Govt curbs TV dramas of war against Japan

Provincial satellite TV stations will face limits on portraying certain content in dramas based on the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45) at prime time as required by China's media regulator, several sources with knowledge of the matter said Thursday.

The State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television has ordered a provincial-level TV station in Southwest China to send a war-based show that it has recently purchased back to the State agency for rechecks, a source told the Global Times on condition of anonymity. He also said that shows which are "overly dramatic" are banned on prime time.

A source with Hunan TV station said that speculation about limiting war-based dramas has been circulating in the station since late last year.

The administration's tighter control comes after shows about the period have become very popular in recent years.  Some of the shows contain fabricated content which makes the storyline unreasonably dramatic and eye-catching.

A clip from a show based on the war has received harsh criticism online. It shows a group of Japanese soldiers gang-raping a Chinese female, who magically jumps into the sky after the rape and kills the Japanese invaders. Many viewers called the drama "brain damaging" or "offensive to history."

Many Web users and some experts have given the new policy a thumbs up.

Li Fei, a long-time script writer who teaches at the Peking University Resource College, said that the war is too serious a topic to make fun of. 

"The over-exaggeration or even mocking of the war teaches audiences inaccurate history and affects them negatively," he said, adding that such shows could be broadcast online, which is a more flexible and liberal platform. "For TV, such shows are unacceptable."

Bai Haibin, a Beijing-based director, said that war-based shows are popular because scriptwriters have a limited number of themes to choose from.

"War-themed series can get through the authorities' checks easily because they are mainstream and positive. This makes many writers want to do such scripts, so the only way to attract attention is to make their scripts extremely dramatic," said Bai. He added the administration should gradually loosen its grip and approve more scripts displaying the negative side of society. 

However, a Beijing-based executive producer surnamed Zhang said the ban might stifle the creativity on shows about this topic.

"The administration should have a list of criteria to draw a fine line between an innovative show and an unreasonably dramatic one," Zhang noted.