Fei Cheng Wu Rao attracts fifty million viewers an episode. To be sure, the premise is problematic. One suitor stands to be scrutinized by 24 sirens, sometimes desirable and always cruel. Unlike the Bachelor, there is no prospect of commiseration. Defeated candidates, who might not be tall enough, old enough or most likely, not wealthy enough, take a walk of shame off the stage. The only consolation is that he signed up for it.
The show first piqued my interest after reading The Economist’s special report on China’s economy (http://www.economist.com/node/21555762). Bicycles are being replaced with cars, the ultimate symbol of wealth in an up-and-coming society. “I'd rather cry in the back of your BMW than laugh on the back of your bicycle,” quoted the article from the TV show. The only thing that could have added to the stereotype is if she specified the BMW was coloured white. The communist government has since stepped in to reform the lewd show. Totalitarianism has its benefits, I guess.
This Sunday, I decided to watch an episode, mainly because it was to be the first Canadian edition. Contestants from both sexes were flown in from Canada, though the contestants were certainly more Chinese than Canadian. I was hoping to see some people I could relate to. There were med-students and pseudo-financiers. There was even a teller from RBC. Yet the defining characteristic of all contestants was the resounding idiocy, the unscrupulous distastefulness of the comments, the nonchalance for what will be broadcasted so thoroughly through the airwaves and the indifference to the stereotyping of an already derided nation and its people. For that to happen in a show where the principle allegiances are Chinese and Canadian, the two I associate myself the most with, is disconcerting.
To begin, a Chinese vice-delegate encourages cross cultural pollination from her perch at the downtown T&T supermarket (funny enough, owned by Loblaw), a vessel for non-assimilation and group-think. It was the locale of a President’s Choice sponsored night market, where stinky tofu is ubiquitous and personal space absent. Behind her aptly stood a York University filming van. Then the Canadian imports were introduced. The most colorful self-proclamation was by a 37 year old who referred to herself as a beautiful woman. The modesty didn’t work; she was turned down by essentially every suitor. And so the show began with much ego and twisted smiles as the women looked upon the entering men. Only one successful couple arose.
The first suitor was unanimously rejected for being a bit uptight and nervous. He seemed like an Asian version of Barack Obama in composure. What a shame that was. A bumbling Martial Artist came next, to whom one lady questioned why someone so active could have such saggy pectorals. Poor guy. A rather well liked suitor turned down six women to have a chance with the one he eyed down from the start. The women sang praises still (they repeated the same Chinese adjective, which probably best translates to “excellent”) yet his actions could not have been shallower. Perhaps they were impressed with the ice wine he brought. Or maybe by his ability to sing an English song!
A couple of generalizations came to the forefront, including that Chinese Canadians tend find themselves in fields of Finance or Medicine. That might be true but not one was a real financier (or a real doctor, for that matter). The real financiers (or real doctors) would not go back to China on a whim. How disappointing how the Canadians might be viewed in China. How disappointing how the Chinese might be viewed in Canada.
The solace is that this show was not actually conceived in China. It was invented in Australia and now has a counterpart in the US (“Take Me Out”). The difference, however, is that the English-world versions are comedies. They are light-hearted, less judgmental and less scathing. Also, they only attract something like three million viewers. Why then does a program that shows such failures of the human condition gain such wide acceptance in China? Why does it turn so serious?
It might be from the superiority and inferiority complexes that have developed in a nation that was one so powerful, then fell into a state of disrepair and now is challenging for supremacy again. I had hoped that the Canadian edition would bring some enlightened contestants who had already escaped the trials and tribulations of the mainland and could bring some much needed grounding to this popularity contest. I will not allow this show to ruin my forever optimistic view of humanity and have no doubt that the contrived producers will do anything to raise ratings by employing the least inspirational contestants. It goes without saying that I would discourage anyone from being one of the fifty million who seek comfort in this dismal show.