ETYMOLOGY
This term's evolution mirrors China's digital culture transformation. Originally used in 2000s drama schools as a compliment for talented actors, its meaning flipped when comedy show 『The Big Puppet Show』 satirized 'office drama queens' in 2016 - that episode went viral with 2.8M retweets.
The 2018 webcomic 『Drama Queen Dorm』 depicting exaggerated college life scenarios cemented its status as a national meme. Weibo data shows derogatory usage surged from 37% to 89% between 2019-2022.
A classic case circulated on Douban (China's Reddit):
'My BFF's drama queen boyfriend livestreams 'suicide attempts' every time they argue - Oscar owes him 10 statuettes'(32k upvotes, 2022)COVID testing sites birthed the 'PCR drama queens' phenomenon - people performing exaggerated gagging + pirouettes during swabs. Related Douyin videos under #ActingMasterclass hit 1.7B views.
As linguist Prof. Wang Mingyang notes: 'This meme reflects Gen-Z's fatigue with social performance culture. Using theater jargon to mock real-life overacting reveals their craving for authenticity.'