Search results

In this chapter, the author compares two representations of the child from two famous films by the Fifth Generation’s top director in China, Chen Kaige, Yellow Earth (1984) and Together (2002). The girl’s story in the former and the boy’s story in the latter show respectively the dissolution of the Party/state as an extended family home, and it being replaced by the atomized, fluid, and flexible family home in the new state-led neo-liberal order. Compared with the girl, the boy in the new century tries to convey an equally lyrical articulation of the family/home, but differently, with a strong sense of his subjectivity. Thus, the boy’s voice in Together, self-reflective, artistically innovative, and affective, becomes a voice of resistance against authoritarian neoliberalism in post-socialist China.

This volume explores the intersection of youth agency, media representation, and conflict, urging a reevaluation of the roles of youth in contemporary socio-political contexts. Media serves as a tool for and a site of resistance. Chapters in this volume highlight ways in which children and youth leverage digital platforms to reshape narratives around conflict and peace. The compilation draws from a wide range of contexts, from the Balkan Wars to the current conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, offering in-depth analyses of the transformative potential of the (re)imagining of youth experiences, thus shifting from passive subjects to active narrators. This reorientation emphasizes the role of new technologies, including digital media and artificial intelligence, in supporting these endeavors, especially in enhancing mental health and psychological resilience among children affected by conflict.

The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry has underscored the growing significance of online movies. However, there is limited research available on the factors that influence the viewership of online films. Therefore, this study aims to use the signaling theory to investigate how signals of varying qualities affect online movie viewership, considering both signal transmission costs and prices.

This study uses a sample of 1,071 online movies released on the iQiyi from July 2020 to July 2022. It uses OLS regression and instrumental variable method to examine the impact of various quality indicators on the viewership of online movies, as well as the moderating effect of price.

After conducting a thorough analysis of this study, it can be deduced that the varying impacts on online movie viewership are attributed to disparities in signal transmission costs. Specifically, star influence and rating exhibit a positive effect on the viewership of online movies, whereas the number of raters has a detrimental impact. Furthermore, there exists an “inverted U-shaped” relationship between the number of reviews and online movie viewership. Additionally, within the consumer decision-making process, both price-cost and price-quality relationships coexist. This is evident as prices negatively affect online movie viewership but positively moderate the relationship between rating, number of reviews and online movie viewership.

The research findings of this study offer valuable insights for online film producers to effectively leverage quality signals and pricing, thereby capturing market attention and enhancing film profitability.