The 45-year-old female protagonist, Pan Lu’s intern Dai Ying and Wang Qixin, written by Chao News Client, was beaten and scolded by her son and daughter-in-law at home. The son even tried to get her to remarry in exchange for a gift of 88,000 yuan, until the female protagonist me

Chao News Client writes Pan Lu’s intern Dai Ying and Wang Qixin

A short play on the theme of "flash marriage" for middle-aged and elderly people. Picture source network

Behind the popularity of the middle-aged and elderly tyrant’s sweet pet skit is the huge audience. According to the "2024 China Micro-Short Drama Industry Research Report" released by iResearch, iResearch surveyed 1,022 micro-short drama users in May 2024, among which users aged 40-59 accounted for 37.3% of micro-short drama users, and 60 The proportion of users aged 12 and above is 12.1%. In the short play, plots involving family relationships and emotional entanglements, such as "mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship", "divorce", "flash marriage" and "recognition of relatives", are most likely to resonate with them.

“Short dramas often bring about short-term dopamine secretion, but middle-aged and elderly people may need more long-term support and emotional care. Simply relying on the experience of short dramas cannot satisfy their desire for in-depth social interaction and interpersonal relationships. "Children and society should provide more companionship and care to middle-aged and elderly people," reminded Liu Tianyuan, a lecturer at the School of Social Sciences at Wuhan University.

Spending thousands of yuan to watch short plays

Recently, Liu Xi, a post-00s generation living in Hainan, discovered that his father, who originally loved watching spy movies and family ethics dramas such as "Do You Know" and "Happiness to Ten Thousands of Houses", became obsessed with it? He has produced short dramas such as "President Daddy's Character Collapse" and "The Divine Son-in-law and the Doctor". Every day when he comes home from work and has dinner in the evening, his father wears Bluetooth headphones and is immersed in the bloody plot of a mistress stealing a man and a domineering president. "Originally I thought short plays were mainly popular among young people, but I didn't expect that even a father in his 50s could not help himself."

Liu Xi's father's short play browsing history. Photo courtesy of interviewee

The short drama wind is blowing violently towards the silver-haired people.

A few months ago, Grandma Xiao, who is in her 70s from Hangzhou, accidentally saw a short drama push on WeChat Moments, which opened up her "new world": the male and female protagonist accidentally got together and then separated, and the female protagonist was alone after becoming pregnant. Give birth to a child. A few years later, the heroine was forced by life to work as a cleaner in the hero's company. The poor cleaner heroine and the wealthy CEO hero began a relationship. After the twists and turns of the story, the two reunited.

"I used to watch a lot of historical dramas, or educated youths going to the countryside." After watching a few short plays, Grandma Xiao started to feel a little "high". She felt, "This is in line with the psychological characteristics of our elderly people. I still like it when it ends successfully."

In the past, Liu Xi's father was reluctant to spend money to become a member of the video platform, but now he is willing to pay for the short drama. "There are at least three or four software that cost money. Each software has more than 10 recharges, and each one costs 20 or 30 yuan. This is the first time I know that short dramas are so expensive." Liu Xi told Chao News reporter , the short dramas usually have about 100 episodes, and you have to recharge several times to finish them.

There are not a few middle-aged and elderly people who pay for short plays.

“Basically I charge one or two thousand yuan every time, and it’s all spent in about a month.” Lin Susu’s grandmother in Guangxi is 72 years old. She used to watch short dramas on the Douyin platform, although the price of a single episode of the short dramas seems to be It’s not high, but after accumulating multiple episodes, the amount of consumption increases rapidly. "Actually, they are unconscious." Lin Susu compared the elderly people's buying of short plays to drawing blind boxes, which are both impulsive purchases that get better the more they buy.

Is it a "utopia" or a trap?

"Watching TV series is like going to a big hotel, and watching short dramas is like eating fast food." Song Zhihua, a 53-year-old aunt in Shanghai, compares watching short dramas to a "fast food" entertainment experience. Unlike traditional long-form TV series, short dramas usually tell a complete story in one or two hours. Because the rhythm is tight and the plot is "brainless", the short play is very suitable for her to "watch when she has nothing to do."

Song Zhihua watched the short drama. Photo provided by interviewee

Lin Susu feels that watching short plays has become her grandmother’s only entertainment activity.Grandma was originally a fan of romantic dramas. After retirement, I took care of my two grandchildren at home and shouldered the housework. With the increase of fragmented time and lack of understanding of online audio-visual platforms, grandma started watching short dramas on Douyin.

"She watches about one or two hours of short plays every day, usually during the child's nap time." Because the child is at home, grandma cannot go out, so she can only watch short plays to kill time. Lin Susu believes that for grandma, mobile phones only occupy a small space. "This is a way for the elderly to enrich their lives in their later years and relieve the anxiety of raising grandchildren."

"Many divorced people, those with children, or disadvantaged groups are bullied or lack pampering, so they will use short plays to make up for this kind of spiritual needs," said 29-year-old short play screenwriter Roibao. He found that the protagonists of many short dramas are security guards, cleaners, nannies, delivery boys, etc. Among the middle-aged and elderly men who watch short dramas, the main paying group also includes people working in these industries.

While watching the sweet pet skit, Grandma Xiao noticed something was wrong. "It seems that all problems can be solved by having money. The protagonist is born with a silver spoon in his mouth and gets a lot of money easily without much struggle. Problems between women are solved by slaps." But in order to see a happy ending, she will I endured the plot where the heroine was "abused" in the middle.

A Chao News reporter searched for "short drama" on the Black Cat complaint platform and found nearly 1,400 complaints, including issues such as arbitrary charges, consumption guidance, malicious deductions, false propaganda, and difficulty in withdrawing cash. The mutual redirection and redirection between platforms, coupled with the various charging methods, make the charging of short dramas frequent.

Because he didn’t want to pay for short dramas, Song Zhihua downloaded an app to watch short dramas for free. Although most of these skits are free, clicking on the video ads will jump directly to the shopping platform. "I bought kneepads, socks, nectarines, etc., and I might buy other products I want when I go in."

Once, Liu Xi's father bought a smart watch that can measure heart rate through a short video platform. The battery lasted less than a week. It's bulging.

In addition to inducing consumption, Liu Xi is even more worried about his father's addiction to short dramas. "It has reached the point where he stays up late to watch short dramas. His current habit is particularly bad. He has a lot of work pressure and no social interaction. He basically doesn't go out and returns home after get off work." "We just watch short dramas at home." She hopes that her father can develop other offline hobbies.

Behind the scenes of being “abused” to death

“Middle-aged and elderly audiences are actually a very huge consumer group of short plays.” Shen An, a short play screenwriter in her 30s, said that 90% of the consumer groups of short plays are middle-aged and elderly people, especially Audiences aged 40-60 prefer to watch content that is emotional and weak in logic. Barbecue said frankly that users outside third-tier cities pay more, “because they have fewer daily entertainment projects and don’t know where to spend their spare money.”

He said that the popularity of short dramas dissipates very quickly. "Flash Marriage at 50", which was launched in June, became a big hit and "a lot of people immediately copied it." However, once too many people imitate it, the audience will get tired of it. "Event-related short dramas are very popular recently. They refer to conflicts between parents, such as conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and conflicts between parents and children. They focus on the emotional pull of parents' conflicts."

In order to allow middle-aged and elderly audiences to immerse themselves in the plight and emotional experiences of the characters in the play, Shen An is trying to "age up some things for young people", such as changing young people's blind dates to children's blind dates or looking for a wife, and changing young people's comparison of luxury goods or jobs to middle-aged and old people's comparison of descendants or daughters-in-law, in order to enhance the Chinese culture. Sense of immersion for older audiences.

Some of the scripts she has recently signed directly address the pain points of some middle-aged and elderly people who are "unhappily married and afraid to fall in love again". "What the screenwriter has to do is to concretize their fears on the one hand, and help them realize certain fantasies smoothly on the other."

Shen An told Chao News reporters that short dramas in mini programs usually have three recharge levels. The first The 10th episode is free. The price of other episodes is set by the producer, which is usually more expensive, equivalent to the membership price of an online video platform for several months: "30 yuan to buy points, 99 yuan to watch 60 or 70 episodes. Watch for free on all platforms for 199 yuan per month.”

A recharge slot in a short drama mini-program.Photo provided by the interviewee

She further explained the structure of the short drama: "The first episode needs to throw a gimmick or conflict, the first three episodes need to show the plight of all the villains and the protagonist, and the first ten episodes need to give the protagonist a sense of security while being bullied. The audience expects”.

Shen An said frankly that the core of the short play is emotional reaction and payment intention. In order to attract viewers to pay, short plays often use the villain to inflict extreme torture on the protagonist to arouse the emotional resonance of the audience. The heroine is usually a kind and weak "little white flower" image. "This kind of character is more likely to arouse the sympathy of middle-aged and elderly audiences." "

Although there are middle-aged and elderly audiences who are eager to see more positive energy orientation, Shen An believes that it is more difficult to achieve this in short dramas. Because "short dramas are ultimately emotional products" and rely on low-level emotional resonance, such as the desire to survive and reactions to violence, rather than high-level values. If you want to convey higher-level values ​​​​in a short drama, you need a longer preparation time, which is inconsistent with the fast-paced, straightforward, and "flat" narrative style of the short drama, and it is difficult to stimulate the audience's interest in a few episodes. Willingness to pay.

How should short plays be developed in an "aging-friendly" way?

The development of short plays in "aging-friendly" is in full swing. Shen An believes that "it is inevitable", but it still requires constant "trial and error" to determine the direction of development. She mentioned that according to the popular list of short dramas on the "Drama Chacha" mini program, "romantic short dramas for middle-aged and elderly people are relatively stable on the list, but basically there will only be one or two short dramas for middle-aged and elderly people on the list in an issue."

Liu Tianyuan, a lecturer at the School of Social Sciences of Wuhan University, pointed out that the “silver economy” may become the focus of platform development. "For many elderly people, retirement life is often accompanied by the shrinking of social circles and changes in family relationships, which will intensify the loneliness and emotional loss of the elderly," said Zhang Lianshan, associate professor at the School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Zhang Lianshan said that in recent years, with the popularity of the Internet and mobile phone media among middle-aged and elderly people, the use of the Internet by the elderly has increasingly become a channel for them to compensate for the lack of social support. Short dramas for middle-aged and elderly people, especially plots involving family relationships and emotional entanglements, such as "mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship", "divorce", "flash marriage" and "family recognition", can often resonate with them and provide an emotional connection. compensation. "The various discomforts that many middle-aged and elderly people may encounter in reality may be idealized in short dramas, which will also give them emotional comfort."

However, Liu Tianyuan also pointed out that the current short dramas The content is simple, and most of the short dramas popular with the elderly on the market are sweet pet dramas. The plots of these dramas are highly homogeneous, and they are even full of relatively clichéd plots such as "evil female supporting characters" and "blind dates and flash marriages". It is difficult for the elderly to gain resonance and satisfaction from it. "Some short dramas contain 'sideline' content and vulgar content, which may increase the psychological burden on middle-aged and elderly people."

Zhang Lianshan emphasized that the stereotyped presentation of family conflicts in short dramas may cause viewers to become dissatisfied with trivial conflicts in real life. The negative impression is constantly deepened. For example, in the portrayal of the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the villain in the story is often portrayed as extremely hateful, and is subsequently "slapped in the face" in a dramatic way. Is the

short play sweet hunting or emotional consumption? "In the early days, there were advertisements targeting the elderly to defraud money. After the short drama became popular, someone would definitely repeat the same trick to seize the public's interests and try their best to make them pay." Deng Youxi, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Cultural Relics and Museum Studies at Fudan University, discovered that some short dramas will The full episode is unlocked for 9.9 yuan, stimulating the audience to watch more and buy more. "The actual problem is not the short drama, but first, how should the short drama as a content product be reviewed, and second, how should the platform control it, what kind of responsibility it should bear, how to solve the problem of client-side induced recharge, etc."

Zhang Lianshan suggested that content producers need to pay more attention to quality and depth in the creation of short dramas to ensure that they are close to the reality of middle-aged and elderly people's lives, while avoiding stereotyped and dramatic negative performances and falling into a cycle of low-level repetition.“It is also necessary to strengthen the cultivation and improvement of digital literacy for middle-aged and elderly people. Policymakers and industry regulatory agencies should also strengthen supervision and guidance of the content of aging-friendly short dramas to promote the healthy development of the short drama industry."

(At the request of the interviewee, Liu Xi, Grandma Xiao, Lin Susu, Song Zhihua, Barbecue, and Shen An are pseudonyms in the article)