Miniseries in China starring children have sparked controversy for their content becoming “adultified,” as critics say the trend will harm the psychological health of young actors.
One of the controversial dramas depicts a five-year-old girl helping her father with stock investments, resulting in two billion yuan (US$290 million) in profits in a short time, the China Youth Daily reported.
“This share’s price will rise to its trading limit in an hour. I would like to invest all my money, plus borrow 100 times the fund,” the little actress is filmed saying in the series.
The drama, the name of which was not disclosed, has been watched by 290,000 viewers on a major platform, according to the report.
In another series, a nine-year-old boy is dressed like an adult.
His hair is permed and curled, and he wears a blue plaid shirt. As required by the script and demonstrated by the director, the boy’s eyes instantly ‘light up’, and his mouth waters when seeing five ‘long-legged beauties’ in their twenties who are playing his fiancées.
The name of the second series was also not revealed in the report.
Many people said many plots were unsuitable for children to act in or watch, such as sweet love, revenge, palace intrigue, murder and super-abilities.
A mother of a boy, who played the part of a man who lives for a thousand years but whose body remains young, said her son talked in an adult tone after playing in the series.
He often told his classmates: “Be careful; otherwise I will kill your whole family.”
“We will never allow him to act in vertical screens,” the mother was quoted as saying.
“Vertical screen” refers to miniseries because such dramas are generally viewed on mobile phones.
Miniseries are defined as having episodes lasting less than 15 minutes. They have thrived in China in recent years.
The industry’s market values reached 50 billion yuan (US$7 billion) in 2024 before rising to 63 billion yuan last year. Audiences of the art form were estimated to total more than 500 million in the country.
In January, the National Radio and Television Administration, the industry’s regulator, issued a document to curb the tendency towards auld themes.
“Also, we should correct the tendency of using children as tools and boycott the tendency of making contents too entertaining. We should try to prevent the inappropriate creation from harming juveniles’ physical and mental health,” the authority said in the document.
In the same month, a miniseries was withdrawn for triggering a public backlash because it let an 11-year-old girl play a young bride for an adult man. The drama included some intimidate interactions between the two.
In February, a total of 160 miniseries were blocked, removed or ordered to amend scripts by various platforms in China because of their plots.
Zhao Hui, a professor from the Communication University of China in Beijing, said some such miniseries have problematic topics and plots.
“Children actors are still young. Playing roles in dramas involving sweet love, revenge or wealthy family feuds will impact their values. Also, it will have a bad effect on child viewers,” Zhao told the media.
One internet user said: “The state government should act against those lousy series. They will destroy a child’s life.”
Another person said: “The miniseries market is chaotic. Children’s values will be twisted by watching such toxic content.” -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
