baby faced with sexy bodies. Ideal male beauty is delicate featured, fair skinned faces and well toned, athletic bodies. Perfect eye-candy in other words that viewers from other parts of the world drool over. One may see this situation as unfortunate but the surreal beauty of these actors/ actresses/ idols is exactly the reason for the popularity of some of these dramas and in certain ways has become the identity of the East Asian entertainment industry.
Also I think the audience that these dramas are directed at are targeting the "younger" females. Not only is everyone obsessed with being young, but also thinks they can appeal most to the young. But the reality is that many fans are well over 17. I also thought about this before in regards to how every movie/drama in the 00's featured high school and especially young high school girls. The actors and actresses playing these "high school" roles not only didn't look young, but the storylines were often way too unbelievable that it could happen to young 17 year olds. So what's wrong with making a storyline about a 30 year old who saves the world? 🤔😑
Super glad you mentioned Viola Davis' role in How to Get away with Murder, that was the show I immediately thought of when I was about a minute into your video. Interesting video as always!
This is pretty common in most asian countries Not only in dramatic representation but also in real life people are so conscious of their age especially women. This is result of male led myth that a woman has to be young to be desirable and sadly most women are buying it. I think one solution is that women change their thoughts on women and life. Instead of paying too much attention to their husband kids and what other people think of you woman should invest more time and energy to develop themselves in health looks knowledge etc. This is why i love linxi character in langyabang 2 so much. We should have more characters in drama like her. The situation is worse in lots of korean dramas. In korea main actress not only has to be young have goddess body she also has to dress like a fashion model.
I think so too. Ofc during the first few episodes she was obviously playing a younger role (prolly 18-22 in human years) but after the seventy thousand years passed she obviously became more mature and the character was probably in her early 30s in human years at the time
Nice rant video! I feel like that's been an issue for awhile now - women stuck being girls forever. Ingenue, maiden, 少女 - many of us are getting tired of it. As long as it's commercially lucrative though, this will continue to be the norm. (And truthfully, I am still watching all these dramas so...maybe I'm part of the problem? 🤷🏻♀️) Hopefully with more women producers, directors, and writers there will be more attention on telling the stories of women who do not fit into one narrowly-defined age category.
I'm fine with the stories that are being told because I mainly only watch historical dramas. I just hate always seeing people who look like their teenagers being in the lead roles because it beggars belief. Note I that they also cast the male roles this way so it's not just the women's roles that are screwed up.
I notice the same thing with manhua and webnovels. Most MC are no older than 25. Yet some get marry teenage years get divorce around 20-21, re meet again 3 years later and get marry again before 25.... also trait they are pure or at least still a virgin, not business savy, and great cooker and cleaner?
I agree. I wish there were more dramas with more interesting females. They tend to be young, dumb, and stubborn with no experience but so much heart (heavy sarcasm), and everyone who "wrongs" them comes back grovelling with an apology, even though the female was CLEARLY the one in the wrong. Very strange to me. But. I do think I miss a lot of the implied young characters because they don't look the supposed 16/17 to me, so I always just assume they are early 20's or later; its not until much later in the drama when they say "remember when we were 16 and did that thing" then I fall over in shock because I had no idea they were supposed to be that age. I've come to assume that stupid airhead behaviour means the character is currently in their teens, but i never know..
Enjoyed this. Two things I'd like to see (as new to your channel, an relatively new (one year) to Chinese drama) is something focusing on young (11-15 year olds) people making positive changes (already tired of the trendency of bullying), and things with older casting (35-60+ age group). There's more than enough fantasy. And an excessive number of young conflicted lovers. The current world, and continuously developing situation both inside and outside China, could - with careful scripts - not just provide an ever widening exposure of the rest of the world to the qualities within China, but also expand the menu of scripts and characters. But no dubbing!
Just saw this in my RU-vid feed. While I am fairly new watching asian drama, it's obvious that its production companies are not tapping into the major market of mature viewers. Looking forward to watching more drama that features actors performing at their age level. Agree with Ave X on this subject.
I agree with your opinion on this 100%. The trend will not change until the Chinese drama audience demands it. I hate to say it, but unfortunately this is a reflection of our level of sophistication as a whole. We need more people of influence such as you to bring this “sickness” the consciousness of the Chinese entertainment business.
I remember watching an interview with chinese actors from drama i liked. They were asked about character trait which their beloved woman should have. Their answer was shocking because all of them was talking about woman appearance like inside beauty didn't exist for them.
Why don't they just do the thing where they cast another actor when the character is young and put the main star when the character's aged up? Cause I really started getting confused in Fu yao, yang mi was acting all weird and super young but she looked older. Also same thing with princess agents, the main girl looks young but I got so thrown off when they mentioned that she was like 15?
Actually, I've watched several historical K-dramas and was really thrown when they changed out the actress because the age difference was so small. For example, one girl portrayed the lead in her youth - this girl appeared to be naturally between 15-20yr old and played the youth part which in the story probably ran from around 10yr old to 20yr old. Next thing I know they've changed to a different actress for the same part - this girl appeared to be naturally between 20-30yr old and played the second half of the show which in the story probably ran from 20yr old to 40 yr old. The problem is you could barely tell any difference in the age of the two actresses and when they switched them out I had no idea what was going on! I also happened to like the first actress much better but that not the point. Obviously one should have two actors playing the role when the age difference portrayed is drastic, like a child and a mature adult, but changing out the actors when you can't even see the age difference? Since then I've seen them do this a few more times but always find it really weird because normally it's always a too young actor playing a to the mature role and aging years but still looking exactly like they started. Asian women, in general, look youthful to start with! Even when they age they still appear to be younger than they are so I really don't understand this need to place teenagers in every role. It's also ridiculous to see a male who looks like he's 14 portraying emperors and the most important/valued people in a story.
I also feel that character’s ages are becoming a bit problematic as time goes. I’ve just finished Lost Love in Time, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that the FL character was conflictuous. I think because they want to show growth, but still keep them on this age-range, sometimes QingChan would say or do something really not “teenage like” that didn’t keep up a bit with her age - mentioned at the beginning. Also, there’s sometimes this look or way of acting in female leads that shows more maturity, and that actually enriches the scene, but is not explored because her characters have to still be the naive young girl that will doom/change/dominate the world before her twenties kkkk Thank you for the video, it was very interesting - and actually gave me an excuse to rant a bit too kkk =D
Given a contemporary drama there's more leeway, but with period dramas the shao nu age range was when girls were getting married; fork in the road moment for them. Wouldn't starting them off at a later age make them automatically "strange" in that society?
I mainly watch period dramas and the problem is they also do this with the male roles. You have guys who look twelve being the emperors. You also see if there is anyone older in the drama they don't have the lead roles and is always being rescued by the younger lead even when they are supposed to be someone who is their superior which makes the whole thing a bit ridiculous.
Heather Lynn but I think the point is that that drama really did not blow up as much as fuyao or much at all so that’s the “kidnapping” that she is talking about here in the video. These actresses just become a slave to it because that’s the type of story that sells.
Mae Song yes, but she was implying that these scripts don’t come to the actresses or that they don’t get made, when they do. Secondarily, the negotiator ‘blowing up’ like Fu Yao or not is not the fault of the production or casting offices. Those types of dramas aren’t as popular because that’s not what the largest percentage of the audience wants to see. If the audience wanted to see content with more adult characters then that’s what would be made. The goal of production studios is to cater to the wants of the audience and therefore make money. It’s not a personal attack on the age of the actresses, it’s business. Lastly, many of these historical dramas take place over the course of years if not decades so the character almost has to start off very young and innocent in order to show the history and growth as the long storyline progresses. None of this means I like this. As an older adult, I personally prefer stories that center around people closer to my own age. It’s why I can’t sit through dramas like ‘Boys over Flowers’. But this seems like a very emotional subject for Avenue X, when the reality of it is that there’s no emotion to it at all. People, including Yang Mi, want to make money and these dramas are what make money so she will continue to produce and star in these until she can’t anymore and even then, she’ll be signing her talent(Dilraba Dilmurat and Zhang BinBin for example) to the projects because that’s what sells.
It’s alright to play an older role but in The Negotiator her leading man was not matched well with her. Casting could have done better. There were no chemistry there.
It's a shame that many experienced and talented mature actresses are shafted this way. Tbh, they'd add a much needed perspective in the stories that are being told.
Thank you for the rant. I totally agree. I usually watch shows with mature characters. I do watch some c drama as I live in the states and and the genre is new to me. One thing that bothers me is the 30 yr old female character that acts like a little girl.
I was hoping that the success of Korean dramas like Sky Castle might help a bit. The older actresses in that drama were fantastic, and audiences loved it.
Koreans dramas and Chinese dramas are way different. I personally think that Koreans dramas have more diverse characters, Kdramas also starting to have dramas where ( both or one of the) the leads are in their late 20s or 30s.
I have been dismayed that important female roles are mostly in the under-30s group, not to mention the proliferation of frothy, shallow youth dramas. I think only UK and France can accept older women actresses in their natural state, i.e. loose skin, wrinkles, curves, while in US they will need serious plastic surgery or gymwork. This is exarcebated by the high definition quality of cameras, every "flaw"is magnified, or at least you can see every crevices and pores of the over-foundationed skin. Men have it a bit easier, they have maybe 10 years lead on the women because traditionally their role falls into the older partner figure anyway. What also makes me uncomfortable is seeing older actors and actresses do to appear younger- the over-smooth botoxed/filled skin (zero forehead wrinkle), the waxy makeup, lack of facial expression, and the shrunken cheeks of the more skinny ones (compare Charmaine Sheh in Legend of Yanxi Palace and the woman who plays her mother, the older actress actually looks better and more natural), all these cannot hide their real age, but they, and audiences have to learn to accept which probably will not happen soon. You can tell they are older because age causes the gap between the eyebrow and eye to shrink, plastic surgery cannot fix that yet.
Some Nordic dramas also have older women without such a fake appearance, like Borgen, Bron and The Killing. I do see a lot of noticeable surgery right from my first couple of K-dramas ... I think it was Protect the Boss, the main actresses eyelids were swollen or C-drama Palace, with some actresses Korean-style surgery. They unfortunately do this to be employed, I suppose, but it is worrying.
These types of analyses of dramas are really important, as media have significant social implications of a culture. I watch Chinese dramas occasionally, but Hong Kong dramas more frequently, and I struggle with the prevalence of rape scenes.
Agree with your opinion. Chinese should adapt more japanese drama roles..they do a lot of drama for older aged role. My fav so far is housekeeping mita
Hi! I am a new subscriber. I absolutely agree with you. It’s so sad that in China, we don’t have dramas that highlight life after the young innocent phase. The only drama that I can remember that touches on this a little bit is “ The gravity of a rainbow” . It not only touched on how a married woman with a child can be divorced and move on with another person who loves her. It also touched on autism. That I found really made that drama worth my time. I think that this ageism doesn’t just happen to the females in the film industry. I find even the males get phased out too. There are of course some exceptions to the rule but for the most part, I find the male age limit is 35 and under for male lead roles. Unless your are someone like Huang Xiao Ming. Or Jeremy Jones Xu ( I still don’t see the attraction with him but 🤷♀️). I have followed actors like Ji Xiao Bing and feel he could have been given better roles to show case his talents. In 2020, he has finally gotten a leading male role in Be With You ( aside from SCI). However, the script needs some work, but he did his best given what he was given. But now at the age of 33, I feel like his chances of continual getting more roles that will showcase his skills will just dwindle. Would love to see a video on how age affects the males leads as well. 🙂
I feel the same way, especially looking at asian stories, manga etc. Doesn't help the fact that i really love historical stories. After a while those fluffy love stories will not be relatable anymore to a lot of it's audience as they grow up. So i become very excited whenever i find a story with a similar premise but with a unique main character.
I’m sure the situation is a by product of market forces! As long as we the consumers continue to support it, the industry won’t change. On the other hand, I also cringe when I see a supposedly old king played by a “young” male who just stick some fake mustache and/or beard🤔. Are there no “mature” male actors either?
Thanks for bringing that up. I watch mainly historical dramas and I cringe just as much at the male leads looking like they're twelve as the female leads.
I agree with you. For me once I see an actor or actress play the same role more than twice, I want to see them play something else. I want to see them challenge themselves to improve their acting. Not having to do with age but in Thai dramas, I see that most main actors always play the same role.
On Amazon Prime there is a C-drama called "Nothing Gold Can Stay". Not a very good show, but it follows a woman from around age 20 to 60+, yet she never ever ages even one day.
The only two C-dramas I can think of that do not fit the strict character age-limit thing are: - "Ode to Joy" (both seasons 1 and 2) - "The First Half of My Life" These two are considered "boring" to the casual/mainstream viewers, and the second one especially requires maturity to appreciate. Hong Kong had a couple of classic dramas whose plots do not center around this sort of construct back in the day. Don't know how they're doing it now, though.
You should check out some Indian soap operas. Sometimes, mother looks younger than the daughter. Sometimes mother-in-law and daughter-in-law look like two college girls cosplaying as that. Sometimes....even grandma looks like she stopped aging since 25. I feel dead inside when I think about it.
Maybe also relatable to sheng nu (剩女) where you're NOT allowed to be a single/free/aspiring women past your late 20's? There's a touching documentary, see extract "China Doesn't Like That I'm a Single Woman, Here's Why" (NYT RU-vid channel). That young woman leaved China and finished her studies on my campus (Strasbourg, France) and now lives in Germany. The full original documentary (1h) in French or German is also available on RU-vid "Les mal-aimées de la Chine | ARTE".
Korean dramas have many mature woman roles as their main character such as Hyena, Penthouse, Sky castle, TWOTW etc. the rest of asian??? NOOOO. Japan dramas are still lack of mature woman roles IMO, they pushed woman in early 20's to be in their late 20's .
late to the discussion, but needed to vent. watching 三国机密 right now and am extremely annoyed by all the comments on the leading ladies. Chinese fans really cannot stand having a mid-30 actress in a drama acting as a love interest. They are constantly commenting on how old the female leads are and how many wrinkles these actresses have. Wtf?? I personally think these actresses in China are beautiful when they hit their 30s - they age like fine wine. Zhou Xun, Liu Tao, Dong Jie - all these ladies inspire me to take better care of my skin lol. Spiteful Fensis need to chill out
@avenueX, can you do a video on WHY the actors ALL look like they haven't eaten in a year? They are really thin to the point that I get distracted wondering if they will hurt themselves during physically demanding scenes.
Have no idea but yes, muscular man especially those with very bulky muscles are not that sought after than those who are thinner and with beautiful face or a more feminine features.
I went to few blogs where c-novels translated into English and reading comments after I’ve realized the readers mention actors/ actresses tha t made made roles some 10 years ago and now nobody knows about them…. Very sad…
I think that most cultures are attracted to 'youth'. It is a combination of personal nostalgia as well as watching the excitement of discovery that many have lost. A lot of mistakes and silly moments featured in many Asian dramas as a whole can be understood because they are 'young'. If an older women did the same most would find it unbelievable. "She is old enough to know better." The problem is women over 30 are not viewed as "fun, lively or playful". This is not to say that they aren't but they are now in the category where people think they should be settling the examples for younger generations instead. When most people watch dramas it is to escape momentarily from their real life. Being young and carefree pulls up longings for simple and easy days that are no more. So no matter what age the actress is most want to be reminded of that. I think that there should be changes made so there are fun roles for older lead actresses to play closer to their age but as long as there is a mindset of wanting 'bubbly, innocent youth" because it's more visually and emotionally attractive the industry will not change.
Is it really? Or is it that we've all been subconsciously programmed to be attracted to youth? I might argue that it's not such a natural thing considering this 'idolizing' of youth started in the 'west' where it didn't spring up spontaneously and grow naturally. It was 'invented' and brought about through marketing, and everyone was eventually programmed into thinking this was normal. Even 50 years ago in the west, this wasn't normal by any means. Also, note that comparatively Asian cultures have only recently been experiencing this 'obsession with youth' and I argue it's due to their becoming westernized - or more accurately I would argue contaminated by western ideals. Which BTW they arn't necessarily 'good ideals' considering they're been artificially manufactured instead of being spontaneously generated and the natural progressions of humanity. Wake up.
I'm old enough to remember when I saw "Raise The Red Lantern" in the theater. Gong LI was INCREDIBLE. She has gone one to be imho the grande dame of Chinese cinema. (Love "Curse of The Golden Flower"!) Before "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," there were some very fine dramatic films coming out of China. None depended upon wuxia (NOR Jackie Chan Hong Kong stuntwork). "Farewell, My Concubine" is another favorite. Then it seemed like all Chinese films were fantasy/historical (xianxia) with lots of CGI and beautiful actors/actresses. "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" are 2 of my favorites. Now, over 30yrs on, what has become of Chinese films/dramas? Why this overemphasis on youth and beauty/innocence? Where do the Gong Lis, Zhou Xuns and Yang Mis go from here?
Another observation: none of them can be successful in high budget movies, it seems that high budget dramas, no matter how popular they are, are still serving a unique audience demographics. It's encouraging that female actress get the leading role in high budget dramas in contrast to the global film industry, but it's also very sad that they have to be this attainable innocent Shao Nu stereotype, just like K-Pop girls group, they can have sexy mature aesthetic and somewhat strong personalities, but make no mistake, they can never be Madonna-like, they are still attainable and non-intimidating from men's perspective.
shao\ is probably the word for teens. Yang Rong also plays younger characters alongside younger male actors. I like dramas with older characters like First Half Of My Life and the older actors and actresses are much better in acting. I heard First Half Of My Life won many acting awards. Liu Tao has started to play older characters. China culture respects elders more than american culture so not sure why china drama viewers prefer to watch female teen drama. Taiwan has dramas about old people or seniors.
I'm starting to wonder if that whole "China culture respects elders more than American culture" thing is still true today? Although I don't doubt it in the past I also think China has been changing rapidly the last few decades and I'm not so sure it's for the better. They're becoming more 'westernized' in ideas.
I wonder if the censorship plays a large role in limiting these types of diverse characters. Because many of the "meaty" roles I'm thinking of are plot-oriented instead of character-oriented. Also, many of them tackle the flaws of society in an open and brutally honest manner. Corruption. Baser human instincts and flaws. Whereas the censorship in China seems to want to gloss over these aspects. Even in criticism of them, writers have to toe a line and create these one-sided/one-dimensional glossed over scenarios that either serve as allegories or are fairy-tale cliche in the way that "good" triumphs over "evil." Without being able to delve into the gray areas, you really aren't going to get a lot of roles with substance and depth.
I have seen a couple of dramas where the FL character is 30, but it's always consistently 30 and they're usually played by actresses who are almost 40 or exactly 40. For example a thousand teardrops staring Athena Chu
The west has so many roles for women at any age and veteran actresses such as Gabrielle Union and Drew Barrymore...both in their 40's, are getting leading GROWN ASS WOMEN ROLES...I have only been watching Chinese entertainment for about a year and have noticed the trend mentioned in this video. I've also noticed that women with the mother/ aunt roles look too young for their part, how insulting is it to play someone's mother when you are only 7 or 8 years older than them in real life??? I personally like the costume dramas but...tired of the same story of a young girl...most likely naive...etc
So far in the Cdramas I’ve watched, the modern dramas have more roles for women in different age range. It’s usually the costume dramas where “young” women roles are the trend. I think there’s that 1 or 2 recent dramas that have FL’s that are widows or masters in kungfu but the rest are head strong haughty ladies.
Hi AvenueX! I was looking for your name to call you correctly, but i didn't find! :) 😆 sorry for that then. After I saw this video I couldn't hold my thoughts only to myself. Especially reading some of the coments. I'm new to c-dramas (only 3 months) but I'm loving it. I've seen mostly period dramas (i'm not sure if it's called this way), like Ten Miles of Peach Blossons and The Untamed. And after watching a few others, I began to question were are the strong femeale lead older roles. Now you gave me the answer: there is none. 😑 Even for male roles, above 35 y.o. I don't think you can find easily. I think will be fantastic when producers and writers find those incredible stories that could be told. But I think it will be easier to see in Korean's shows (as far as I could see, i don't know everythig or watched every show of course) then China's. What do you think about that? And also, I think the script may come the same way that Untamed did: fan work, conquering audience through time, and only then drawing the attention of the producers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts in this video!
Thank you for these interesting comments.I feel when watching Asian dramas (which I enjoy very much) sadly that too often all the young women look the same. I think this is possibly more so in Korean dramas when the females are hard to tell apart and all the men look prettier than the women.(Mostly that is) and the focus is again on the young .While its nice to see the energy and enthusiasm of young actors but sometimes I think a bit more character variation would be a welcome change. Mind you in both Korean and Chinese dramas there are some excellent older actors both male and female.(Females even when playing older characters however are still a bit more perfect than real life; and yet older even more wrinkly women can exude so much more in elegance and character.) I think the dramas could reflect real life a bit more this way with their characters not being all quite so distractedly beautiful (but similar and at times hard to tell apart for a westerner) but if a population is hung up on youth and beauty I suppose that's what the producers/making money cater for. Anyway you look lovely in your blue silk top.
I've found ageism and sexism runs rampant in all cultures. A lot of the older female roles in the west are quite recent/new things. Mostly because women in the industry and fans alike had to fight to play/see that type of representation. I think there are small changes occurring in Cdramas. For example Una You's character Qin Xiao Man in 2019 绅探 Detective L was brilliant. She was a bit rough round the edges and spoke up for herself. I also really liked the mutual respect garnered in the partnership between Qin Xiao Man and Luo Fei (played by Bai Yu). Just like any industry if people want change the producers and consumers would have to fight for it.
yes, mentally i don’t want to be 15...but time wise..i would love to go back..because society make me feel like i’m old with a foot in the bucket.. i did notice in an Indian series.The actress that played the mom character was in her 30’s, i found that quite disturbing that the main lead was like 25? and she was his mum..🤦🏻♀️
Well, older women can of course still be main character on TV dramas, it's just those drama are watch by older generation (who tend not go online and create buzz) played on channels like CCTV. The sort of drama that stars Jiang Wenli and Zhang Guoli.... However, I do feel this sort of drama has being on the decline from the mainstream. >10 years ago, dramas like Golden Marriage, A Chinese Divorce, A family from Wenzhou, Home with Kids, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, Epics of a Woman etc are the mainstream dramas. While youth dramas are niche shows watched by teanagers. However, right now, youth drama are mainstream, while serious dramas, revolutionary drama and family drama are niche shows watched by retired folks and housewives. 其实说到底就是青春剧偶像剧成主流，正剧伦理剧退位了而已。毕竟从人口上来说80后和90好已经是消费主力，而且还在抓自己青春的尾巴。
Well I'm actually disgusted by America film who cast famous actor paired with obviously way younger actress and have adult scenes there 😂 this was my impression years ago and that's why I jumped to c drama where I can get to watch pair that's not really have big gap at least appearance wise. I said if Yang mi got the cash she should definitely pay good scriptwriter and hire good pd to make her own movie that suit her age.
I didn't notice that, but after watching this video it all makes sense. Maybe this is irrelevant on the topic but I've seen C dramas that even when a woman goes through aging, her face does not change "AT All"!! Just the hair, they just get a white hair with a young and shiny face which looks silly and it bothers me every time. I wish someone would tell them to stop doing this. PS: this "not editing" thing was good, nicely done ;-)
I think main female role for older generation actor could possibly happen successfully if the script-writer writes quality and logic scripts with decent plot building based of real-life biography. Last time I remember I read about the biography of Marie Curie and her biography is totally out of my mind... though since her story would most probably made into movie rather than drama to be honest...
Life is changing every seconds/moments like waves or circle or mountains. (Up n down).Off a lot of young new comers every year how many LM n LF fade out or disappear after couple of dramas? Think of human nature n realistic cultural trend.It’s jungle out there, the most of us have to roll with the punches my friends. Be peace.
I get what you mean 100%. But I’m in my 30s, my sisters in their 40s, my mom in her 70s and we all like to watch the 20+ yr old role. Shallow and guilty but I think most viewers want to relive the 20s in diff characters and situations. New love, butterfly in the stomach, more opportunities and possibilities ahead. It’s sad I know!!😔
It's not sad... it's a common female fantasy, to be able to return to the time when you were anywhere between 17 and 25. Most of these dramas are aimed at women, and we all want to be the younger, more innocent, fresh version of ourselves and relive that first "falling in love" moment over and over again. In the west, young adult romances aren't read just by people in the young adult age bracket but by older women.
I’m from Brazil, and this is very strange to us. In the romance of the tiger and rose, for example, it seemed fake to us, that a very young girl is responsible for writting a drama script, with that age, she would be just a trainee in Brazil. But we thought that maybe in china it was something normal. Here our female leading actress are older and can be mothers. They are still consider beautiful and role models to us. The link between being beautiful and young exist, but is not that important. Maybe, it is because we use the drama to discuss our social problems, as poverty and social inequality. So the likelihood to the real world are the main thing. But we have others problems. As the main role as a black male only happen in the 2000, and our population consist as most brown and black. And the first gay kiss only happen in 2014.
I’m a 16 year old girl and I want to become an actress in China here’s the thing I’m not chinese I don’t know how to start and I would if you’d help me that be lots of help🙏🏾🙏🏼
I agree with AvenueX. I am at a point where I have seen so many of the same story lines and generic characters especially clueless and weak female characters the innocence is no longer cute but belittling to the skills of actresses and the stories that can be told of a female characters and her lived experience. I am sure there are script writers where there are more original ideas being written as well as the writers who are lazy and keeps on pandering to the easy way out by copying the formula of what seems to work right now. I hope the creative people with new original and good quality story telling will get a chance to have their scripts adapted into a full production and the audience has a larger range of emotions and lessons and stories to tap into.
Yea, we need to have changes and varieties especially China dramas XD I know there are plenty decent well-establised veteran actors and actresses in China, I want to see more =D Thailand dramas always surprise surprise surprise XD
The same can be said for male actor too (they may have a longer career but their characters are fall under the same catagory). In general, China entertainment could of taken over the world already if not for all the restriction. There's no diversity at all. Every great books adaptations are waterdown and defeat it's purpose. Its a matter of time until audiences become fatigue, so I really hope that China lift many of the restriction they enforced.
