ABSTRACT
Based on interviews with Beijing college students, this chapter analyzes the now widespread practice of downloading and DVD-watching in China. In particular, I will discuss young Chinese reactions to a number of US drama series (Friends, Desperate Housewives, Sex and the City, Prison Break, Heroes) which have had a considerable fan base among students. In this way, I will attempt to show how the viewing practices of the new “plugged in” generation of students help to redefine modern Chinese values for the globalized economy in a process I refer to as “didactic escapism.” It is escapist not only in the sense that entertainment is regarded as a relief from one's work and studies, but also as an escape from the approved, so-called “main melody” (zhu xuanlu) material that has tended to make up much of the official Chinese media output.
