泰
国肥皂剧《天使之争》(Battle of the Angels)两年前在曼谷首播时激起轩然大波。电视剧展示的空姐生活让当地工会和妇女组织感到不安：在这部黄金时段播出的电视剧里，空姐的职业生涯好像基本上就是勾心斗角外加挖空心思地勾引飞行员。
Exact Co. Ltd.
《天使之争》剧照。
泰国44岁的肥皂剧大腕Takonkiet Viravan制作的《天使之争》和其他节目已经成为中国小荧屏上的大热门。他说，我很吃惊。Takonkiet仍然受到各种质疑的轰炸，而且是“来自四面八方”。
亚洲地区的电视分析人士猜测，亚洲已经长大，开始抛弃它对好莱坞二手货的依赖了。
多年来，亚洲的电视台都是依靠美国进口节目来填充播出日程，比如《犯罪现场调查》(CSI)，以及常备节目《海滩救护队》(Baywatch)。现在，受近年韩国歌手、演员走红的鼓舞，亚洲各家电视台更乐于播出这个邻国的电视、音乐节目，而非美国货。部分分析人士认为，亚洲节目取得成功是亚洲越来越自信的最新表现。
最新引起轰动的是泰国的煽情节目。在中国人看来，这些节目既熟悉，又有异国情调。许多泰剧明星都是华裔，当然泰国本土演员也很多。但泰国节目也极具异国风情，编剧和导演往往极力推动情节发展，剧中有不少女演员们追逐撕打、用臭烘烘的榴莲带刺的壳互殴的情形。
北京铁杆泰剧迷、44岁家庭主妇蒋静（音）说，我喜欢泰剧；女演员很漂亮，男主角非常帅；它们还证明善有善报，恶有恶报，哪怕一开始显得有点奇怪。
泰国肥皂剧取得成功的原因，似乎在于它们常常都非常直接，而亚洲很多文化在日常生活中都崇尚细微精妙、避免对抗。Takonkiet说，这是逃避主义，是幻想；而泰国电视剧是那么直接，那么响亮，恨你就恨得要死；这在现实生活中是绝对不会出现的。Takonkiet是制作公司Exact Co. Ltd. 和 Scenario Co. Ltd.的董事总经理。
《天使之争》就是一个好例子。情节围绕一群空姐实习生展开，讲述她们在航空业努力开拓事业时的爱情追求。很大一部分内容都集中在年轻漂亮的空姐Rin身上。她爱上了一位已婚飞行员，但嫁给了这位飞行员好色的朋友，最终和她最初的爱人在一起了。整个过程中，她还逃过了精于心计的竞争对手Cherry和Noi设下的种种圈套。
Exact Co. Ltd.
泰国节目场景。
其中一个扣人心弦的情节中，重要反派人物Cherry戴上保护手套试图往女主角Rin身上泼酸。
她对着镜头冷笑，大喊道，你想试试这个吗？你是不是想逃跑？过来吧。
Rin也不甘示弱，随手端起一锅沸腾的泰国辣味冬阴功汤向对手扔过去然后迅速逃跑。Rin喊道，好啦，准备进监狱吧！
另一部热门电视剧《伤痕我心》（Scar In My Heart）的情节更浪漫些，前程似锦的公司主管在一场车祸中失去了未婚妻，他把责任都推在护校毕业的女孩身上，还怀疑她贪污他祖母的钱财，最后却爱上了这个女孩。二人最终是否能忘掉过去走到一起，看完全剧31集就知道了。
一些泰国电视剧评论家说，这些电视剧造成一种弱智和夸张故事情节的欣赏趣味。同时，泰国航空公司（Thai Airways International PCL）工会也特别对《天使之争》提出批评，说该剧败坏了空姐的名声，和真实的机上生活差得很远。
泰国政府却抓住《天使之争》、《伤痕我心》和《出逃的公主》等剧集成功的机会推动海鲜和烤面包机等传统出口产品的传播。
泰国总理阿披实（Abhisit Vejjajiva）11月飞往中国与中国政府官员签订了一项推广泰国电视剧的协议，中国国家监管机构通常会对电视台播放外国内容实施播出配额限制，这项协议免除了泰剧的配额限制。
而在9月，数十位中国粉丝飞往泰国给了《伤痕我心》中男星Sukrit Viseskaew一个生日惊喜，帮他在当地一座孤儿院举办了派对。
这些中国粉丝根据Sukrit Viseskaew的昵称称自己为“蜻蜓军团”，他们还与泰国粉丝一起成立了在线投票团，对泰国娱乐奖项的结果都产生了影响。
今年，这些“蜻蜓”们帮助25岁的Sukrit Viseskaew赢得了他梦寐以求的娱乐杂志Siam Dara评选的最受欢迎男演员奖。他们的留言还充斥着娱乐网站的聊天室，对该明星的才华大家赞赏。
一位自称Linda的粉丝写道，是我们的自制力太差还是你太有魅力了？
James Hookway / Wilawan Watcharasakwet
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
A Thai soap opera called 'Battle of the Angels' created a stir when it was first broadcast here two years ago. Local trade unions and women's groups were upset about the way the prime-time drama showed flight attendants going about their jobs, which appeared to consist mostly of cat fights and devious schemes to woo pilots.
Now the series is enjoying a second life, in China -- and network executives there are banging on the door of Thai producers to see what else they can subtitle and beam across the Middle Kingdom.
'I'm amazed,' says Takonkiet Viravan, the 44-year-old Thai soap opera svengali who produced 'Battle of the Angels' and other shows now making it big on the small screen in China. He's still being bombarded with inquiries, 'and they're coming from all directions.'
What's going on, TV analysts in the region suspect, is that Asia is starting to outgrow its addiction to Hollywood hand-me-downs.
For years, Asian broadcasters have been relying on such U.S. imports as the 'CSI' dramas and that old standby 'Baywatch' to fill out their programming schedules. Now, egged on by the popularity of South Korean singers and actors in recent years, Asian broadcasters are more comfortable using their neighbors' TV dramas or music instead of American fare. Some analysts figure the success of the Asian programs is the latest sign of Asia's rising confidence.
Thailand's over-the-top potboilers are the latest sensation. They come across as both familiar and exotic. Many of the stars are ethnic Chinese, as are many Thai. But the Thai dramas are also resolutely outlandish, featuring divas rushing about the set trying to slap each other with the spiky shells of the malodorous tropical durian fruit as writers and directors crank up the melodrama.
'I love Thai shows. The actresses are so beautiful and the leading men very handsome,' says Jang Jing, a 44-year-old housewife from Beijing and an avid fan. 'They also show that what goes around, comes around -- even if they seem a bit strange at first.'
Thai soaps seem to succeed because they are often brutally direct, whereas in everyday life many Asian cultures value subtlety and avoiding confrontation. 'This is the escapism, the fantasy -- the dramas are so direct and loud and so boom, boom, boom I hate you,' says Mr. Takonkiet, who is managing director at production companies Exact Co. Ltd. and Scenario Co. Ltd. 'It would never happen like this in real life.'
'Battle of the Angels' is a good example. The plot revolves around a group of flight attendant trainees and follows their romantic quests as they try to carve out a career in the airline industry. Much of the action centers on Rin, a beautiful young stewardess. She falls in love with a married pilot but weds his womanizing friend instead, before finally reconciling with her primary love interest -- all the while evading a series of traps set by her scheming rivals, Cherry and Noi.
In key scenes, the feuding flight attendants grind stiletto heels into each other's feet or go toe-to-toe in screaming matches that often explode in a flurry of slaps or hair-pulling.
One cliffhanger episode features the main villainess, Cherry, putting on protective gloves and trying to splash the heroine, Rin, with acid.
'Do you want some of this? Are you trying to run away? Come here,' she shouts, with a knowing sneer directed at the camera.
Rin counterattacks by seizing a boiling pot of Thailand's spicy Tom Yum soup left conveniently at hand and flings it at her antagonist before making an escape. 'There,' Rin yells. 'Get ready to go to jail!'
Another big hit, 'Scar In My Heart,' has a more romantic plot line about an up-and-coming executive who falls for a nursing student he first accused of embezzling money from his elderly grandmother and causing the death of his fiancee in a traffic accident. There are 31 episodes to find out whether the couple can forget the past and make a go of their love.
Some critics of Thai lakorn -- or dramas -- say they have created a taste for simplistic, hyped story lines. The labor union at Thai Airways International PCL, meanwhile, singled out 'Battle of the Angels' for special criticism, saying it tarnishes the reputation of flight attendants and is a far cry from day-to-day life in the skies.
Thailand's government, though, is leaping on the success of shows such as 'Battle of the Angels,' 'Scar In My Heart' and 'The Princess' to help buttress its more conventional exports, such as seafood and toasters.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva flew to China in November, and signed an agreement with Chinese government officials to promote Thai soaps and exempt them from foreign-content quotas that state regulators there sometimes slap on broadcasters.
Scores of Chinese fans, meanwhile, flew to Bangkok in September to surprise 'Scar In My Heart' star Sukrit Viseskaew on his birthday and helped him put on a party at a local orphanage.
Calling themselves the 'Dragonfly Army,' after Mr. Sukrit's nickname, Chinese fans have also teamed up with their Thai counterparts to form powerful online voting blocs that sway the outcome of Thai entertainment awards.
This year the dragonflies helped the 25-year-old Mr. Sukrit win the coveted 'most popular actor' award at entertainment magazine Siam Dara and have flooded Thailand's show-business chat-rooms with tributes to his talents.
'Is our self-control poor, or are you just too attractive?' wrote one admirer, who gave her name as Linda.
James Hookway / Wilawan Watcharasakwet
Now the series is enjoying a second life, in China -- and network executives there are banging on the door of Thai producers to see what else they can subtitle and beam across the Middle Kingdom.
'I'm amazed,' says Takonkiet Viravan, the 44-year-old Thai soap opera svengali who produced 'Battle of the Angels' and other shows now making it big on the small screen in China. He's still being bombarded with inquiries, 'and they're coming from all directions.'
What's going on, TV analysts in the region suspect, is that Asia is starting to outgrow its addiction to Hollywood hand-me-downs.
For years, Asian broadcasters have been relying on such U.S. imports as the 'CSI' dramas and that old standby 'Baywatch' to fill out their programming schedules. Now, egged on by the popularity of South Korean singers and actors in recent years, Asian broadcasters are more comfortable using their neighbors' TV dramas or music instead of American fare. Some analysts figure the success of the Asian programs is the latest sign of Asia's rising confidence.
Thailand's over-the-top potboilers are the latest sensation. They come across as both familiar and exotic. Many of the stars are ethnic Chinese, as are many Thai. But the Thai dramas are also resolutely outlandish, featuring divas rushing about the set trying to slap each other with the spiky shells of the malodorous tropical durian fruit as writers and directors crank up the melodrama.
'I love Thai shows. The actresses are so beautiful and the leading men very handsome,' says Jang Jing, a 44-year-old housewife from Beijing and an avid fan. 'They also show that what goes around, comes around -- even if they seem a bit strange at first.'
Thai soaps seem to succeed because they are often brutally direct, whereas in everyday life many Asian cultures value subtlety and avoiding confrontation. 'This is the escapism, the fantasy -- the dramas are so direct and loud and so boom, boom, boom I hate you,' says Mr. Takonkiet, who is managing director at production companies Exact Co. Ltd. and Scenario Co. Ltd. 'It would never happen like this in real life.'
'Battle of the Angels' is a good example. The plot revolves around a group of flight attendant trainees and follows their romantic quests as they try to carve out a career in the airline industry. Much of the action centers on Rin, a beautiful young stewardess. She falls in love with a married pilot but weds his womanizing friend instead, before finally reconciling with her primary love interest -- all the while evading a series of traps set by her scheming rivals, Cherry and Noi.
In key scenes, the feuding flight attendants grind stiletto heels into each other's feet or go toe-to-toe in screaming matches that often explode in a flurry of slaps or hair-pulling.
One cliffhanger episode features the main villainess, Cherry, putting on protective gloves and trying to splash the heroine, Rin, with acid.
'Do you want some of this? Are you trying to run away? Come here,' she shouts, with a knowing sneer directed at the camera.
Rin counterattacks by seizing a boiling pot of Thailand's spicy Tom Yum soup left conveniently at hand and flings it at her antagonist before making an escape. 'There,' Rin yells. 'Get ready to go to jail!'
Another big hit, 'Scar In My Heart,' has a more romantic plot line about an up-and-coming executive who falls for a nursing student he first accused of embezzling money from his elderly grandmother and causing the death of his fiancee in a traffic accident. There are 31 episodes to find out whether the couple can forget the past and make a go of their love.
Some critics of Thai lakorn -- or dramas -- say they have created a taste for simplistic, hyped story lines. The labor union at Thai Airways International PCL, meanwhile, singled out 'Battle of the Angels' for special criticism, saying it tarnishes the reputation of flight attendants and is a far cry from day-to-day life in the skies.
Thailand's government, though, is leaping on the success of shows such as 'Battle of the Angels,' 'Scar In My Heart' and 'The Princess' to help buttress its more conventional exports, such as seafood and toasters.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva flew to China in November, and signed an agreement with Chinese government officials to promote Thai soaps and exempt them from foreign-content quotas that state regulators there sometimes slap on broadcasters.
Scores of Chinese fans, meanwhile, flew to Bangkok in September to surprise 'Scar In My Heart' star Sukrit Viseskaew on his birthday and helped him put on a party at a local orphanage.
Calling themselves the 'Dragonfly Army,' after Mr. Sukrit's nickname, Chinese fans have also teamed up with their Thai counterparts to form powerful online voting blocs that sway the outcome of Thai entertainment awards.
This year the dragonflies helped the 25-year-old Mr. Sukrit win the coveted 'most popular actor' award at entertainment magazine Siam Dara and have flooded Thailand's show-business chat-rooms with tributes to his talents.
'Is our self-control poor, or are you just too attractive?' wrote one admirer, who gave her name as Linda.
James Hookway / Wilawan Watcharasakwet
没有评论:
发表评论