Movies scheduled for the Chinese New Year are worth the wait

On social media, "Seven films are screening on Lunar New Year's Day" became a trendy topic, and many netizens have already scheduled their movie-watching plans during the Chinese New Year holiday. The news of "Movies scheduled during the Chinese New Year have reached a presale record of over 500 million yuan in 10 days" also seems to indicate that the movie market will be booming during the Chinese New Year holiday.

Due to the impact of the pandemic, many people decided to celebrate Spring Festival in place and alone. Patterns of consumption revolved around the units of family or family clan will face some changes this year. Under this circumstance, watching movies becomes a safer and more suitable form of cultural consumption.

Movie-watching is a form of cultural consumption where "everyone shares joy together" instead of "one person shares joy alone". This meets people's cultural and spiritual needs during the Chinese New Year. Compared with "one person shares joy alone" which many people are accustomed to, such as reading at home, watching TV shows, or sweating at the gym, watching movies will allow an individual to be immersed in a collective cultural space. Even if the people around you are strangers, everyone will share joy in a relatively fixed time and space. The spiritual satisfaction from a collective joyful atmosphere will alleviate the loneliness an individual might feel for being unable to go home during the Chinese New Year. In addition, watching movies is a low budget cultural consumption pattern that will bring immense spiritual satisfaction. The enormous number of people going to the cinema will make up a large movie-going population, which will accelerate the film industry’s recovery.

In the past, at the mention of cultural consumption patterns during Spring Festival holiday, people would think of playing cards or drinking, visiting relatives and friends and other "cultural labels". While these have traces of traditional culture, however, etiquettes loaded down with trivial details and handling interpersonal relationships cause many people, especially young people, to feel pressurized with social intercourses. The increasingly popular movie-watching pattern during Spring Festival can make people relieve their psychological burdens. Even if these are fitted into the gaps of busy schedules, they will still be able to enjoy comfort and relaxation for a moment. From the already published information, the majority of Spring Festival movies will be heart-warming comedies or fantasy and mythical themed.

There are realistic reasons behind the high attention the topic "Seven films are screening on Lunar New Year's Day" has received. In the long run, we should gradually adjust to the changes in cultural consumption patterns during the Spring Festival period. Watching movies is a cultural highlight in recent years, but it will not be the endpoint to the changing tendency. People want to see more high-quality Chinese New Year films of both critical acclaims and box office success. While the marketing abilities of films are significant, what is more important is the quality of the films. This is not just the audiences' expectations, but is also an inevitable requirement for the development of the Chinese film industry.

Currently, upgrade and update of the Chinese cultural industry is proceeding vigorously. The film industry is a force that cannot be neglected. Perhaps, with the help of the special Spring Festival holiday, films will become a cultural consumption pattern with a powerful aftereffect, and will continue to reveal its remarkable charisma and impact.

People might worry that after the Spring Festival holiday, the movie-watching craze will drop. In reality, we don't have to worry about this. Spring Festival holiday is always a "prime time" for the film industry, and a gradual cooling after the holiday is a reflex of market pattern. In contrast, how the movie industry maintains its high gears is a better question to ponder.

Film and television practitioners should further improve the sophistication of Chinese films. They should treat films with professionalism instead of with a mentality to just make quick money. This should be the fundamental impetus to keep the warmth of the film market. In recent years, films which maintained lasting popularity were all works of great originality. Rough manufacturing and deliberately seeking attention might attract capital for some time, but cannot bring lasting public interest. If filmmakers cannot get rid of their impetuous mentality and excessive utilitarianism, then market stimulation during holiday and festival periods will only be a "booster" of temporary effects.

Contributed by Huang Ximeng, Media commentator

Translated by Zhang Junye