Hong Kong culture is fascinating; compared to North American culture, which sells sex and celebrities individuality and political correctness by refusing to offend, Hong Kong culture shuns the idea of outright sex (although sexy is very much the subject of tabloids) and laughs at the idea of offensive speech. In a way, it’s refreshing to hear what people think.
And the former colony seems to be focused on two things: business, and personal image. A favorite and reoccuring movie plot in Chinese cinema involves some wealthy businessperson comically courting a girl who turns out to win beauty pageants. Cantopop is by far the music of choice for the region, dominated by pretty boys and girls who couldn’t compose a song on their own to save their lives (the older, mature artists do who have musical talent were, of course, yesterday’s pretty boys). Everybody aspires to be a businessman, whether managing multi-billion dollar real estates, opening a new clothing store, or selling cheap snacks on a caddy in the street.
Combine the two focii, and you have businessmen who keep pretty mistresses on the side, something that’s so common that it has been woven and accepted into the fabric of the city’s culture.
But I wanted to touch more upon the personal image persona, since I saw something on the “all Hong Kong television all the time” channel which my parents watch with religious zeal. It was a midday show about overweight women and their troubles, their desire to be fit and to be seen as sexy and attractive. Granted, this is Hong Kong, so “overweight” really means being a few pounds out of your ideal BMI range, or having a figure that’s more cylindrical than hourglass (and fortunately, not to the point of the American flask).
It was refreshing and somewhat scary to hear people talk about their weight issue so matter-of-factly (I know that the show airs at least once a week, probably more). The male host gently berates the poor women who agree to appear on the show, and the women sit there meekly accepting the embarassment in hopes that the shear humility of the situation would shame them into a diet and exercise program. Now, this certainly sounds like a typical Jerry Springer/Oprah/Dr. Phil show, except that these people are not trying to be outrageous for ratings nor is there any real conflict. They discuss matters in a very down-to-earth manner and not-so-subtly hints to the viewer that they ought to evaluate themselves the same way.
This kind of weight discrimination is more apparent in show biz, where overweight showmen are rare and those who are overweight achieve success by poking fun of their own weight (see above pic). They’re given names that reflect that status – “Fatty”, “Fat mom”, and “Fat cat” – labels that are a constant reminder that, despite proving that they’re able to act, perform, and entertain, they’re still fat and will be the butt of jokes.
Sadly, that’s the way things currently stand; HK citizens aren’t going to give up their discrimination or their source of entertainment anytime soon. Not that I’m suggesting there ought to be a Political-Correctness-overhaul of peoples’ attitudes, but it’d be nice if those under that culture would re-examine their stereotypes (weight and “everybody should go into business”) and find what little substance they hold.