The Chinese broadcasting authority has stated that “effeminate” aesthetics in entertainment events will be prohibited, as well as the use of “vulgar influencers.”
It’s part of a broader crackdown on what it calls “unhealthy material” in television shows.
According to the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), political and moral behaviour should be considered while casting performers.
A number of talent competition show types have also been canceled.
The television regulator also ordered broadcasters to limit the amount of money paid to celebrities and to prosecute tax evaders.
The authorities promised to promote more manly images of males and chastised male celebrities who use excessive make-up.
It did, however, say that programs that supported traditional, revolutionary, or “advanced socialist” culture, as well as programs that generate a patriotic environment, should be encouraged.
Mass voting for reality shows will also be prohibited unless it is done in front of live audiences.
President Xi Jinping has reaffirmed China’s commitment to “shared prosperity,” and high-earning tech tycoons and entertainment stars have recently been singled out in this vow to redistribute wealth. Zheng Shuang, a Chinese actress, was fined $46 million (£33 million) for tax fraud last week.
According to Rana Mitter, a University of Oxford professor of contemporary Chinese history and politics, the concept of “shared prosperity” is a method of “criticizing the enormous disparity that presently characterizes society.”
“Prominent personalities with a lot of money are a clear target,” he added, “since criticism of them reverberates on social media.”
“After starting with internet millionaires, the Party has made it plain that renowned Hollywood figures are the next obvious target.”
While some were able to “become wealthy first” in the early years of China’s reform, state media claimed earlier this month that the government intended to promote prosperity “for all” at a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission. The committee promised to further control high salaries and “fairly adjust excessive income.”
China’s population is estimated to be approximately 1.4 billion people. According to the London School of Economics, income inequality has risen in recent decades, with the top 10% of the population obtaining 41% of national income in 2015, up from 27% in 1978.
According to official data, national income per adult increased more than eightfold between 1978 and 2015.
“This is part of Xi’s current efforts to ‘pur’ what he or the CCP regards as undesirable social culture, such as excessive video gaming by youths,” said Lynette Ong, a political science professor at the University of Toronto’s Asian Institute.
The World Of Chinese Fan Culture
The country’s internet regulator said last week that it will take action against “chaotic” fan culture by banning several fan club websites.
The recent pronouncements, according to Prof Ong, are “proof of the Party’s continually expanding involvement into the lives of regular people.”
Last month, film stars Zhou Dongyu and Du Jiang issued a warning to their contemporaries in Beijing, urging them not to become “slaves of the market” and to “bravely reach creative heights under the guidance of the Party.”
According to a recent research by consultant PwC, the entertainment business is one of the most profitable in the country, with sales anticipated to reach $358.6 billion (£260 billion) in 2021.
In 2019, China blurred the earlobes of several of its young male pop singers in broadcast and online appearances to disguise their piercings as part of new censorship measures. Tattoos and men’s ponytails have also been obscured on screens in the past.
In 2018, China’s official Xinhua News Agency slammed what it called “society’s effeminate male superstars.” “We must oppose deterioration from indecent culture in order to develop a new generation that will carry the duty of national rejuvenation,” the agency stated.
Although homosexuality is not banned in China, censorship is stringent, and gay allusions in the Oscar-winning Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” were taken out, but numerous comparable references in the film “Green Book” were kept. Nudity and sex scenes were also cut out of popular TV shows and films like “Game of Thrones” and “The Shape of Water.”
