Chinese TV programmes exceptionally dramatic?

[Michaelyus]

Ever seen Eastenders or Coronation Street? And compared it to a US soap opera, a Latin American telenovela, a South Korean 아침 드라마?

 

Stereotyped plot lines are the bread and butter of all of these, and of the human condition. Plenty of love triangles (/ other polygons) in Eastenders. 

Lack of action is found in most soaps; dramatic close ups are a feature in every other episode of Eastenders.

 

As for the differences in facial expression, this is perhaps true of the acting style and the soap drama ecosystem - could we draw stereotypical reflections about how cold and reserved British people are (until Phil comes back, there's a stabbing, or the Queen Vic is on fire again...?). I would think better of it to be honest.

 

There is a nonetheless a market for melodrama in the Chinese (and the general Asian, and the Latin American) markets, which tends to be relatively under-appreciated in the British market.

 

Also, the lack of music in the British soap opera industry is in contrast to the Chinese, where audio effects play a lot more of the effect. British dramas on the other hand do include a lot of soundtrack, but still behind US dramas. 

 

[Wurstmann]

On 2019/8/14 at 9:59 AM, 杰.克 said:

These where 我的亲爹和后爸 , 一又二分之一的夏天 and 浪花一朵朵.

Maybe watch some better shows ;)

 

Chinese movies feel a lot like European movies to me, just a lot more bleak. They are quite calm, which is a stark contrast to most TV shows with their constant dialogue.

[道艺]

On 8/14/2019 at 5:59 PM, 杰.克 said:

they are exceptionally dramatic

Can I interest you in some Mexican novelas?!

[道艺]

On 8/15/2019 at 3:46 AM, Moshen said:

These tend to have bold, well-drawn characters

Man I must have been watching all the wrong ones.

 

At the gym they always have some war tv show on. I have a love/hate relationship watching it, but I don't mind the little subtitle reading practice I get while on the treadmill. Every scene has a guy pointing a gun at another guy, 100 people watching, making some speech, and then the tables get flipped, and then the other guy makes a speech lol. One of them did surprise me when one guy who got caught decided to blow his brians out (which they showed, pretty crazy). Then, the guy who was pointing his rifle at the one who just suicided was shocked and devastated. Excuse me guy, weren't you just threatening his life?!

 

But yeah, I don't watch tv, so I have no standards to judge things on.

[snowflake]

Everyone has their own preferences.  If the plot and drama is not to your taste, look at others.  You can also try western movies and dramas dubbed into Chinese.  Finding dramas and movies that I like also has been a difficulty.  Once in a while I'll come across something which is reasonably palatable though in the case of a drama that may only be in certain segments. 

 

Before someone urges me to use native speaker material and nothing dubbed, I'm an older American born Chinese living in the US who participates in local native Mandarin speaking groups.  I get rather annoyed when someone tells me to consume only materials from China so that say I will have topics of interest to converse with a native speaker. 

 

Good luck to the OP!