@article{ART003178925},
author={WU CHANGXUE},
title={Mahua Fun Age Comedy Movie and Loser Culture},
journal={The Journal of Study on Language and Culture of Korea and China},
issn={1738-0502},
year={2025},
number={75},
pages={417-436},
doi={10.16874/jslckc.2025..75.016}
TY - JOUR
AU - WU CHANGXUE
TI - Mahua Fun Age Comedy Movie and Loser Culture
JO - The Journal of Study on Language and Culture of Korea and China
PY - 2025
VL - null
IS - 75
PB - Korean Society of Study on Chinese Languge and Culture
SP - 417
EP - 436
SN - 1738-0502
AB - After the 2008 global financial crisis, China transitioned from its high-growth period to the “new normal” in the 2010s. The once-confident youth, brimming with optimism about their future, were disillusioned and began to satirize themselves as “losers,” leading to the widespread consumption of culture centered around loser narratives. A representative cultural content that effectively captures and reproduces this loser culture is the Mahua Fun Age comedy film series.
This paper analyzes the loser culture of Chinese youth through an in-depth examination of Mahua Fun Age comedy films. The findings reveal that, although young people outwardly portray themselves as losers caught in the divide between the “haves” and the “have-nots,” they harbor a strong latent aspiration for compressed growth—an intense desire to achieve success in a single leap if given the opportunity.
While they occasionally appear to seek authenticity through romantic relationships wrapped in love, this pursuit often proves to be an illusion. They lack a reflective self and fail to achieve genuine authenticity as modern individuals. Ultimately, they are thrust back into a fiercely competitive society, where their sense of frustration as losers is only temporarily alleviated through the limited protection and comfort offered by intimate relationships, primarily represented by family, rather than through self-reflection.
KW - Mahua Fun Age;Youth;Loser Culture;Plebeian;Development
DO - 10.16874/jslckc.2025..75.016
ER -
WU CHANGXUE. (2025). Mahua Fun Age Comedy Movie and Loser Culture. The Journal of Study on Language and Culture of Korea and China, 75, 417-436.
WU CHANGXUE. 2025, "Mahua Fun Age Comedy Movie and Loser Culture", The Journal of Study on Language and Culture of Korea and China, no.75, pp.417-436. Available from: doi:10.16874/jslckc.2025..75.016
WU CHANGXUE "Mahua Fun Age Comedy Movie and Loser Culture" The Journal of Study on Language and Culture of Korea and China 75 pp.417-436 (2025) : 417.
WU CHANGXUE. Mahua Fun Age Comedy Movie and Loser Culture. 2025; 75 : 417-436. Available from: doi:10.16874/jslckc.2025..75.016
WU CHANGXUE. "Mahua Fun Age Comedy Movie and Loser Culture" The Journal of Study on Language and Culture of Korea and China no.75(2025) : 417-436.doi: 10.16874/jslckc.2025..75.016
WU CHANGXUE. Mahua Fun Age Comedy Movie and Loser Culture. The Journal of Study on Language and Culture of Korea and China, 75, 417-436. doi: 10.16874/jslckc.2025..75.016
WU CHANGXUE. Mahua Fun Age Comedy Movie and Loser Culture. The Journal of Study on Language and Culture of Korea and China. 2025; 75 417-436. doi: 10.16874/jslckc.2025..75.016
WU CHANGXUE. Mahua Fun Age Comedy Movie and Loser Culture. 2025; 75 : 417-436. Available from: doi:10.16874/jslckc.2025..75.016
WU CHANGXUE. "Mahua Fun Age Comedy Movie and Loser Culture" The Journal of Study on Language and Culture of Korea and China no.75(2025) : 417-436.doi: 10.16874/jslckc.2025..75.016
