STORYTELLING ON ELDERLY PEOPLE CHARACTER IN POPULAR THAI TV DRAMA IN DIGITAL AGE

Abstract

The Objective of this research article were to study storytelling on elderly people character in popular Thai television drama. It employs qualitative study through popular TV drama between 2557 and 2561 B.E. One most popular drama in each year, five dramas in total, has been analyzed through thematic analysis. It uses three main elements in the concept of storytelling, which are theme, character and setting. There are three main findings. Firstly, four themes have been presented in the dramas, which include elderly people and helpfulness, elderly people and revenge, elderly people and the past, and elderly people and meddling. Secondly, familiar characters of elderly people have been shown. These characters are being the helpers through their accumulated knowledge and experiences, being call as grandpa, grandma, papa and the old, along with their career, being stick with the past old day, being bossy, and dressing in plain or somber clothes. Thirdly, majority of scenes are home, temple, and forest. Its variety is less than other characters in the drama. These findings reflect that the medium ‘Thai TV drama’ in digital age is still telling the story of elderly people through familiar and stereotype meaning. It has not stepped into alternative meaning that appears in some areas of media which representation of the elderly people which has developed or changed some behaviors a lot from the past. Whilst storytelling in popular TV dramas in digital era, in this study, still has reflected various aspects of typical characteristics. It can be said that ‘there is no change’ that could allow the audience experiencing the development of meaning of elderly people in the context of digital age.