China has been facing a downturn in the economy, along with corruption in government and a terrorist attack that left 33 people dead and 143 people injured. However, when two of the highest-ranking governing delegates of China met in Beijing, the most urgent issue fervently debated was the new South Korean soap opera (K-Drama) called “My Love from the Stars”. This K-Drama has no shortage of viewers; with over 2.5 billion views online, its popularity just kept growing. After the lead actress in the show briefly mentioned fried chicken and beer, restaurants invested their entire menus only on fried chicken and beer meals, and “beer and fried chicken” became the most used phrase on the internet. And this is just understating its popularity.
“My Love from the Stars” became particularly viral in China. The CPPCC (China’s political advisory body) discussed and debated at great length why China is unable to make a drama as popular this K-Drama. The congregation of delegates from the culture and entertainment industry blamed China’s lack of entertainment hits on its censorship, or the “examination and approval system.” Feng Xiaogang, a movie director and CPPCC member, says, “My heart trembles when waiting for a movie to go through this rigorous censoring procedure.” Another comedian delegate explains, “My wings and imagination are all broken.” The CPPCC members have reportedly stated that the popularity of the Korean drama hurt the Chinese cultural dignity and confidence in Chinese culture. In 2008, after the huge popularity of “Kung Fu Panda,” China again bemoaned why the American entertainment industry (Dreamworks) could produce such a celebrated movie, but not China.
China has considered itself the pinnacle of East Asian culture, but the domination of Korean dramas and Japanese anime and manga in Chinese pop culture proves otherwise. Wang Qishan, one of China’s top 7 Communist party leaders, says “Korean drama is ahead of us…The core and soul of the Korean opera is a distillation of traditional Chinese culture. It just propagates traditional Chinese culture in the form of a TV drama” in an attempt to justify the K-Drama’s huge popularity in China.
The South Korean entertainment industry, most notably the K-Pop music industry and K-Dramas, is a huge success, best exemplified by the viral show.
