China鈥檚 鈥楽ex and the City鈥 strikes a chord with many urban women
Print Edition
A wildly popular drama likened to 鈥淪ex and the City鈥 is breaking ground on China鈥檚 state television with content that strikes at the heart of life today for the nation鈥檚 urban women.
鈥淥de to Joy鈥 has broached a range of topics typically off-limits, including sex, sexism and status.
The show, which has just completed its second season, focuses on five young women from different backgrounds who are neighbors in a smart Shanghai high-rise apartment called 鈥淥de to Joy.鈥
It made headlines in May with a scene in which a character bursts into tears at the breakdown of her relationship.
鈥淗e asked me whether I am a virgin,鈥 she sobbed, after her boyfriend stormed out on discovering she was not.
In many countries such a scene would hardly register, but the normally hush-hush topic set off a furor in China.
鈥淭he show started plainly but it exploded with the virginity discussion. It is a reflection of reality and it struck a nerve,鈥 said blogger Luo Xiaoting.
鈥淭he program talks about the two things that Chinese care about the most: class and love. This show successfully puts the two in contrast鈥 even if two people love each other, they need to be a match in class,鈥 he told reporters.
鈥淚f you are not a virgin, your value is down. The show is like a sword, piercing through reality,鈥 he added.
The show is broadcast by Shanghai鈥檚 Dragon TV and available online. Reliable viewing figures are hard to attain, but by the time the latest season ended last month it had been viewed 24 billion times online, according to the show鈥檚 Weibo account. A third season is in the works.
Women largely remain in the shadow of men in traditionally male-dominated China, but that鈥檚 changing.
Divorce rates have risen steadily, and a Peking University survey last year found that the average age for first-time sex in China was 22.2 years for those born after 1980, dropping to 17.7 years for those born after 1995.
Yuan Zidan, an 鈥淥de to Joy鈥 screenwriter, said there were bound to be comparisons to 鈥淪ex and the City.鈥
鈥溾楽ex and the City鈥 takes love and sex as the core of discussion, whereas our drama takes women鈥檚 self-awareness and growth as the core for discussion,鈥 she told reporters. 鈥淥de鈥 was based on the lives of 鈥渕illions of Chinese women.鈥
China has seen rapid change in recent decades and the problems women face now 鈥渁re very different from those faced by women decades ago.鈥
鈥淣ot just revolving around their husbands and children, but they have more room for personal development, and face life鈥檚 hardships and choices on many different levels,鈥 Yuan said.
The five characters, each with their own back story and individual style, represent a 鈥渕iniature version鈥 of fast-changing, increasingly wealthy China, and the virginity scene summed up the clash between traditional Chinese thinking and emerging openness, she said.
鈥淲e are entering a period of diversification and multiculturalism, and the virgin complex is one such point,鈥 she said.
鈥淥de to Joy鈥 fans, typically women, praise it for reflecting challenges they face with family, careers and relationships through characters they identify with.
Wang Peibin who works for a Fortune 500 company in Shanghai, identifies with no-nonsense character Qu Xiaoxiao.
鈥淪he is mean in her words and sees through everything. She has a clear attitude on what she loves and hates. I鈥檓 not so brave, so I wish I could be more like her,鈥 the 28-year-old said.
For Shanghai housewife Yan Chaowei, 鈥淥de to Joy鈥 offers viewers an escape.
鈥淚t鈥檚 based on reality but is also more than that,鈥 the 30-year-old said.
鈥淚t gives people who live cruel lives in big cities a chance to take a breather during the show. It gives them a chance to escape from reality for 40 minutes.鈥
Wang and Yan are in agreement over the virginity scene.
Wang said: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 accept the virginity view of the guy at all and I don鈥檛 understand people who think that virginity means everything. Those people are unforgivable.鈥
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