The Chinese Audience’s Aesthetic Concept about the TV Drama “Bupphesannivas"

Abstract

                   This qualitative research on the Chinese audience’s aesthetic concept about the TV drama Bupphesannivas aims to study the Chinese audience’s aesthetic views or the concept of “beauty” about this TV drama, and to explain the influence of aesthetic concept on the Chinese audience’s attitude and behaviour under the concept of aesthetics and communication. The research is based on the in-depth interviews of a focus group of ten Chinese living in Thailand who have watched the TV drama Bupphesannivas. 
                   The Chinese audience’s aesthetic concept about this TV drama can be concluded in three aspects: the beauty of the exotic past, the beauty of memorable acting, and the beauty of self-reflection. The Chinese audience’s attitude and behaviour are mostly positively affected by the aesthetic concept. The focus group have positive views towards Thai culture, with the desire to learn more about the Thai language. They also compare Thai culture with Chinese one and are eager to learn about other aspects of Thai culture. Besides, they copy the characters’ behaviour and take trips to various locations of the drama.
                     It can be seen that the Chinese audience has positive aesthetic concept about and is widely influenced by this TV drama because it brings about the sense of beauty, which is the common feature of fictional media in the East. That is the emphasis on reaching the truth through the interpretation of mind linked to a variety of experiences, in order to gain insights into the beauty of the truth, rather than just empirical fact.