Cultivation, Dissolution, and Continuation: A Study on the Deconstructive Cultural Effects of Movie Commentary Short Videos

Abstract

Driven by the rapid development of digital media technology and the formation of fragmented consumption habits, movie commentary short videos have quickly emerged as a new cross-media form, profoundly reshaping the field of movie transmission and reception. These videos are not simple retellings of content but are “secondary texts” produced through deconstruction, sacrificing depth for efficiency. Existing research mostly focuses on their production mechanisms or transmission characteristics, yet rarely systematically analyzes the deep logic of their generation and the complex cultural effects produced from a deconstructionist perspective. Based on deconstruction theory, this study employs experimental methods and in-depth interviews, taking commentary videos of Dead Poets Society as a case study, to explore their effects of cultivation, dissolution, and continuation on the original movie text. The study finds that movie commentary short videos, through “dimensionality reduction” editing and copywriting, dissolve the macro-narrative thickness and aesthetic conception of the original film, leading to cognitive bias and aesthetic blunting in audiences. Meanwhile, this deconstructive behavior shapes the audience’s “pleasure-first” cognitive habits through labeled and entertaining processing, producing significant cultivation effects. However, in the process of deconstruction, the movie’s core structure and strong symbols receive a contradictory continuation and reinforcement. This study reveals the characteristic of “coexistence of dissolution and continuation” in cross-media movie transmission in the digital age, offering a new theoretical perspective for understanding meaning reproduction in the “post-movie” era.