A Study On The Youth Image Of Urban TV Dramas In Cultural Perspective

Under the rapid social changes.such as globalization,informatization and urbanization in the new century,the new generation,who as being the new blood,has appeared on the historical stage.Their role as being the independent forerunners and the importance in cultural feedback are well recognised by the majority.However,they are much feeling helpless and even getting angry when facing the problems such as class solidification,urban-rural gap and gender stereotypes.As a result,most of the youths who just entered the workforce are being confused and anxious.They want to get a full picture on current problem,with clear guidances to be provided.They want to get a sense of identity and belonging,even want to become an ideal person who will be recognised by the society.At this moment,as one of the media with high coverage,popularity and influence,TV plays an important role in providing social understanding and value guidance to young people.With the use of both document analy'sis and content analysis,some popular Urban TV dramas,which were produced in China,such as "Struggle","Go LA LA Go!","Beijing Love Story" and "Ode to Joy" are selected for analysis.Starting from the real problems that faced by young people in their daily life and personal development,this study aims at analysing the reasons and the ways how Urban TV dramas form and present the images of young people nowadays from the perspectives of social classes,urban and rural divide and gender stereotypes.Furthermore,to figure out the significances of such framing in social communication as well as its impacts on young people.It is aimed that this paper can become a theoretical reference for the study on how Chinese Urban TV dramas affect the formation of youths' image in the future.The main body of this research is divided into three parts.The first part mainly analyzes the youth image from the perspective of social strata.Under the background of stratification,the youth of different strata face the problem of survival and development in the process of their growth.Although the upper-class youth have the"hereditary" social strata,huge material wealth can lead to spiritual distress.Middle-class youth are afraid to fall into the bottom and experience an identity crisis under the "downward mobility" of the class.The youth in the bottom society cannot feel hope and survive under the "marginalization" of class anxiety.Consequently.during this time,it is up to them to rely on their own efforts to break the dilemma;it may be the best choice to achieve the ideal.The second part mainly analyzes the image of youth from the perspective of urban and rural areas.Under the dualistic structure of urban and rural areas.young rural people pour into the cities and to seek employment and residence.They dedicate their strength to urban construction,but they face a problem where they lack social identity.The urban youth,under the constraint of the city,repressed the themselves.As a result,they seek and rebuild their identities by leaving the cities and fulfilling their social responsibilities through reconciling with others to achieve return.The third part mainly analyzes the image of youth from the perspective of gender.Under the prejudice of the traditional culture,the relationship between men and women illustrate the gender situation that "men and women are weak".Men should be strong and independent;women should be gentle.virtuous,and take the responsibility of wife and mother.This gender inequality injures both women and men.Therefore,men should have a sense of self-awakening.while women should change their own concepts.By working together,they can break the traditional stereotypes to achieve a state of harmony between men and women.