Hong Kong
CNN
—
A 9-year-old girl rebelled against the embarrassment of menstruation, telling adults at the dinner table that “more than half of the world’s population bleeds.” Two men compete for a woman’s heart by boasting about how many books they have read by Japanese feminist icon Chizuko Ueno. A stalker who follows a young woman to her home is confronted by her neighbor and chased away.
These scenes from China’s latest box office hit, “Her Story,” have gone viral on Chinese social media, with the comedy hailed by many female viewers as the country’s answer to “Barbie.”
In the comments on Douban, China’s largest movie review site, the film was rated 9.1 out of 10, an unabashed celebration of “woke” femininity, and a bold social commentary on modern China. It’s all delivered with hilarious humor.
Since its release on Nov. 22, “Her Story” has earned more than 680 million yuan ($93 million) and was mainland China’s top-grossing film for 17 consecutive days, according to ticketing platform Maoyan.
But its witty criticism of gender norms has also offended some men on Chinese social media, who have accused it of provoking “gender conflict.” It’s a phrase often used by state media to crack down on online feminist speech that authorities consider “crossing the line.” ”
For the past decade, China’s ruling Communist Party, whose leaders are all men, has suppressed feminist activism. In 2015, five feminists were detained for organizing protests against sexual harassment, and just a few months ago, a journalist who promoted the #MeToo movement was sentenced to five years in prison for vandalism.
Less politically charged cultural works with themes of female empowerment, such as feminist comedies, are still allowed, but they are heavily regulated and targeted by powerful unofficial forces: conservative men. There are many things.
Written and directed by Xiao Yihui, “Her Story” revolves around the lives and relationships of three women living in Shanghai. An independent single mother, her bright elementary school daughter, and their new neighbor, a young singer and self-proclaimed “.” A cold, romantic fool. ”
He Zeyu, 29, a book editor living in Beijing, has seen it three times.
“I watch it over and over again because I see myself in it,” she told CNN. Last time she took her parents, she said, they “loved it.” “I wanted to share these two hours with my friends and parents and feel that same connection, like I’m seen and hugged.”
For Ms. Hsu, 20, who has only seen it once and asked to only give her last name for privacy reasons, the comedy’s focus on “women’s empowerment” rather than “a rehash of women’s struggles” is what makes it so appealing. What makes comedy “unique”?
Beyond its fresh female-led narrative, Chinese moviegoers loved the film’s “subtle but courageous” take on issues such as pandemic-era lockdowns, the decline of journalism, and a toxic culture of reporting on the misdemeanors of others. He also praises social criticism. .
In one scene, a teacher chastises a student who snitched on a classmate. In another photo, the young singer shows off her stockpile of daily necessities, while a large elephant statue stands in her living room, a silent nod to Shanghai’s weeks-long coronavirus lockdown in 2022. It is.
“I can’t help but applaud such clever expressions,” said Wang Rui, a 48-year-old man who recently came to see the film for the second time with his wife.
“I laughed out loud the first time I saw it, but the second time I saw it, I realized what was behind the humor and cried many times.”
One online commenter, who identifies as a lesbian, said she was impressed by the director’s ability to sneak LGBTQ elements past China’s strict censorship, including a fleeting rainbow flag scene and gay characters flirting in the background. I focused on the couple.
Her post on Weibo, China’s equivalent of “That’s rare,” and has received thousands of likes.
“This is a movie all about gender, but it goes beyond that,” read Douban’s popular review, which has received over 8,000 likes.
“Her Story” has been overwhelmingly praised by Chinese women, but not all men are fans.
Mr. Xu said he witnessed a couple in Beijing who appeared to be arguing about the film as they were leaving a theater. She called it “a real movie Easter egg.”
Xu recalled that the man told the woman “so loudly that it could be heard throughout the theater” that the film’s “narrative structure was strange”, but the woman disagreed and left.
Similar anecdotes of men yelling at screenings or walking out of theaters have been circulating on Chinese social media, echoing the conservative backlash seen during screenings of “Barbie” in the U.S. last year. I am doing it.
“Many plots in this movie already glorify most men in life… It seems objective and gentle enough to me,” Xu said on China’s Instagram-like platform Xiaohongshu. I wrote this. The post received over 1,000 likes.
But for many people, even “kind” jokes seem like too much.
Users on China’s male-dominated online forum Hupu gave “Her Story” an average rating of 4.8 out of 10. They accused it of “degrading and gaslighting men” and denied all positive comments about the film. Far away on the platform.
It’s unclear how many Hupu commenters have seen the film, but Wang and a young man, Chen Xiaohe, both said they enjoyed the screening at Xiaohongshu.
“Certain groups of men tend to position themselves as the opposite of women and oppose what women like,” Wang, who has watched twice, told CNN. “That’s what makes it toxic,” he added, quoting a line from the movie.
However, he added that the film “should not be labeled as feminist.”
Chen, 29, wrote in Xiaohongshu that she “really loves bright and humorous movies” that feature “real flesh” and “fully developed” female characters. Other male users of the female-dominated platform disagreed.
For Chen, it’s not surprising to see a wave of negative comments about Hu Pu.
“For a long time, there has been a huge gap in gender awareness in our country,” she told CNN. “Mainstream men instinctively reject feminist ideas, which makes it difficult for them to appreciate this film.”
This is not the first time Chinese men have been outraged by women’s teasing on the internet.
Stand-up comedian Yang Li, known for his sharp jokes about men, is a frequent target. Of all her punchlines, the one that shocked men the most was, “How can he be so confident when he looks so average?”
Just last month, people still reeling from the irony of four years ago launched a nationwide boycott against Chinese e-commerce giant Jingdong for featuring Yang on a promotional livestream.
After enduring online backlash, the company later apologized and severed ties with Yang. But male commenters didn’t stop there. In fact, Western media pounced on the story and even tried to portray the vocal female comedian as an “evil foreign force” after expressing support for skewering gender inequality.
Lu Ping, a prominent Chinese feminist based in New York, said, “Today’s feminist movement in China is only visible in the cultural sphere.” “And this really shows how much the movement has shrunk.”
But even voices that are already restricted, such as feminist films and stand-up shows, often come under attack from conservative men.
“Chinese feminism is still very weak and hasn’t achieved much. But they think their (future) interests are already threatened,” Lu said. “They see[the rise of feminism]as a red flag.”
“Feminism liberates not only women but also men,” Xiao, the screenwriter and director of “Her Story,” said in a promotional video.
“I believe that if we get to the root causes, we will realize that we need to work with women,” she says.
