Illustration: Peter C. Espina/GT

It's hard for a depiction of the resistance against the Japanese invaders to shock Chinese audiences after TV shows in which Chinese triumph by tearing enemies apart with their bare hands, time travelling, and taking down Japanese planes by throwing stones. However, the absurdness in Chinese war-theme shows was taken to a next level when a new drama, in which a woman hides a grenade in her crotch to kill Japanese aggressors, recently hit the screens.

In a recent episode of TV drama, Yi Qi Da Guizi (Fight the Devils Together), the woman, played by Ge Tian, wife of newly-retired Chinese star hurdler Liu Xiang, visits her boyfriend who is a Communist and seized by Japanese soldiers. The couple enjoys a hot, burning kiss with the man's hand under Ge's dress. After a series of intimate exchanges, Ge's character puts his hand in her crotch, where he finds a grenade, which they use to kill the Japanese and themselves together.

Apart from the daring performance, the episode was also filled with a range of sexually suggestive lines, which left the audience stunned in what was supposed to be a respectful historical show.

The show has been already pulled off the air a few days after it was first broadcast on a local channel. According to a production personnel of the show, in order to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, Fight the Devils Together was originally scheduled to be presented on more channels, but now it seems impossible.

Recent years have seen explosion in number of such shows, in most of which, the war against Japanese aggression (1937-45) has become nothing more than just a scenery for the dramas, with their cores ranging from love stories to martial arts extravaganzas. Some scripts contain scarce historical facts but excessive entertaining elements.

TV is fictional. Nevertheless, there should be a line. Producers should hence at least show some respect to the suffering and struggling of Chinese during that period of time, instead of making it a cover for sex, blood, or fantastically valiant heroes.

Think about the teenagers who grow up watching these shows, how can they understand the cruelty of the war with these dramas prevailing on the screens?

TV shows are not historical textbooks, but they should not distort the history. Among the jokes people make about the dramas, some are only focused on the bizarre love stories.

If producers want to put some soft elements in the war-themed dramas, that's fine, but not the other way around - shoving some patriotic content into an entertaining show. Pain needs to be felt, history needs to be learnt, yet not in this way and not in this manner.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. liaixin@globaltimes.com.cn