Movie spurs debate on Chinese infidelity
17/10/2008 17:36
The popular Chinese movie, Painted Skin, not only scored big at the box
office, but also sparked a nationwide debate about marital morals on the
Internet.
The storyline is about a handsome warrior having an extramarital
affair.In Painted Skin, Wang Sheng must choose between his loyal wife and
beautiful lover.
China Youth Daily, a Beijing-based newspaper, launched an
on-line survey after the movie debuted asking, "If you were Wang Sheng, who
would be your choice?"
Around 1,093 netizens responded. Almost half, or 49.4
percent, said they would choose the wife. But interestingly, 30.7 percent would
like to have both women.
"The survey, by some degree, revealed people's real
attitudes toward extramarital affairs," said Zhou Xiaopeng, a consultant with
the China Marriage Society.
Infidelity happens more often in China than
people might think. Of the divorce cases Zhou handles, 90 percent are caused by
affairs.
In the Internet survey, 44.7 percent said extramarital affairs were
quite common among couples they knew. Almost as many people, 41.5 percent, said
they knew of occasionally affairs. Only 3.3 percent said they have never come
across infidelity.
"Many people involved in extramarital affairs are in a
dilemma, " Zhou said. "On one hand, they want to keep the marriage and on the
other hand, they want their lovers, just as those netizens in the survey want to
have both."
A comment from a netizen, surnamed Cheng, supported Zhou's
opinion.
"Quite often my clients request other entertainment, such as
prostitutes, after inviting me for a dinner," said Cheng who works for a
state-owned enterprise. "Extramarital affairs are understandable, as long as you
still remember to go back to your wife."
Chen Xiaomin, director of the
Women's Studies Center in Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said
Chinese society has a dangerous tendency to link the number of lovers outside
marriage to a person's financial capability or social status.
"I know some
young girls who are willing to trade themselves for money. They want to be some
rich man's lover because it is a quick and easy way to live a life of luxury,"
Chen said.
Nearly half of those surveyed attributed high numbers of
extramarital affairs to poor morals. It explains why half of those questioned
would have chosen their wife, just as the hero does in the movie.
Painted
Skin is adapted from one of China's most famous ghost stories, The Strange Tales
of Liao Zhai. Written in the late 1600s, the book won readers over because of
its compelling love story.
The same appears to be true of the movie. In the
past three weeks, Painted Skin pulled in about 190 million yuan (US$28 million).
Xinhua
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