Came across this comment on genzedong copied below: https://www.reddit.com/r/GenZedong/comments/pgpkrl/yes_this_is_100_real_and_definitely_not_a_fake_new/hbdy4ku/
Some context for those who are not keeping up with Chinese entertainment industry
the term "niang pao" has no direct counterpart in English, has multiple potential meanings and its use in this context has been controversial. In the 2018 debate over "niang pao" culture, People's Daily warned against using the term because of its pejorative nature. It's quite unfortunate the word was "used" this time by a government body, but they probably felt that its "usage" is necessary to convey the message. However, to the regulators' defense, they didn't really use the term "niang pao", they mentioned it as the phrase only ever appeared in quotation marks (read some basic philosophy of language if you are not sure about the use-mention distinction).
this is not a case of the government cracking down some small subculture. The problem, as the regulators see it, is that it's difficult for a young male actor to succeed without being a "niang pao". Indeed, the actor Zhang Zhe Han, before he was banned for visiting the Japanese war shrines, remarked that he had been playing "manly" men on screen for 10 years and nobody ever cared about him, then he became "wife" and suddenly everybody loved him. Young men aspire to an entertainment career were pretty much forced by companies and the market to act "effeminate".
this incentive to play "niang pao" was evident in the TV show Drawing Sword 3, which was mentioned in the Guangming Daily article that started this recent round of "niang pao" debate. Here you can watch a scorching review (in Mandarin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdn8-J9AvN4
Here you have WW2 anti-Japanese fighters dressed in spotless and freshly ironed uniforms and sporting perfectly styled hair 24/7 and drinking coffee and smoking cigars during battles. Oh, they also live in a luxury villa.
There was a huge debate over this in 2018. The government didn't directly intervene that time and instead expected the industry sort it out themselves. The problem only got worse. So the government is intervening directly this time.
Came across this comment on genzedong copied below: https://www.reddit.com/r/GenZedong/comments/pgpkrl/yes_this_is_100_real_and_definitely_not_a_fake_new/hbdy4ku/
Some context for those who are not keeping up with Chinese entertainment industry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdn8-J9AvN4
Here you have WW2 anti-Japanese fighters dressed in spotless and freshly ironed uniforms and sporting perfectly styled hair 24/7 and drinking coffee and smoking cigars during battles. Oh, they also live in a luxury villa.
There was a huge debate over this in 2018. The government didn't directly intervene that time and instead expected the industry sort it out themselves. The problem only got worse. So the government is intervening directly this time.
This reads like massive cope. It's still really icky.
This sounds exactly like conservatives whining over Black actors playing characters in medieval Europe.