History vs fantasy in absurd TV serials

TV serials with themes of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression have long been considered to be the safest card to play, as they promote patriotism and have little risk in making political mistakes.

While facts of the war are frequently denied by the Japanese government, says TV industry consulting agency Ze Media's founder Du Zezhuang, broadcasting TV serials with war themes has been a psychological ritual and a way for people to remember the past.

In 2012 in Hengdian, China's largest film-shooting site in Zhejiang province, of all the 150 film and TV drama crews, 48 are set during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period. Among Hengdian's 300,000 extra actors, 60 percent have reportedly played Japanese soldiers. A rough calculation by the media showed 10,846 Japanese soldiers "died" in TV series shot between Jan 30 and March 2 in 2013.

However, in many of these creations, TV makers boldly create stories where the lines between good and bad are naively drawn, and war heroes possess skills far beyond human limits. Running on the walls, iron palms, using embroidery needles as weapons and other martial-arts film elements have become common occurrences in what are expected to be realistic dramas.

Guangzhou-based critic Li Qianfan said on his micro blog that these TV dramas fool audiences and their naive interpretation of the war has a bad influence on the public, especially young people.

Despite the criticism, such TV serials have proved to be popular. Kang Ri Qi Xia, a TV drama literally translated as "wonder knight against Japanese intrusion", which features the "shredding a squid" scene, topped audience rating rankings on many regional channels. Popular war-themed TV serials reportedly generate profits of more than 200 percent.

Audiences do have a right to be entertained, China Central Academy of Drama's assistant professor Ni Jun tells China Central Television, but war-themed TV serials shouldn't be the genre to perform this duty.

"When it comes to time-travel stories and imperial harem gossips, a certain amount of dramatization is acceptable. But we can't do this with war-themed dramas. It's a great and solemn event. We should treat it with respect," she says.

Ni adds that solving this problem needs joint efforts by producers and TV stations. Instead of following the audience's needs, she says, they should show some social responsibility and try to be educational.

Regarding what makes a good war story, Du Zezhuang with Ze Media says they should first of all objectively and loyally reflect history.

"In addition, they should abandon the old values that things are either black or white. They are supposed to present the complicated human nature and people's true feelings," he says.