In the set, the person punches and humiliates the suspected” next party” in front of friends and family, before the fiance- a powerful CEO- reveals the individual to get his youthful-looking mother. The girlfriend looks horrified at his injured mother as the clash ends on a cliffhanger.
” Willfully or not, people are labelled or portrayed as stupid, beautiful but lacking in substance, or bad and scheming”, stated the content on micro plays.
” Such biased ( portrayals ) are vilifying women… and (are ) a form of disrespect”.
Further, the commentary noted that the majority of the audience for micro dramas is middle-aged and elderly people who were largely profited from and also led astray by “wrong values.”
Micro dramas typically draw viewers in by providing free access to the first few episodes. After a few episodes, the platform asks viewers to pay to continue watching the rest of the series as the plot thickens.
There are different packages with varying prices- some charge US$ 1 for 20 episodes, while others cost US$ 10 to catch 60 episodes. Some television shows let viewers watch advertisements instead of paying to unlock more episodes.
According to a 2024 report by Chinese marketing research company iResearch, 37.3 per cent of micro drama viewers were aged 40 to 59, and 12.1 per cent were those aged 60 and above.  ,
Additionally, according to data from online data provider QuestMobile, nearly 40 % of users of top short video apps over the age of 45 were in March 2024. Close to half of the overall users spent between 1, 000 yuan ( US$ 137 ) and 1, 999 yuan each month.
TIGHTENING REGULATIONS
The latest round of criticism comes as Chinese authorities take steps to enact stricter regulations on micro dramas, which have come to be a significant money-maker.
The micro drama sector surpassed 50.4 billion yuan last year, exceeding China’s film box office revenue for the first time, Sixth Tone reported, citing statistics from an industry white paper.