After Xin Zhilei won in Venice, a familiar label again dominated public discussion: the “post-85 flowers.”

Strictly speaking, Xin Zhilei is not traditionally one of them. Who are the “post-85 flowers,” then, and why do we so habitually classify actresses by age and generation?

From the “Four Young Dan Actresses” to the “post-85 flowers,” a generation grew alongside television, the internet, and the traffic economy while being forced into comparison and competition. One person’s work, awards, or life choices can become a reason to urge another to “join a production at once.”

Beginning with the “post-85 flowers,” we discuss two decades of actresses’ fame, competition, and survival, and how they seek or create paths within limited roles and creative space.

 

- Where did the “post-85 flowers” come from, and how did an entertainment label become a generation’s identity?

- From television to the internet, why did they survive successive cycles?

- Why does women’s success so readily become peer competition?

- Career-minded fans: why do we project our own success anxiety onto actresses?

- Why do actresses have the “post-85 flowers” while male actors are seldom classified this way?

- Marriage, childbirth, divorce, and starting over: why did they become a mirror for a generation of women?

- Produce their own projects, or squeeze into the center? What paths remain for actresses?

- Why does ability not necessarily bring an actress good roles?

- Behind “join a production now”: can actors actually decide whether they get work?

- Tang Wei and Zhou Dongyu: when actresses choose an “unsafe” path

- Covers, endorsements, and luxury brands: how is an actress manufactured into a star?