The new rule introduced by the TV authorities in China has now caused an issue, after it was revealed that viewers were confused over the billing of Jiang Xin’s new drama, “Still A Family”.
It was previously revealed that on 12 June, the China Television Drama Production Industry Association (CTPIA) and two other associations jointly issued the “Notice on Regulating the Credits of Actors in Television Dramas (Web Dramas),” requiring that actors’ credits be arranged in order of the number of strokes in their legal surnames from fewest to most strokes, and that the titles of lead actor, special appearance, and appearance cannot be added or changed at will.
This comes following the many fandom wars caused by the order of actors’ names in dramas, as TV productions had to deal with backlashes and criticisms from fans of big stars debating over which of their stars have the more important role in their project.
In the official promotional materials for the 36-episode drama, Jiang Xin, as the female lead throughout the series, was listed sixth among the leading actors, following Feng Jiayi, Ren Zhong, Yang Caiyu, Li Guangjie, and Liang Guanhua, due to the higher number of strokes in her name.
This has caused confusion among viewers, who are used to seeing the leading actor’s name being front and centre. Many casual viewers initially assumed she was just making a cameo appearance, and the hashtag #ThoughtJiangXinWasAGuestAppearanceButTurnsOutToBeTheFemaleLead# quickly became a trending topic on Weibo.
One netizen posted, “If you don’t watch the show, you won’t know that Jiang Xin is the main character. This kind of order is enough to discourage the audience”.
Another wrote, “The number of strokes in one’s name seems to be more important than the acting skills.”
It has also sparked a backlash from many, with fans saying that deciding which name goes first based on the number of strokes in a surname would mean that people may not watch the drama if someone unrecognisable is placed first.
(Photo Source: SINA)