What are you going to do, time-travelling princesses and evil mother-in-laws, when the culture police comes for you? The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, or SARFT, has issued and is now putting in effect guidelines on the making of television series in China. Those who spend all day watching television in China may already know that almost all of the drama series currently on the air violates one or more of these guidelines.
We at TLN also wonder which television shows or films outside of China may be affected if other countries had the same guidelines. (Dear readers, please feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments.)
1) A clear line must be drawn between allies and enemies in historical dramas set in the revolutionary era.
No more Letters from Iwo Jima?
2) Family conflict cannot be overly exaggerated.
Sorry, Kim Kardashian. As for the Sopranos, fuggedaboutit.
3) Period dramas cannot be fabricated.
HBO execs will have a heart attack over this one–no skinny Henry VIII in The Tudors, no boyish Cleopatra in Rome.
4) Dramas based on business conflict must take note of its moral values.
Donald, You. Are. Fired.
5) Dramas cloned from foreign series cannot be broadcast.
Fans of the American version of The Office, please be glad that you don’t live in China.
6) Dramas based on Internet novels are not encouraged.
Internet games cannot be adopted into dramas. Resident Evil is out. Fine, it wasn’t an Internet game, but close enough.
TV may be getting more boring, but China’s Internet remains a lively and free-wheeling place. Sarcastic comments filled Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, in response to the news. “As a result, we will have a cultural renaissance,” tweets Li Zhengrong (@李峥嵘), a sales manager for Sina. @听静夜鲜花盛开 advises the government to “micromanage public health and food safety like this too.”
Even China's classics might not pass a modern censor's muster
@电视这点事儿 points out that the four most revered classic novels in Chinese history may also violate the guidelines. “‘The Dreams of the Red Chamber’ exaggerates family conflicts, ‘The Outlaws of the Marsh’ confuses enemy and allies, ‘The Romance of Three Kingdoms ‘is clearly fabricated, and ‘The Journey to the West’ was completely made up and involves lots of violence. {{1}}[[1]]《红楼梦》放大了家庭矛盾，《水浒》就是敌我不分，《三国演义》明显戏说，《西游记》完全瞎编，打打杀杀。[[1]]
@环保董良杰 tweets, “This is going back to the era of ‘model opera’ in the Cultural Revolution. Look at your globe, does any country still have a Ministry of Culture or something like SARFT that regulates how you write a television show? Culture blossoms when there are few restrictions. The more you regulate, the more hopeless your culture becomes. What has Cultural Revolution and Fascism left in history? The laughing stock of sick jokes and dismal memories.” {{2}}[[2]]重回样板戏时代。各位转转地球仪，那个国家还设文化部？广电局？还管着如何写电视剧？文化本身就是个无为而治的东东，你管得越宽，文化越没希望。文革与法西斯文化在历史上留下什么？病态笑柄和惨淡案例。[[2]]
@六耳六耳 looks on the bright side and sees an opportunity. “I think it’s a good opportunity for advertisers because advertisements are not limited by these guidelines. The television ads can involve these plot lines to make the audience happy. We will hear, ‘The ads will resume after this program break.’” {{3}}[[3]]我觉得广告的机会来了,因为没限广告,所以广告可以拍出以上被限内容,以满足观众,然后我们就会常听到,休息片刻,节目之后,马上回来[[3]]
While Hollywood and producers of Chinese-language entertainment in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia may wonder whether the broadcasting of their shows may be affected by these guidelines, they may take heart in many netizens’ promise to turn to the Internet for foreign dramas instead of turning on their television sets after these guidelines take effect. Now, if they can only make netizens pay for them.
